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67fd12cd2247c53a3f256d4261068912 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhua/2016/07/20/pokedate-worlds-first-pokemon-go-dating-service/ | Catch Love with PokéDates, the World's First 'Pokémon GO' Matchmaking Service | Catch Love with PokéDates, the World's First 'Pokémon GO' Matchmaking Service
Nothing that says romance like feeding (Psy)ducks in Central Park, having Jigglypuff third wheel—or asking “Pokémon GO and chill?”
Now, you can find your Pokémate on PokéDates, a website launched today in the U.S. that turns a mutual obsession with Pokémon GO into a recipe for chemistry.
Gallery: The Best Pokémon GO Travel Photos 28 images View gallery
Sparks have already been flying at mass Pokémon GO meetups that have prompted themed dating apps to pop up. Pok was the first free chat and dating mobile app for the game, but it hasn’t caught on yet. Pokematch also recently launched, and it works almost exactly like Tinder, just for Pokémon GO players.
Pokedates is powered by an existing dating service, Project Fixup, which uniquely uses human matchmakers unlike OkCupid or Match.com’s questionably accurate algorithms.
“What makes us different is that we pair based on personality similarities, instead of people just meeting on the street while playing Pokémon GO,” Daniel Korenevsky, Project Fixup’s Chief Fixup Officer, told FORBES. “Browsing, swiping, messaging back-and-forth turns into a huge time-suck. PokéDates and Project Fixup turns online dating into offline dating.”
Graphic courtesy of PokéDates
Instead, PokéDates users answer questions to compose a PokéProfile, which lists what one seeks in a partner. They also submit their schedules and locations. Then, specialists (Poke-matchmakers) review profiles to pair players based on personality and interests.
These all-mighty matchmakers finally email the pair with a mutually convenient time and Pokéstop to meet up. From there, couples are free to start hunting, training, and battling together on Pokémon GO. (After all, love is a battlefield).
“We don’t pair based on levels,” Korenevsky said. “We’re actually hoping that people who’ve never played will have the opportunity to try it, and it will be a very good icebreaker for the day if one can use their expertise to help the other.”
Graphic courtesy of Pokedates
PokéDates' matchmakers certainly take the pressure off finding the perfect setting and activity for the first date. While Project Fixup’s overall satisfaction rate is at 85%, Korenevsky predicts their venue satisfaction may be higher with PokéDates because Pokéstops are guaranteed to be of mutual interest.
Regarding safety, Korenevsky explained, “The Pokéstops we set up are usually at coffee shops, not just any public location like big parks and stuff. Then our members can head out to explore the surrounding area.”
The first date is free with the promo code “POKEDATES2016,” but each one after costs $20. For some, this could be their site to find the One, but for others, they could just “catch ‘em all”—not unlike Ash Ketchem and his bevy of flings.
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0fd3771d4cd74c2bbcf60b0d8bbbbbca | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhua/2016/09/16/jackie-and-jfks-former-country-estate-is-on-the-market-for-5-95-million/ | JFK and Jackie's Former Country Estate Is on the Market for $5.95 Million | JFK and Jackie's Former Country Estate Is on the Market for $5.95 Million
Last week, Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress was announced for auction; this week, the Kennedys' former Virginia country estate was listed for $5.95 million.
Jackie and JFK’s former bucolic retreat sits at 1666 Hatchers Mill Road in Marshall, Virginia.... [+] (Photos and listing by Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
Though the family was known to vacation at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, First Lady Jackie Kennedy wanted something more secluded and closer to Washington, D.C.
The walled-in compound offers immense privacy. (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
So in late 1962, Jackie convinced the president to build an equestrian estate on a 39-acre plot in Middleburg, Virginia, not far from the capital. Jackie designed the entire estate and dubbed it "Wexford"—a nod to JFK's Irish roots. The construction of the home—which cost over $127,000—was reportedly paid for by Jackie’s father-in-law, Joe Kennedy Sr. The value of the estate has grown more than 40-fold.
Jackie wrote a series of letters to the building agents who oversaw the single-story home's redesign. One of the notes gushed, “You have done the most fantastic job and everyone agrees that house is really a dream. One could not wish for anything more perfect—if only we could live in it all year long! And Jack loves it.”
The family spent only three weekends at the property before JFK’s assassination on November 22, 1963. Jackie sold the home the following year.
The Kennedy family are photographed at the Virginia estate. (Photo courtesy of RR Auction)
The letter from Jackie to the estate's building agents was one of over 400 pieces of photos and... [+] correspondence related to the home's design and construction, collectively sold at auction for $17,500 in 2015. (Photo courtesy of RR Auction)
Elegant and traditional, the yellow stucco ranch sits on 166 rolling hills backed by the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The exterior of the house (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
Though the property's acreage has more than quadrupled since the Kennedys owned it, the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom house has remained the same size through the years.
The home's four bedrooms (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
The home's cozy interiors feature multiple fireplaces and built-in cabinets and bookcases.
A corridor in the house (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
The living room (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
Outside, the bucolic backyard—which features a patio, pool, and tennis court—opens up to acres of fields and a pond.
The backyard patio with the covered pool (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate)
The grounds have stables and abundant riding trails—evidence of Jackie Kennedy's fondness for horses. Caroline rode her pony, Macaroni, at the estate.
The rolling acres of land with horses and stables in the distance (Photo courtesy of Thomas & Talbot... [+] Real Estate)
Given that the first family lived there, the walled-in compound also has an underground bomb shelter, along with a “secret” studio above the garage.
Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy rented the estate from the Kennedys... [+] as a presidential campaign retreat in 1980. (AP Photo)
Left: Ronald Reagan riding around Wexford with Virginia Senator John Warner in 1980 (AP... [+] Photo/Zeboski). Right: Ronald and Nancy Reagan walking their adopted dog, Klondike, around Wexford in 1980. (AP Photo/Charles Harrity)
In 1980, then-Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy rented the estate from the Kennedys as a presidential campaign retreat—specifically, a hideaway to rehearse for debates against President Jimmy Carter.
Ronald Reagan relaxing during his stay at the Wexford home in the fall of 1980 (AP Photo/Walt... [+] Zeboski)
Mary Ann McGowan, the real estate agent at Thomas & Talbot, noted, “It’s not a huge home—just comfortable and charming.” According to her, the current owners use the property as an occasional second home, so they aren’t in a rush to sell.
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593ecfd4a58a615a3f0c95c88cf9e956 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhua/2016/10/29/halloween-2016-the-best-celebrity-costumes/ | Halloween 2016: The Best Celebrity Costumes | Halloween 2016: The Best Celebrity Costumes
When celebrities do Halloween, they go all out—and the biggest treat is seeing how they impersonate their famous friends or pay homage to icons.
Seth Rogen’s 5th-annual Hilarity for Charity event in Los Angeles was one of the first events this year where celebrities put on their Halloween getups. Other celebrities who hosted big Halloween bashes include Kate Hudson, Katy Perry, Just Jared, Bette Midler, and Rande Gerber.
However, all these celebrations lead up to the biggest Halloween event of the year, Heidi Klum’s annual Halloween party on October 31 at New York City’s Vandal. The star-studded event brought out A-listers in their most extravagant get-ups. See the best looks here.
Gallery: Celebrity Halloween Costumes 2016 33 images View gallery
A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Oct 31, 2016 at 9:50pm PDT
Beyoncé has slayed every Halloween, especially with her daughter, Blue Ivy, in coordinating costumes. On Halloween night, Queen Bey made Blue Ivy's (and probably every four-year-old's) dreams come true when she and husband, Jay Z, dressed as Barbie and Ken dolls. More importantly, they were "Black edition" dolls—talk about giving your daughter good role models.
A video posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Oct 30, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT
On the first night of Halloween, Queen Bey, husband Jay Z, and Blue Ivy went as members of Salt-N-Pepa to her cousin Angie Beyince’s ’80s-themed party. The trio also recreated the group’s iconic 1986 music video, Push It.
A photo posted by Jessica Biel (@jessicabiel) on Oct 31, 2016 at 5:48pm PDT
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel also created a family costume with their son, Silas, from the film Trolls. While Timberlake and his son dressed as Branch and lil Branch, Biel painted her face pink as Poppy. "We be Trollin'," she teased.
A photo posted by Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) on Oct 31, 2016 at 9:52am PDT
Kourtney Kardashian also joins the list of parents who coordinated costumes with their children. She and her three children, Mason, Penelope, and Reign each dressed as a different Power Ranger.
A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 31, 2016 at 7:10pm PDT
As expected, Taylor Swift squaded up for Halloween, throwing a small get-together at her Los Angeles home. While Swift borrowed a mask from Ryan Reynolds to be Deadpool, Gigi Hadid went as a cub scout, Martha Hunt went as Martha Brady, Emmie Gundler went as Black Swan, Lily Donaldson went as a space cadet, Camila Cabello went as a granny with a lost cat, and Kennedy Rayé celebrated her birthday dressed as a cat.
A photo posted by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Oct 31, 2016 at 2:17pm PDT
Ariana Grande first posted a cute picture of herself dressed as Eevee with Mac Miller dressed as Pikachu. However, in her next few posts, she shows more violent depictions of their costumes, captioning, “Eevee cannot contain her love, excitement and adoration for Pikachu and eats him.”
A photo posted by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Oct 31, 2016 at 6:04pm PDT
She followed up the bloody costumes with more pleasant ones—as Sam and Suzy from Wes Anderson's film, Moonrise Kingdom.
A photo posted by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Oct 31, 2016 at 6:36pm PDT
Lena Dunham fully admitted “I’m an asshole” this Halloween and shamelessly wore a very political costume. She dressed as cat with hands glued to her body and proudly stated, “With love from a Grabbed Pussy.”
A photo posted by Kate Hudson (@katehudson) on Oct 29, 2016 at 1:17pm PDT
Kate Hudson and Katy Perry have practically been inseparable this Halloween—appropriately so because their birth names are both Kate Hudson. On the first night, Hudson held a Halloween bash in Los Angeles where Perry and Orlando Bloom came as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, respectively.
A photo posted by Kate Hudson (@katehudson) on Oct 29, 2016 at 10:29pm PDT
The next night, Katy Perry invited Kate Hudson to her Grease-inspired, sock hop-themed birthday party. The pair and their friends dressed as members of Hudson High School—with Perry as the principal, Hudson as a wild girl, and Orlando Bloom as the gym teacher.
A photo posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on Oct 31, 2016 at 4:29pm PDT
Jessica Alba also attended Katy Perry's Grease party dressed as a Pink Lady. But that wasn't all: At work, her Honest Company coworkers each dressed as a different Snapchat filter while she took a selfie. At home, she and her youngest daughter, Haven, dressed as Jasmine princesses, while she and her oldest daughter, Honor, dressed as pirates.
#ABFAB w my boo @kellysawyer #patsyandedina #bff
To kick off Halloween festivities, though, Jessica Alba and her friend channeled their best #ABFAB, dressed as Patsy Stone and Edina Monsoon of the BBC sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous.
The next incarnation a la @thefacinator @bydaisymakeup @seenbysharkey A video posted by Martha Stewart (@marthastewart48) on Oct 29, 2016 at 9:32am PDT
Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you—75-year-old Martha Stewart may have the scariest costume this year. Stewart attended Allison Sarofim and Stuart Parr’s private party in New York City, which was themed “Prince on Prince”—honoring the late musician, Prince and the visual artist, Richard Prince. Stewart’s costume referenced Richard Prince’s iconic nurse painting series as the Park Avenue nurse.
Barb! A photo posted by @amyschumer on Oct 29, 2016 at 5:35pm PDT
Like many other Stanger Things-obsessed fans, Amy Schumer and her boyfriend, Ben Hanisch, dressed as Dustin and Eleven, respectively. However, the couple took a creative spin by swapping gender roles.
A photo posted by Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev) on Oct 28, 2016 at 9:05pm PDT
Nina Dobrev outdid herself two nights in a row. First, she dressed as the dead horse from the film, The Revenant, while her friend dressed as Leonard DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning character. “Horsing around this Halloween with my costar Leo,” she captioned on Instagram. “Pretty sure I got the short end of this stick, being a blanket is overrated.”
A photo posted by Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev) on Oct 30, 2016 at 5:52pm PDT
The next night, Dobrev and her friend went as Olympic swimmers, Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen. The pair ran into Twilight actor Taylor Lautner at a party, who was also dressed as Lochte. "How many Lochte's is too many Lochte's?"
Just a girl, dressed up as Tom Hanks as "Sully" Sullenberger III from the film "Sully", directed by Clint Eastwood. pic.twitter.com/ug7Kq54bQW — Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) October 30, 2016
Mindy Kaling had a very timely costume as Tom Hanks’ rendition of Sully Sullenberger III from the recent film, Sully, which follows the airplane pilot of the “miracle on the Hudson.”
Diiiiiirty @xtina A photo posted by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Oct 30, 2016 at 12:03am PDT
Over the weekend, Kylie Jenner was a dead ringer for Christina Aguilera from her 2002 Dirrty music video. She and Kourtney Kardashian, dressed as a dead bride, attended Bootsy Bellows’ Halloween party where her boyfriend, Tyga performed.
thanks for joining our dinner tonight
Jenner first kicked off the Halloween festivities by hosting the most extravagant “dead dinner” where she and Tyga painted their faces as skeletons. The dinner was also skeleton themed, serving lychee eyeball drinks, margaritas in syringes, chocolate cakes in mini caskets—and topping the night with a toilet-paper costume contest. Her friends, including her sister Kendall, attended dressed in the all-black theme.
A photo posted by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on Oct 31, 2016 at 7:44am PDT
Jenner's half-sister, Khloe Kardashian, put in stark white contacts and painted her face silver to be Storm on Halloween. Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player, Tristan Thompson, dressed as Black Panther, and the unofficially announced their relationship on Instagram.
Going to bless all the little souls at @TeamBandLpic.twitter.com/YJhY4KdlEn — h (@halsey) October 29, 2016
Halsey started the weekend at a Brownies and Lemonade concert in the City of Angels—appropriately dressed as an angel. That wasn’t her only costume though—the singer had three more, as Harley Quinn, Beatrix Kiddo (or the Bride) from Kill Bill, and one more to come on Halloween night.
have you ever seen a more "why me?" face
It all started with a hotdog costume for supermodel Chrissy Teigen, who then found seven more costumes for her six-month-old daughter, Luna: a peacock, Minnie Mouse, a banana, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, a Pink Lady, and a hula girl. “You can’t possibly think I only bought the hot dog,” she said. “Please help I can't stop.”
Rollin' up to my school #Halloween dance as the flyest guy I know! #MartyMcFly (Only the adults knew who I was...) #BackToTheFuture A photo posted by Jacob Tremblay (@jacobtremblay) on Oct 28, 2016 at 8:27pm PDT
Room child actor, Jacob Tremblay, pulled out his moves at his school’s Halloween dance. Unfortunately, his fellow 10-year-old peers didn’t quite recognize his Marty McFly costume.
Want to see my #HalloweenCostume? Be my guest A photo posted by Josh Sundquist (@joshsundquist) on Oct 25, 2016 at 1:42pm PDT
Perhaps the most golden Halloween idea goes to Joshua Sundquist, a Paralympic ski racer and soccer player. The amputee has long embraced having one leg through his Halloween costumes, and this year, he created an elaborate Lumiere costume. “He’s Disney’s most famous monopod,” Sundquist wrote on his website.
Daytime talk shows hosts—namely, on Today, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Live! with Kelly—have an annual tradition of wearing the most elaborate costumes each year.
We've gone back to the '90s! Watch the full #HalloweenTODAY reveal! https://t.co/hKLSHFv3Pt — TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 31, 2016
On the Today show, Carson Daly recreated the hit ’90’s MTV show that he once hosted, Total Request Live (TRL). Dressing as himself from 20 years ago, he counted down six of the most iconic moments from the era. Tamron Hall and Willie Geist did the legendary dance as Uma Thurman and John Travolta’s characters from Pulp Fiction; Al Roker got out his nerd gear as Steve Urkel from Family Matters, Daly himself rode up in a motorcycle as the Terminator; Kathie Lee and Hoda threw it back to the old Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee—and Regis Philbin even popped in for a cameo. A pregnant Savannah Guthrie channeled the pregnant Demi Moore from her nude Vanity Fair cover; and Matt Lauer came as Jerry Seinfeld.
Ellen DeGeneres is spot on each year when she dresses as a different celebrity. This year, she showed up as Sia and lip-synced a performance of Chandelier while Heidi Klum, the ultimate Halloween-lover, danced onstage as Maddie Ziegler.
First Family Feud! #LiveHalloween #FamilyFeud #LiveKelly #election2016 @bravoandy @mrjerryoc #costume A video posted by LIVE with Kelly (@livekelly) on Oct 31, 2016 at 10:15am PDT
Even without a permanent co-host, Kelly Ripa still outdid herself on her Halloween special. With guest co-host, Jerry O’Connell, Ripa opened the show by performing the number from the hit musical, Hamilton—dressed as none other than Alexander Hamilton. In addition, Ripa came out as Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad, Elliot from Mr. Robot, and Beyoncé from Lemonade. As if four costumes weren’t enough, Ripa had two more—as both Donald and Melania Trump—while O’Connell dressed as both Hillary and Bill Clinton. Ripa then brought on Andy Cohen to host a Family Feud game between the Trump and Clinton families.
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565cec35fd747fde8b6c6194d8d6e98c | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2020/12/22/iowa-district-court-grants-preliminary-injunction-for-hawkeye-womens-swimming-program/ | Iowa District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction For Hawkeye Women’s Swimming Program | Iowa District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction For Hawkeye Women’s Swimming Program
Historic Capitol Building on the University of Iowa Campus getty
After two days of testimony, an Iowa District Judge has granted an injunction to the women’s swimming program at the University of Iowa, saving the program for at least the 2021-22 season.
Originally, the University of Iowa Athletics Department announced in August they were eliminating four varsity programs at the end of this academic year, including men’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s tennis. “We carefully and thoroughly reviewed all financial options and each of our programs individually. We considered, in part, sponsorship at the NCAA Division I level, impact on gender equity and Title IX compliance, expense savings, history of the sport at Iowa, engagement level, and other factors. With the recent postponement of fall sports and immediate financial impact due to this decision, we believe this path is necessary to strengthen athletics and position our programs for future success with the resources we have,” stated Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta.
Projecting revenue losses of up to $100 million for this year, Iowa painted a dire portrait of financial doom and gloom, while assuring the athletes that the cuts were compliant with Title IX. On Tuesday, District Judge Stephanie Rose disagreed, and ordered an injunction.
Pleading their case in court, the athletes argued that the University is violating the law, and has made it worse by denying participation opportunities to women through cutting a women’s program.
In response to the complaint, the University issued a statement in September saying “the University of Iowa last recently completed a four-year review by the Office of Civil Rights on compliance with Title IX in the Athletic Department. In 2019, the Office for Civil Rights closed its investigation with no findings of any violation in the 13 categories of Title IX. The university remains committed to staying in compliance with Title IX.”
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important parts of the Iowa Athletics Department’s mission. The elimination of these four sports will not negatively impact our efforts in this area. In fact, impact on Gender Equity and Title IX compliance was one of the factors used to determine which sports to eliminate due to the fiscal financial crisis created by COVID-19.”
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Where does this leave the swimmers? Preparing for an in-depth hearing in the near future, which could possibly lead to stabilizing the swim program. Already, according to the complaint, “four of the team's six coaches and 15 of the 35 members of the women’s swimming team have taken new jobs or committed to another school starting next semester or next year. An additional four are in transfer portals”, according to the lawsuit. The suit also seeks to add additional women’s sports teams to the athletic department’s offerings.
At the end of the hearing, District Justice Rose told the plaintiffs “it was a very difficult case”, but the evidence demonstrated the need to balance both the “harms” to the athletes as well as the “public interests”, leading her to lean towards granting the injunction. Rose continued, “when you’re riding as close to the Title IX compliance line as the university has been ... when a crisis hits, options become pretty limited".
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19b99c4c6c40754f0a44e3467767f017 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2021/02/25/changes-in-2024-olympic-sports-portfolio-should-add-further-disruption-to-college-non-revenue-sports/ | Changes In 2024 Olympic Sports Portfolio Should Add Further Disruption To College Non-Revenue Sports | Changes In 2024 Olympic Sports Portfolio Should Add Further Disruption To College Non-Revenue Sports
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JUNE 02: The Princeton Tigers compete in the Second Eights Petite Final during ... [+] the Division I Women's Rowing Championship held at the Indianapolis Rowing Center on June 2, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) NCAA Photos via Getty Images
College sports play a crucial role in the pipeline of developing Olympic athletes. Neither side can afford to lose the other as the massive deficits from Covid-19 mount.
A new committee formed to find ways to sustain Division I college non-revenue sports has great intentions, but may be missing the mark. Trying to save sports like rowing, tennis, sailing and golf might be looking in the rear view mirror. Contrary to the days when college athletes and college campuses were primarily white and wealthy, college athletic leaders may need to consider a second strategy — a very “urban” strategy in attracting a more diverse group.
The demographic shifts occurring on campus over the next decade will see many more college-bound families who are diverse, first-generation and not so wealthy. These athletes may have more familiarity with different, edgy sports like breakdancing, sport climbing, parkour, wushu and skateboarding.
Trying to save money, Division I athletic directors are turning to the United States Olympic Committee and the sport National Governing Bodies to share costs for promotions and event management for some current Olympic sports.
The USOPC College Sports Sustainability Think Tank announced this week they are actively soliciting input on how to strengthen the pipeline of some Olympic sports. A who’s who of high profile athletics directors comprise the working group seeking ideas as to how to preserve and pay for the pipeline.
“Despite the United States having a smaller population than countries like China and Russia, we're able to win medals because American colleges and universities at the Division I level spend over $5 billion annually on Olympic sports alone,” said Florida AD co-chair Scott Stricklin. “We have a model where our government doesn't fund Team USA, our colleges and universities and private support are the ones helping train these athletes at the varsity level.”
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But should Division I colleges fight to save their current portfolio of long standing Olympic sports? Or, like the IOC, begin to embrace an entirely new slate of sports, potentially attracting a more diverse population of incoming students, future Olympic athletes and TV eyeballs? Perhaps that should be a part of the discussion.
A dancer performs during the Breakdance contest "Paris Battle Pro" at La Seine Musicale in Paris on ... [+] February 23, 2019. - Breakdancing is set to make its debut as an Olympic sport at Paris 2024, the head of the local organising committee said on February 21, 2019, Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, which have already been added to the programme for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have been invited to return in Paris four years later. (Photo by LUCAS BARIOULET / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCAS BARIOULET/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images
As the host city, Paris had the opportunity to “fine tune” the 2024 sports portfolio, so they chose to include more individual sports for two reasons. First, the IOC embraced adding these sports because they trend towards a younger demographic (in both participation and for social media), key for inspiring new audiences. When asked why, the answer was simple— Generation Z . Gen Z (generally under 20) demonstrates interest in sports they can participate in and share on social media—individual sports.
Secondly, hosting an Olympic Games takes up a massive amount of space, both in the Olympic Village and the entire footprint of the competition complex. Reflecting that, Paris is adding new “urban sports.” The IOC notes “the 10,500-athlete quota set for Paris 2024, including new sports, will lead to an overall reduction in the number of athletes – 592 fewer compared to Tokyo 2020 (11,092). It will also lead to a reduction in the number of officials, and therefore in the overall size and complexity of the Games. The reduction across the 28 sports has been proportionate and focused on those sports that can best absorb the reduction, whilst maintaining the universality of the Games.”
Should Division I athletic directors instead rethink their sport offerings to intentionally attract athletes who are more racially and socioeconomically diverse? Widely acknowledged as a significant trend in higher education, how many of today’s non-revenue sports portfolios reflect this development on campus?
About half of 2024’s Olympic sports menu correlate with an NCAA sport: athletics (track and field), rowing, basketball, fencing, football (soccer), golf, gymnastics, field hockey, wrestling, swimming and diving, water polo, tennis, shooting, and volleyball. And while there is always hope for the menu could transition back to popular American sports when Los Angeles hosts in 2028, this is a pattern that is likely not going away.
Athletic Directors want to save non-revenue sports because they have defined our desire to have “broad-based” programs. But are traditional college Olympic sports compatible with an evolving campus population? For an Olympics movement focused on attracting Generation Z? High level sport administrators know its imperative to chase the younger, multicultural demographic-that’s where the future athletes (and eyeballs) are. Perhaps it’s time to consider the longer view.
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cd6a56f7706b231da0d2a6064e767b90 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2021/04/01/in-spite-of-the-glory-that-is-march-madness-the-ncaa-had-a-terrible-monthwhat-college-presidents-need-to-do-now/?sh=53f4d2735c61 | In Spite Of March Madness, The NCAA Had A Terrible Month: What College Presidents Need To Do Now | In Spite Of March Madness, The NCAA Had A Terrible Month: What College Presidents Need To Do Now
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 30: Evan Mobley #4 of the USC Trojans shoots over Corey Kispert #24 of the ... [+] Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Elite Eight round of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament held at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 30, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) NCAA Photos via Getty Images
The month of March was a rough one for the NCAA. Weight room issues, food issues, court branding issues, using the term “March Madness” issues, apologies for all those issues—the hits just keep on coming. And there was that small matter of oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court. Yeesh.
Mark Emmert is not in charge of the NCAA. Oh sure, he is on the frontlines, taking the slings and arrows from coaches, players, athletic directors, fans, sportswriters..I could go on and on. And he is paid handsomely to do just that. But he is the wrong person to look at for substantive change right now.
So, just who should we look towards to create the kind of structural, systemic change necessary in college sports? The answer to that question requires a look at the current governance structure of the NCAA.
Take a gander at this NCAA produced chart titled “How the NCAA works.” The Board of Governors (BOG) is the oversight body to whom Emmert reports. Under the NCAA Constitution, the core responsibilities of the Board of Governors include:
• Acts on behalf of the Association by adopting and implementing policies to resolve core issues and other Association-wide matters.
• Provides final approval and oversight of the Association-wide budget.
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• Recruits, appoints, supports and evaluates the NCAA president.
• Provides strategic planning for the Association as a whole.
• Initiates and settles litigation.
• Convenes the NCAA Convention each year
While the NCAA President attends the BOG meetings and “plays an active role in the governance system as an ex officio member of the Board of Governors, the president gets one vote on the committee and only for the purpose of breaking a tie.”
Is it any wonder no one person is permitted to make a decision? This is an example of shared governance gone amuck.
Sixteen college presidents run the NCAA as members of the BOG. There are also independent members (including former Duke men’s basketball player Grant Hill) and athletics directors who add their perspectives as well.
The NCAA is a membership organization, and members do like to know their voices can be heard within the structure. Since it appears there are no looming solutions to any of the major challenges coming from the NCAA, here are a few.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - MARCH 30: Laeticia Amihere #15 of the South Carolina Gamecocks takes a shot in ... [+] the second half against the Texas Longhorns during the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Alamodome on March 30, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Getty Images
I spoke with Gabe Feldman, co-founder and co-director of the Center for Sport at Tulane University, a top sports law expert and a consultant to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Feldman and the Commission suggest radical change is needed:
Break off FBS Football into its own sports governance orbit. As of now, $66 million of the revenues made in the Football National Championship games (2 semi-finals and 1 final) go to each of the Power 5 conferences; additional appearance fees (ranging from $4-$6 million for the semi-finals and championship game) per team selected. No longer should Indianapolis bear the costs of rules enforcement and, most importantly, the overwhelming legal costs for defending football practices in federal court. College sports desperately needs an independent commission to provide oversight and hold the NCAA accountable to the values they profess to have. As we saw in the women’s basketball tournament, the NCAA says they care about women’s sport, but default to the out of date thinking that women’s sports aren’t profitable. An oversight commission would not allow that mindset to continue.
As Feldman told me, “the university presidents still have to figure out the best way for them to govern college athletics, that is fair to college athletes, and that can continue to sustain what people love about college sports”. That makes sense, but the challenge goes much deeper than that. Today, University presidents are running campuses as large as 55,000 students with massive numbers of stakeholders. The internal politics are fierce, and it’s human nature to want to leverage your school’s or conference’s best interests if you are sitting at the table.
The governance work done on behalf of the membership is all-volunteer, often squeezed in alongside the demands of a president’s full-time job. Is this anyway to run an organization with a billion dollar annual budget? And, is it realistic considering the 21st century demands made on college presidents?
The NCAA once turned to the athletics directors to run the governance structures, but that model too, is outdated.
In this recent survey conducted by the AP, ADs demonstrate an inability to do anything other than recite time worn tropes. Example: When asked if athletes should receive some kind of compensation, 94% of ADs said if that happened, it would result in the loss of opportunities for women’s sports. "Sharing revenue with student-athletes is not feasible. That only works if universities are then absolved of Title IX requirements. Football revenue supports women's golf, women's tennis, women's softball, women's volleyball, women's soccer, women's track and field on this campus”, wrote ESPN.
I suppose few of today’s sitting ADs would remember the infamous Tower Amendment from 1974, which was the first of many attempts to limit the influence of Title IX on athletic departments. Spoiler alert: it failed, as did every subsequent attempt in the last 50 years.
Those who follow college sports are exhausted by this argument, because it does not take into consideration any needed spending reductions in football. The fact that similar arguments are repeated anytime the organization is asked to change or adapt shows one thing—some of the people deep inside the enterprise can’t or won’t see the bigger picture.
An oversight commission would remind the BOG of their responsibility to the tenets the NCAA proclaims to hold dear-athlete safety, health and wellness; social and racial justice issues; academic enhancements as well as strengthening the opportunities for athletes to graduate career ready, just to name a few.
Ask almost anyone inside higher education, and the last thing you should want is to ask the Federal Government to fix your operation. Congress and the Supreme Court are lurking on the NCAA’s doorstep waiting to impose change. Even in the oral arguments this week, it was clear a few of the Justices understood the NCAA has lost its way when it comes to protecting the rights of athletes.
Most college presidents know that change is coming. The question of the day is—do you wait for it to be imposed on you or do it yourself? I know my answer. What’s yours?
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01d9462eb8703fd72341f0ed409c20c1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karinagness/2017/05/23/notre-dame-graduates-miss-pences-freedom-of-speech-lesson-by-walking-out/ | Notre Dame Graduates Miss Pence's Freedom Of Speech Lesson By Walking Out | Notre Dame Graduates Miss Pence's Freedom Of Speech Lesson By Walking Out
US Vice President, Mike Pence speaks during a press conference at Kirribilli House on April 22, 2017... [+] in Sydney, Australia. Mr Pence will meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, and members of the US and Australian militaries during his two-day visit. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Vice President Mike Pence returned to Indiana to deliver a commencement address at the University of Notre Dame over the weekend.
A small group of graduates walked out when the former Governor of Indiana began speaking. Only about 100 students of the approximately 3,000 students graduating participated. That’s less than 5 percent. But it is what made headlines—Some Notre Dame graduates walk out over VP Mike Pence speech, for example.
What should have made headlines was the Vice President’s comments in favor of freedom of speech. In his remarks, he said:
But Notre Dame is an exception, an island in a sea of conformity so far spared from the noxious wave that seems to be rushing over much of academia. While this institution has maintained an atmosphere of civility and open debate, far too many campuses across America have become characterized by speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness, all of which amounts to nothing less than suppression of the freedom of speech. These all-too-common practices are destructive of learning and the pursuit of knowledge, and they are wholly outside the American tradition.
Pence describes a real problem on many college campuses. Instead of universities encouraging discussion between opposing voices, students are taught to keep quiet, directly or indirectly.
Some of the stories about college “snowflakes,” those who seem to be offended by everything, are humorous at first—especially when they involve coloring or Play-doh. But there are serious consequences when universities are more focused on coddling students than fostering civilized debate, as Pence explained:
As you, our youth, are the future, and universities the bellwether of thought and culture, I would submit that the increasing intolerance and suppression of the time-honored tradition of free expression on our campuses jeopardizes the liberties of every American. This should not and must not be met with silence.
What the Vice President was trying to teach the students, in the last hour of college, was the value of civil disagreement.
Pence, for one, hasn’t whined about the small protest at Notre Dame. I wouldn’t expect him to. This isn’t the first protest he has faced or the first time he has extolled the virtues of freedom of speech.
After the election, Pence went with his family to see Hamilton. In addition to boos, the cast read a statement to Pence. On Fox News Sunday, Pence said of the incident:
It was a real joy to be there. When we arrived, we heard a few boos and we heard some cheers and I nudged my kids and reminded them, that’s what freedom sounds like. I did hear what was said from the stage, and I can tell you I wasn’t offended by what was said. I’ll leave to others whether that was the appropriate venue to say it.
His approach sharply contrasted with that of President-Elect Donald J. Trump. Trump tweeted:
The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior.
While students might disagree with some of Pence’s policies, they can learn a lesson from him. A lesson about how we can hold different views in this country and still listen to the other side. Students shouldn’t try to avoid all views with which they disagree. That’s not what college, or America, is supposed to be about.
In his Hampden-Sydney College commencement address, Bret Stephens, Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, said:
Safe spaces, physical and intellectual, are for children. You are grown-ups now. If your diplomas mean anything, it’s that it is time you leave those spaces behind forever.
That’s good advice for all college graduates.
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d6939af61a978bd880c4ab26aabba881 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2019/03/31/ariana-grande-is-the-new-queen-of-instagram-what-can-we-learn-from-her-strategy/ | Ariana Grande Is The New Queen Of Instagram: What Can We Learn From Her Strategy? | Ariana Grande Is The New Queen Of Instagram: What Can We Learn From Her Strategy?
Ariana Grande attends the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event at Pier 36 on Thursday, Dec. 6,... [+] 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Ariana Grande has been making history and headlines in 2019. In February, she broke the record for the most Top 40 hits at once for a woman, and now with 150 million followers on Instagram (at the time of writing this), she is the new Queen of Instagram, a title that Selena Gomez had previously held steadily for years. (Grande surpassed Gomez, who had 146.32 million followers, on February 25. According to Billboard, Grande gained 13 million new Instagram followers in the last four months.)
It's no surprise that Grande has become the most followed woman on Instagram, considering the amount of content she's released in less than year (the album Sweetener was released in August 2018 and was quickly followed up by the album Thank U, Next in February 2019). Throw in a highly publicized engagement to Pete Davidson followed by a subsequent breakup, in addition to the surprise drop of the single "Thank U, Next" in the fall along with its viral music video, and all eyes were locked on Grande's Instagram account.
What is surprising is her unconventional Instagram strategy, which strays from the traditional social media playbook. I spoke with Priscilla Castro, Brand Partnerships Manager at Planoly, a visual management platform for Instagram, and Larissa May, founder of the social media platform, #HalfTheStory, to discuss the key takeaways from Grande's Instagram tactics.
1- Some marketing rules are meant to broken, as long as there's a level of strategy involved.
While other users tend to share a maximum of one or two posts daily (and some might even go a few days without posting new content to their actual Instagram grid), Grande posts three assets to her feed daily and shares them back to back.
Castro of Planoly explains: "When it comes to content strategies, our team usually tells people to cap their posting to a max of three posts a day, whether they’re sharing for their personal Instagram or planning as a brand. Sometimes, even one or two posts can do the trick to ensure the content's always engaging. Grande's strategy combines listening to her fans and giving the people exactly what they want , as they say in showbiz! Along with doing strong teaser campaigns for each song / video / album that she’s about to drop, she knows how to build the hype with her Instagram. And honestly, it’s what led to her success with “Thank U, Next” as the most watched music video on YouTube within 24 hours of its release."
But this posting strategy isn't for everyone, so proceed with caution.
"Unless you already have an established die-hard fandom, don’t go the Grande route and post as much as she does. She is the exception, whereas other accounts, be it a brand or personal account, that post too much can definitely come off spammy and lose engagement, and ultimately followers," warns Castro.
The method to Grande's madness, however, is the strategy behind it and that's what makes her social content a grande slam, rather than spam.
Castro continues: "To me, spam is multiple content that has no intention or strategy, and it’s clear that Grande has an intention and strategy in place for each post."
2- Be consistent.
Grande is queen of consistency. Even a casual scroll on her feed will reveal that there's nary a post out of place.
Castro explains: "The great thing about Grande always posting in sets of 'three's is that all the content relates to one another, making it a series where there’s a clear beginning, middle and end that the audience can anticipate. She’s trained followers to expect that she will create a row when posting content, so it never comes off as spam."
The key here is that there's a certain predictability to her posting behavior, even though she manages to keep followers on their toes with engaging content.
3- Take a social media break when you need to.
After Grande and Davidson called off their engagement in October of 2018, Grande announced she was going on a social media detox.
It was a widely applauded move that sparked conversation surrounding the importance of recognizing the correlation between mental health issues and social media, and knowing when it's time to take a break.
Larissa May, mental health advocate and founder of #HalfTheStory, weighed in on this move: "This is the type of behavior and dialogue I wish more celebrities would adopt. Many of them have marketing teams and managers that handle all of their content, so it's easy to look invincible. Celebrities and influencers are considered the top 1% of social capital — that’s what I call them. This minority group is controlling the content and influencing the rest of the community, shaping their ideas, and their purchasing behaviors. More and more celebrities are opening up about their own mental health and social media use, and this is exactly where the conversion should be heading. Social media is only #halfthestory."
4- Know when to post Stories vs. in-feed pics.
People are usually more precious when it comes to their "in-feed" posts as opposed to Instagram Stories, since Stories expire after 24 hours.
Castro confirms this theory: "The rule of thumb for Instagram Stories is to post whatever doesn’t fit content-wise with your grid. Grande has chosen Stories as a channel for her to share a more intimate, behind-the-scenes look into her life with her friends, family and pups." She also sprinkles in selfies, memes and countdowns to new releases, making for an endless stream of Stories.
Instagram Stories might be fleeting, but Grande is still calculating about every font, color and emoji she chooses.
"While Grande is a personality, she is also a brand. It goes back to her flawless consistent branding, but more so the attention detail: right off the bat you notice her photo editing style, the fonts, the grey, black and white, and pink hues in her photos. It’s signature 'Ariana', and goes to show that whether it’s her high and taut ponytail or her oversized sweaters with high-knee boots, she knows her personal identity and her fans clearly know it too," Castro explains.
5- Keep your followers engaged in your conversation.
Engagement has always been an important tactic when it comes to social media, and Grande takes it further in her Stories.
Castro explains: "Since Grande has started the Sweetener World Tour, she’ll ask fans to drop in questions while she’s getting ready to go on stage, and it’s a way for her to keep that two-way communication channel with her and her audience in real time. Instagram isn’t just a promotional tool for her, but a way for her and her audience to genuinely connect."
If you're aiming to level-up your Instagram game, keep this key takeaway courtesy of Castro in mind:
"Know who you are, know how your brand resonates with your audience, and stay consistent with it. Once you start honing in on the brand that you’ve defined for yourself, your audience will appreciate your consistency and authenticity. It’s important to note that social media audiences are very much in sync with these details, and the minute they feel something is out of tune to personality and brand, they will be the first to call it out in the comments."
In the meantime, head's up, Cristiano Ronaldo and your 160 million followers; Grande might be dethroning you next...
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74d1d4bcb6a71fc4471add78534685a4 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2019/11/15/why-popsugar-is-doubling-down-on-experiential/ | Why PopSugar Is Doubling Down On Experiential With Its Sugar Chalet Shopping Activation | Why PopSugar Is Doubling Down On Experiential With Its Sugar Chalet Shopping Activation
Rendering of Pop Sugar's Holiday Activation, Sugar Chalet, Photo Credit: PopSugar Photo Credit: PopSugar
In this shifting retail (and media) landscape, one thing is clear: people are craving connection.
There’s a reason why more and more immersive experiences are popping up, and why traditional brick and mortar retailers are looking to implement the magic formula of IRL activations like the Museum of Ice Cream. One need only look at content-meets-commerce retailers like Camp, which features a seamless blend of play and product in what is referred to as a “family experience store” (and which has set up camp as a permanent location in New York City’s Flatiron District), and the Friends pop-up that opened in SoHo in honor of the landmark show’s 25th anniversary and featuring all the perks of Friends merch, to see that immersive experiences that play on emotions can deepen the connection between brands and consumers. It’s not only a pop-up thing: the self-proclaimed “most interesting store in the world,” Showfields, features experiential elements like physical slides, art installations, and playful demos for visitors to try the products of otherwise direct-to-consumer brands.
While retail is far from dead and is simply evolving, PopSugar is capitalizing on the fact that 60% of holiday sales are still made in-store (in November, leading up to Black Friday) and that the discovery of a product takes place in a store, where a consumer can see and touch the products.
PopSugar is meeting shoppers where they are this season by putting an immersive twist on the traditional holiday pop-up that offers a playful and modern approach with its Sugar Chalet, taking place at The Overlook at Winter Village at Bryant Park in New York City, on Saturday, November 23. (PopSugar tapped David Stark Design & Production to bring Sugar Chalet to life.)
And while its visually-driven setup will serve as Instagram eye candy, PopSugar is aiming to create connection between consumer and brand – more than simply inspiring social media content.
Karena Dawn and Katrina Scott, Co-Founders of Tone It Up, at PopSugar Play/Ground 2019, 2019 Getty ... [+] Images Photo Credit: 2019 Getty Images
I spoke with Lindsay Leaf, PopSugar's Vice President of Experiential Marketing, to hear her insight on the upcoming Sugar Chalet activation, what PopSugar has learned about this past summer’s PopSugar Play/Ground festival, and what this all further demonstrates about the future of retail.
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Karin Eldor: Why did you feel it was important to add an experiential, playful element to the traditional pop-up for the upcoming holiday season?
Lindsay Leaf: Shoppers are no longer just buying a lipgloss, a sports bra or a pair of boots, but, instead, are buying into a brand and a lifestyle. We wanted to create a fantasy world where consumers could immerse themselves in an après ski setting while spending time shopping and discovering new brands, connecting with friends, and treating themselves. That’s what we've built with the Sugar Chalet.
We took a consumer-first approach to further build it out with a curation of interactive, shoppable experiences like "fireside" yoga, meditation sessions, makeovers, curated culinary kiosks, pop-up shops, and more from brands like Athleta, E.L.F. Cosmetics, and Nature's Way.
Eldor: How did you select the activities that are available?
Leaf: Every moment of the Sugar Chalet experience was designed to support PopSugar’s overarching goal of fostering joy, engagement and discovery within a playful lens. Our key partners, like us, represent health, wellness, style, and beauty, and the on-site activities align with the winter-meets-wellness needs of our consumers during this time of the year.
Eldor: Is the purpose of Sugar Chalet to foster connection with others, or connection with brands? Or both?
Leaf: Both. We feel confident this one-of-a-kind pop-up will create meaningful connections between attendees and our brand partners through offline, immersive experiences that foster education, engagement and entertainment at every layer.
Eldor: Why do you think connection has become a goal for many brands and media outlets?
Leaf: It’s important now more than ever to engage our audience where they are – both online and offline. The digital media landscape is shifting as millennial and Gen Z consumers crave offline interactions and connection through community. In today’s world, consumers can digest and discover brands via digital mediums by scrolling, posting, following, and sharing to their heart’s content, but nothing will ever compare to actual experiences and deeper memorable IRL interactions.
Eldor: Many activations and pop-ups are saying they want to go beyond Insta-worthy moments, but at the end of the day, a measurable goal to brand partners is number of shares and hashtags, so I always challenge this! How will you measure connection, which is such a qualitative overarching goal?
Leaf: Our primary criteria for measuring the success of Sugar Chalet will be foot traffic and programming attendance, on-site purchases, and feedback garnered through post-event surveys. PopSugar is a digitally-native brand and social amplification will, of course, layer into our overarching metrics for success, but we count this as a secondary KPI.
Ultimately, we are architecting consumer-first experiential activations that will build and evolve over time. To do that successfully, we have to create something much deeper than an Instagram moment. We know when we really connect with consumers that social amplification will come, but we need to prioritize that connection over a simple Instagram post.
Eldor: I love the buzz you've created with the PopSugar Play/Ground, which took place for a second year this past summer. What are some of the most important key takeaways you've learned from there, which speak to the future of retail and to what the female millennial customer is craving?
Leaf: Millennials and members of Gen Z are craving joy, discovery and information. They are multi-faceted and the PopSugar Play/Ground speaks to that. We don't put parameters around it and say, this is for fitness enthusiasts, or this is for wellness buffs -- Play/Ground is for everyone. We added a lot of programming to our lineup this year which really resonated.
This consumer wants to hear from the people behind the brands, they want to understand how products play into their lives, they seek real information and interaction. We brought a stage into our pop-up shop this year and hosted conversations with industry icons like Jenna Lyons, Stacey Bendet, Cynthia Rowley, and more. In general, the female millennial customer is craving inclusion - they want a seat at the table. They want to go beyond the racks and product displays and understand what's behind the brand, and the best way to deliver that opportunity is through experiences.
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7c1cf31bd053e489a8d952ec849ef062 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2020/06/30/giving-back-wellness-and-lenny-kravitz-how-twice-is-changing-the-conversation-around-toothpaste/?sh=23e6ae374ffd | How Twice Is Changing The Conversation Around Toothpaste (With Lenny Kravitz As A Cofounder) | How Twice Is Changing The Conversation Around Toothpaste (With Lenny Kravitz As A Cofounder)
Julian Levine, Lenny Kravitz and Cody Levine, founders of Twice, Photo Credit: Dave Fitz Photo Credit: Dave Fitz
To say the founders of Twice toothpaste are unlocking the power of a smile is an understatement.
Brothers turned cofounders, Julian and Cody Levine, along with partner and cofounder Lenny Kravitz, are on a mission to flip the script on toothpaste with their brand, Twice.
The best part?
While they’re changing the conversation by inspiring people to think twice about their toothpaste and by bringing oral care into wellness — it’s actually the first toothpaste brand to define itself as ‘science + wellness toothpaste’ — they’re doing it while keeping it accessible and making an impact. (More on this in a bit...)
It’s about elevating an everyday, high-quality product at an affordable price, as opposed to being an overly aspirational toothpaste brand.
“We wanted to rethink toothpaste and make it our way,” Cody Levine explains. “It’s about how something as simple as a smile can change someone’s life. Everyone wants whitening — which Twice does! — but health goes much deeper below the surface. Through our marketing, we are taking a holistic approach to oral health — as the mouth truly is the gateway to the body and we believe that improving your oral health starts with the basics of brushing twice a day.”
For the Levine brothers, oral health runs in the family — their father is prosthodontist Dr. Jonathan Levine, a dental specialist in NYC, author, professor, and inventor who began to innovate whitening products in his dental office over 20 years ago. Together with their mother Stacey, an entrepreneur, and branding and retail expert, the husband and wife team commercialized and sold their oral care products under GLO Science in major retailers like Sephora. (It was actually the first whitening company to sell their products into the prestige beauty market.)
“In 2010, they launched GLO Science, with a groundbreaking innovation in teeth whitening creating the very first whitening device with patented heat and light technology,” Cody Levine explains about his parents’ venture. “Equally and likely more important to them, they wanted their company to have soul, so they put giving back front and center — as a result, they launched GLO Science alongside the GLO Good Foundation, a non-profit arm bringing free dental services, tools and education to communities in need. This foundation has been the launchpad for the most rewarding and fulfilling work to date, as we’ve been able to help thousands of people regain their smile.”
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It was a trip with the GLO Good non-profit foundation that led Cody and Julian Levine to discover their life’s purpose, and pivot career paths as a result.
The most transformative experience was on the first mission trip to Rwanda in 2010, where they met a woman named Agathe who was raped, and her husband and family killed, during the 1994 genocide. Her teeth were removed by machete, robbing her of the ability to smile, sing or enjoy life. “We gave Agathe her smile back — not only giving her the ability to sing again, but restoring her self-confidence,” Cody shares. “As I watched from the back corner of the dental operatory room, Agathe smiled in the mirror for the first time in 16 years as she beamed with love, happiness and joy. In this moment, I began to understand the true power of a smile.”
Julian Levine, Lenny Kravitz and Cody Levine, founders of Twice, Photo Credit: Mark Seliger Photo Credit: Mark Seliger
Enter Grammy Award-winning musician, Lenny Kravitz.
“We continued the work with the GLO Good Foundation, and teamed up with Lenny Kravitz — our now cofounder and long-time friend and patient of our dad’s, to set up a dental clinic in Kravitz’s hometown in Eleuthera, Bahamas.”
While on a mission in 2016, Julian and Cody had an epiphany after helping out in the clinic, where they treated about 100 people per day: they knew they had to find a way to do more of this work.
So they quit their jobs in 2017 (Julian was formerly in private equity, investing in consumer brands, while Cody worked in branding, marketing and digital strategy), and decided to start a company that was committed to improving oral health and overall health.
The family passion had officially turned into the company’s purpose.
Twice’s actual development and launch is the stuff of true bootstrapped entrepreneurs: “Julian and I were both living on our parents' couch in the living room of their apartment — thankfully, two different couches! — while formulating the toothpaste. I wish we could say that launching Twice was easy as 1,2,3... but that's a startup fairytale!
Eighteen months of formulation and approximately 40 rounds of revisions later, Twice was ready to launch with its direct-to-consumer website in 2018, on World Smile Day (which landed on October 5 that year).
“It was fitting and a no-brainer for us to launch that day — a nod to the simple act of a smile that changed our life and inspired us to quit our jobs and start Twice,” shares Cody.
The biggest shift Twice is making is bringing oral care into the health conversation. One of the ways they’re doing this? By transforming toothpaste from a mundane routine into a beloved ritual you’ll look forward to. “Our first two flavors are designed to elicit a feeling, invigorating or calming, and you can choose when to use them. Morning, night, or both, just as long as it’s twice a day! Tapping into the habitual nature of the ‘Twice-a-day’ was something simple, unique and actually ownable for us.” Cody explains. Fun fact: Twice’s brand name is on every other brand’s toothpaste packaging, as it’s considered the standard in oral hygiene.
But a big point of differentiation with other toothpaste brands is that Twice’s formula is gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, and was never tested on animals.
The brand’s next big step? In the aisles of CVS, as Twice announced a collaboration with the pharmacy retailer this month. (The partnership means that Twice will be in 1,930 CVS locations by July — and this is just the beginning.)
“We’ve always had a POV that health is not for the elite, it’s for all. As we’ve been growing the brand, we realized that in order for our products to touch more lives and create more impact, we needed to find a way to spread across the country where people buy toothpaste.”
Twice’s messaging of clean, clinical, sustainable oral care is emphasized in the display unit at CVS, as well as the brand’s new packaging. And at $6.99 a tube, it’s walking the accessibility talk.
Twice Toothpaste launches in CVS, Photo Credit: Courtesy of Twice Toothpaste Photo Credit: Courtesy of Twice Toothpaste
Twice’s mission is still centered on making an impact: through its partnership with the GLO Good Foundation, the brand commits 10% of its profits to funding more missions in Eleuthera and around the world.
“The connection with Lenny is incredibly authentic because it stemmed from the non-profit work we were doing together. From the beginning, it’s always been about helping people, and educating the community on the importance of proper oral hygiene and the critical need for access to care. Lenny wanted to help continue to give back and champion a message of better health for all.”
The cofounders of Twice Toothpaste, Cody Levine, Lenny Kravitz and Julian Levine, Photo Credit: Mark ... [+] Seliger Photo Credit: Mark Seliger
“As the third co-founder, he committed to sharing our mission with the world and to help create better-for-you oral care products that we stand by. Lenny has been able to share our mission with communities from CNBC to PBS, Entrepreneur, Watch What Happens Live and People Magazine. We will also continue to design future products together as we grow and expand our offering. It’s also special to build a company alongside a passionate celebrity cofounder like Lenny — we all agree that ‘doing well is doing good.’”
Speaking of “doing good,” the impetus of Twice is around giving back, which is something the brand also did during COVID-19.
“Almost immediately, we offered up free mini toothpaste sets to frontline workers around the country who were fighting for all of us. We had an incredible response from people working 36-hour shifts and found that brushing their teeth on a break gave them new energy to keep going. We continued our efforts by supporting a partnership between GLO Good Foundation and SONSIEL, who are raising money to distribute PPE and masks to the front lines. We aided by donating $2 for every order to this initiative. Additionally, we joined Brands x Better, a coalition of brands who joined forces to offer support and foster stability to our communities as they navigate critical social issues. Between April 1, 2020 - May 31, 2020, more than 140 brands helped raise over $3.8m for COVID-19 relief efforts.”
What’s on the horizon for Twice? Cody shares:
“We’re building an incredible community of dental professionals nationwide who believe in our mission and might just recommend Twice next time you’re in the dental chair for a cleaning. We’re also developing some new products that get people excited about taking better care of their oral and overall health. Stay tuned...”
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67586458025c78a451136a041bda0b78 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2021/01/11/exclusive-maureen-chiquet-former-global-ceo-of-chanel-joins-credo-board-of-directors/?sh=3131173d353a | The Future Of Clean Beauty Is Female: Maureen Chiquet, Former Global CEO Of Chanel, Joins Credo Board Of Directors | The Future Of Clean Beauty Is Female: Maureen Chiquet, Former Global CEO Of Chanel, Joins Credo Board Of Directors
Maureen Chiquet, author of "Beyond The Label" and former CEO of fashion house Chanel, joins the ... [+] board at Credo, Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan
Credo, the pioneer in the clean beauty movement, and its majority investor, NextWorld Evergreen, are announcing the appointment of Maureen Chiquet as an independent director of Credo’s board. Chiquet will become the fifth woman to join the board, shifting the composition to 70% female leadership for the first time since Credo was founded in 2014, by the late Shashi Batra and Annie Jackson.
It’s incredibly impactful for a brand like Credo to be female-driven at the top, given that the clean beauty community is being led by women: over 90% of the brands in Credo’s roster are founded or led by women, and both Credo’s cofounder, Annie Jackson, and CEO, Dawn Dobras, are women.
Credo opened its first store in its home city of San Francisco in 2015. Its mission from the start was to change the way people think about the products they use every day. Its name — Credo — is reflective of the belief that there is a better way to look beautiful with both style and substance. It’s a belief in a holistic vision for what beauty is: looking good and feeling good.
And since Credo is a platform for clean beauty, its goal remains amassing what it believes are the best brands the space has to offer. So not only does the product have to fill a white space in the store – it has to work, smell good, and comply with Credo’s “Dirty List,” a robust list of ingredients which, due to safety and/or sustainability concerns, cannot be used as ingredients in any of the products the brand carries. (Credo currently boasts 10 retail locations across the United States.)
The addition of Chiquet to Credo’s board is significant for several reasons. For starters, her retail background in both luxury and iconic brands signals the strong strides clean beauty is making as the standard in the industry.
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“I'm incredibly excited to be part of this movement, and I’m even more thrilled to join a board of a woman-led company, with the majority of women on the board now,” Chiquet shares. “This is the first time I can say that I’m on a board with a majority of women, so that’s exciting for me, given my background. I’m thrilled to be part of this revolution.”
Chiquet’s impressive resume includes L’Oreal Paris, where she began her marketing career in 1985, followed by The Gap in 1988, where she helped launch and build the Old Navy brand. This is where Chiquet first crossed paths with Dobras, as she explains: “Dawn (Dobras) and I worked together at Old Navy at a really exciting time when Old Navy was just at its infancy. So we were part of a team that helped build that behemoth company, and it’s really exciting for me to get a chance to co-create something new with her.”
Chiquet later served as President of Banana Republic in 2002, prior to becoming Chief Operating Officer and President of U.S. Operations of Chanel in 2003. In 2007, Chiquet became Chanel’s first Global Chief Executive Officer, overseeing all facets of the luxury, legacy label.
Chiquet left Chanel in 2016, and published a book, Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership and Success on Our Own Terms in 2017.
Among the other boards that Chiquet serves on? She is a non-executive director on the board of Canada Goose and MatchesFashion, as well as the non-executive chairwoman of luxury sneaker brand Golden Goose. Her background is even more fascinating and “beyond the label,” as she received a Bachelor of Arts in literature at Yale University, where she also served as a Trustee to the Yale Corporation and was a fellow of Yale University.
Chiquet’s passion for the arts is highlighted with her role as a Trustee to the New York Academy of Art. Her cultural background is one of the points Chiquet illustrates in her memoir, which focuses on the fact that women can be multifaceted and can achieve success with a hybrid of different passions, such as culture, the arts, and business prowess.
One of these passions is what led Chiquet to Credo: her love for clean eating, clean beauty, and a more holistic lifestyle and philosophy.
Recognizing the parallel to the organic food movement where sustainability, ethical sourcing, environmental impact, and health are key decision-making factors for customers, Chiquet sees this shift happening within the beauty industry. After all, now more than ever, people are choosing to support companies that are transparent and create products that are safe and align with their values. Inspired by Credo’s mission-driven brand proposition, Chiquet views Credo and the company’s trailblazing brand standards as the wave of the future.
I spoke with Chiquet about her vision for the future of beauty, why she’s aligning herself with Credo, and the importance of the female voice in retail and business today.
Karin Eldor: What compelled and inspired you to join Credo's board? It’s a brand that's so different from your previous experience...
Maureen Chiquet: There were both business and personal reasons for me. From a business perspective, I think clean beauty is the way of the future. The category itself has obvious tailwinds, witnessed by Credo’s success and then by all the new and exciting products that are coming on the market today in the clean beauty sector. And Credo is really truly the leader in the category because it has defined what clean beauty is with its Credo Clean Standard — and it goes beyond just organic or natural products. Credo has taken it to the next level with safety, sustainability, ethics, and transparency.
As well, both from a business and personal perspective, I love the fact that Credo is so inclusive. That's not a trend, it's a necessity, and Credo For Change — which is the brand’s BIPOC mentorship program — is incredibly relevant, and increasing the importance of inclusivity in today's world.
On a personal note, I was coming out of a 30-plus career where I worked really hard. Because of some health concerns, I've had to adopt a cleaner way of living, so I changed my diet — I’m mostly gluten-free, I'm sugar free, and I care a lot more about what I actually put in my mouth. And so it's a natural thing for me now to shift to caring about what goes on my body. And the last thing is, I'm big into supporting women in business and spent the better part of my career being mentored and mentoring women. So this is another chance for me to get to do that, from really close in.
Credo Upper East Side location, Photo Credit: Emily Gilbert Photo Credit: Emily Gilbert
Eldor: With you joining the board as an independent director, Credo's overall board leadership will shift to majority women — for the first time in Credo’s history. This is, of course, an exciting milestone for the company.
Chiquet: It's especially important right now for companies to represent both at the top and on their boards, the constituencies that they serve, and in the beauty space, as you know, the majority of the customers are women, so it's critical to represent our customers.
I remember thinking early back in my career, back in the ‘80s, when I was a brand manager in hair color. I would sit in board meetings and executive meetings where it was mostly men around the table, telling the women brand managers or product managers what women actually wanted in their hair color or in their beauty products. I remember being really shocked at the time, and thinking, How do these guys know? Don’t we know better? We've come a long way since then, thankfully, but still women are under-represented in corporate boards and in the C-suite.
I was looking this up for another project I’m working on, and I think now in the U.S., 7% of the CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women — and that’s an increase! I don’t really feel like we’re ready to pop the cork on the champagne yet because it’s still pretty low when you consider how many women customers are out there and that women are the majority of customers.
Eldor: Your book, Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership, and Success on Our Own Terms, was published in 2017, in a time where the landscape for women in business and retail looked even more different. What inspired you to write this, at the time?
Chiquet: As I started to write and reflect back on my own career, I realized that I had learned a lot, and there were a lot of stories and lessons that I hoped to offer. As well, because I couldn't mentor each and every person who asked me for guidance, my book was a way for me to scale my mentorship to a certain degree, which actually became the core reason of writing it.
Eldor: Given your illustrious resume and experience with large brands, the fact that you’re investing in and believe in Credo and the clean beauty movement speaks volumes for the direction and future of the category. What is your vision for the future of beauty?
Chiquet: I feel clean beauty is where the industry is headed, because it’s what the customers are now demanding. And if I look at the current generations and probably the generation to come — what they’re now calling “Generation C” or “the COVID generation” — these generations are aware of and care a lot about our environment, which is increasingly under threat, social equality, and they’re also watching their parents pay the price for maybe not having taken care of themselves, their health, what they put in their bodies, and what they put on their bodies. I think the category on the whole is similar to what the organic food category looked like, perhaps 20 years ago.
I remember a time when eating organically might have seemed a little bit niche, but now you go into any supermarket anywhere in the country, and almost any supermarket has some kind of organic offering, so it's no longer niche at all. I see Credo as an early adapter because it's become a trusted place for me to buy true clean beauty and frankly, I believe Credo is poised to become the next Whole Foods in the beauty space.
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deb538a687aca599f91620887be34b03 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2021/01/30/are-you-sabotaging-your-success-author-emma-gannon-unlocks-why-this-is-key-to-your-growth/?sh=5f6694203a1f | Are You Sabotaging Your Success? Author Emma Gannon Unlocks Why This Is Key To Your Growth | Are You Sabotaging Your Success? Author Emma Gannon Unlocks Why This Is Key To Your Growth
Emma Gannon, author of "Sabotage" and host of the podcast "Ctrl Alt Delete", Photo Credit: Adam ... [+] Brazier Credit: Adam Brazier
It can be a tough (yet common) truth to swallow: sometimes the only one standing in the way of your success, is you.
So what to do about it?
Emma Gannon, author of the bestselling The Multi-Hyphen Life (published as The Multi-Hyphen Method in the U.K.), host of the Webby Award nominated podcast Ctrl Alt Delete, and member of the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, has a solution for slaying your “inner saboteur” in her newest release, Sabotage: How To Get Out Of Your Own Way. It was published as a guide that packs an important punch — a pocket-sized book to breeze through and pick up whenever you feel your inner critic tugging at your sleeve and making an unwelcome cameo.
Relatable, right? After all, how many of us dream of doing “that thing,” only to focus on all the reasons why we might fall flat on our face? So we continuously put it off out of sheer fear. Imposter syndrome, jealousy, distractions, and procrastination are just four of the many ways self-sabotage tends to show up.
Spoiler alert: when we let these forms of self-sabotage win, the defeatist mentality can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sabotage features practical, personal stories and research-based insights to help quiet your inner saboteur and examine what’s really holding you back. It’s a book about challenging these behaviors, digging a little deeper into why that unhelpful voice can creep up on us — and why when “self-sabotage” is flipped on its head and examined further, it can be the key to our professional and personal success.
I spoke with author Emma Gannon about avoiding the habits that encourage self-sabotage, the importance of being your own hype person and believing in abundance, and celebrating the wins rather than constantly chasing the next big goal.
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Before diving in, let’s take a moment to double-click on the title Sabotage, which Gannon chose. “The book is also about how a lot of things are sabotaging us. If we spot the clues and understand our habits and the traps that we're falling into, we can actually start to get out of our own way properly.”
One of these traps? Technology — social media and especially our phones.
Gannon explains: “In Sabotage, I write about technology and how the algorithms are designed to keep us there. The world wants us to be distracted. We are sabotaging our own happiness by falling into these sorts of traps. I don't blame anyone — I'm definitely part of it. I am absolutely addicted to my phone, so I wanted to talk about how we unhook ourselves from these sabotaging things around us.”
Between all the tech distractions, algorithms and noise, Gannon offers tips on how you can put yourself in the best position to be your own cheerleader and hype person. After all, the world is already cluttered with pressure and obstacles, so it’s critical to clear the path and not stand in your own way.
It’s about being on your own side and setting the stage for success however you can.
“In the book, every single answer to Why am I perfectionist? Why am I procrastinating? Why am I criticizing myself?, always comes down to fear,” Gannon explains. “That's all it is. Whether you're worried it's going to succeed or you're worried it's going to fail, you're still worried.”
Not trying can help you feel safe. And amazingly, it can help reroute your goals and reveal what you actually want.
For example, you might realize that the dream that has been keeping you up at night, obsessing about how to pursue it, isn’t so important anymore.
It can help you take a step back and look at your goals from a more macro level, and course-correct your path if you realize that a specific goal is no longer a priority, not serving you or not sparking joy.
Gannon elaborates: “Self-sabotage can also sometimes come from chasing goals and dreams that you actually don't really want, you just think you want because you believe it will look really good on LinkedIn or Instagram — but actually sometimes you’re chasing the wrong thing. And then you think to yourself, Oh, I don't really want this.”
So pausing on or procrastinating with your goals becomes a blessing in disguise, when the world is trying to sabotage us all the time, persuading us that we need to engage in hustle culture, glamorized entrepreneurship and toxic productivity.
That’s why imposter syndrome in the form of sabotage can serve as a way to “self-regulate” and put you in check.
It can tell you a lot about yourself, and it can be a clue as to how you’re holding yourself back and the path you really want to be taking. If you zoom in a bit closer, you might even see that this is the zone where a true breakthrough occurs.
“One of the ways we sabotage ourselves is wanting more all the time,” Gannon explains. “And there's nothing wrong with being ambitious and wanting bigger, better things — we all to a certain extent want to upgrade our lives every so often. But one thing that lockdown has done for me personally is — and this is going to sound cheesy — that it's made me realize that what I have is genuinely enough.”
Author of "Sabotage" and host of the podcast Ctrl, Alt, Delete, Emma Gannon, Photo Credit: Eva ... [+] Schwank Photo Credit: Eva Schwank
It’s key to flow into 2021 with the perspective shift and learnings of 2020. This part from the book Sabotage hits different, after the year we’ve all experienced.
What if nothing is ever enough or we're always left chasing the next goal or dream?
Gannon sheds light on this in our conversation: “There is an element of sabotage in chasing, chasing, chasing, and never for one minute stopping to smell the roses and sitting down and being present and thinking, Wow, that's amazing what I just did. Because if we're just chasing the next thing immediately, essentially we are sabotaging our lives because we'll look back one day and realize, I didn't even take that in.”
On the flip side, you also have to know when a project or goal that you thought you wanted, isn’t yielding the financial results you hoped for.
“You have to know when to let go if something's not working. It's okay to let it go and move on. At the end of the day you need income — it’s what you need to survive. So it's okay if that big dream didn't pan out the way you had hoped — it's okay to let it go and move on to the next.”
Essentially: Learn to forgive yourself and move forward.
One of the ways to stop the sabotage? Basking in self-love and recognizing your self-worth — and not the type of self-care we’ve been marketed to for the past couple of years.
“Self-care was the buzzword of last year or two years ago. As much as I love self-care, I think that it got confused with bubble baths and moisturizers. There's nothing wrong with that, but self-love goes much deeper.”
Believing in abundance versus lack is another way to slay your inner saboteur.
Of course, it becomes more challenging to believe in abundance when you’re scrolling on social media, going through a rabbit hole of everyone’s accomplishments and playing the constant comparison game.
But when you start to believe that there's room for everyone and that the pie is big enough for all, it helps appease the inner critic.
“For me, abundance means abundance of creativity, energy, connection and friendship, and abundance of opportunity,” Gannon explains. “I think the minute you believe there's a lack and you close off, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe there's not enough, there won't be.”
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db39dafd2ea0ab5a92a6ddc1b38d4ada | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2021/01/31/how-celebrity-fitness-trainer-val-desjardins-is-inspiring-others-to-use-their-voice/ | How Celebrity Fitness Trainer Val Desjardins Is Inspiring Others To Use Their Voice | How Celebrity Fitness Trainer Val Desjardins Is Inspiring Others To Use Their Voice
Val "Pump Fitness" Desjardins, founder of Studio MTL, personal trainer and health coach, Photo ... [+] Credit: Kelly Jacob Photo Credit: Kelly Jacob
Val Desjardins, a personal trainer and health coach who is also widely known as “Pump Fitness” to her global fans, has leaned into her truth ever since she was a young girl growing up in Montreal, Canada.
Desjardins was an athlete since childhood, and an incident of gender bias that occurred when she was 10 years old inspired her to ensure others advocate for themselves too.
During one particular soccer game, a coach asked Desjardins to prove that she was indeed a girl, as she was playing on the girls’ team. She had the innate courage and prowess back then to stand up for herself and prove her gender to the coach — an act of fierceness that still guides her.
It’s her ability to stand fearlessly in her truth and stand up for herself, even as a 10-year-old, that helps Desjardins serve as an authentic leader to her team of gym trainers and a trusted health coach today. And this is only one of the many reasons Lululemon invited her to serve as one of 10 global ambassadors, during a “Pride Month” campaign this past June.
While Desjardins was clear about her female gender early on, she became vocal about her truth as a member of the LGBTQ community while in her 20s.
“At 22 I said to myself, Okay, here's where I'm at. This is who I am. It's official. Let's go.”
On the career front, Desjardins was also clear about her passion for athleticism and the power of community. She dove into coaching, for the Montreal Roller Derby League and cross training.
“About six years ago, I decided to go full-time into personal training. That's when I acquired the higher level of education.”
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Desjardins was working the personal training circuit at the Victoria Park Health Club, and gained notoriety as the go-to trainer and coach for high-profile clients like Jennifer Aniston and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The ultimate flex?
Desjardins purchased the Victoria Park on her 40th birthday, in September 2019.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, forcing gyms to close (in other words, five months after Desjardins became an owner), she began offering up her classes on social media, and attracted an international audience and new wave of “Pump” devotees while on Instagram Lives — especially thanks to the high energy of her “Sunday Sermon,” which she cohosts with her wife, Jennifer Pregnolato (who is a certified barre and dance instructor, and creator of the exercise program, Sculpt Nation™️). Despite the collective uncertainty, Desjardins buckled down and gathered her team of coaches and trainers to offer their expertise and sessions on the gym’s Instagram feed. Desjardins led with resilience and optimism, even though she admits that there wasn’t a strategic “masterplan” at the time — she was leading with her gut.
The need to pivot to social media was an obvious one — but it also makes you wonder, is it a business risk for trainers and coaches to offer up their work for free on social media?
“The confidence I have now as a coach allows me to be an open source and share, but I do think it comes back as a circular approach, like a wheel of sharing,” Desjardins explains. “I'm inspired by others and I want people to be inspired by me.”
Like the rest of the world, and especially those in fitness who up until March of 2020 were exclusively working with clients IRL, Desjardins and her team were faced with a business model that was suddenly at risk.
“As a coach and someone in wellness, I want to make people feel good. It’s that basic. I know I have a strength and an ability to support others and lift them up. And I'm pretty good at making people have fun. I’m good at leading and taking that kind of control over an environment, so it became about, what can I do with that intention and talent, and how can I best serve the community right now? And that's how we ended up on Instagram Live.”
It helped that the first six months of Desjardins’ gym business placed the fitness center in a healthy position to go into a pandemic for a few months.
“It was absolutely devastating to close the doors and stop life. But from a business perspective, I thought to myself, we've got this, we're going to figure it out. Let's trust the universe, we're all in this together. So whatever happens, I know I'm going to be able to figure it out in some way, shape or form, and what's meant to be will be and what's not, we're going to have to deal with,” Desjardins continues. “It's kind of like an episode of Chopped, where you're given a mystery basket, and you think, what are you going to do? What are my options? I can be on Zoom. I can do group trainings. I can absolutely create content for Instagram. So I turned the camera on myself in my Instagram Stories for the first time ever! I've never done that and wasn’t comfortable doing that, but then I thought, how can I reach and have impact on my whole community right now or whoever is watching? So I just started doing it on Stories and offering tips and tricks, and aligning with what we're all going through and how the pillars of wellness can support people.”
Desjardins was fueled by the flood of positive messages coming through (she makes a point of answering all her DMs): “People were sharing the importance of the workout for them in their Stories, and it fed me every week. They said, ‘you need to start charging us. Please know that we would absolutely pay.’”
Desjardins decided to permanently shutter Victoria Park (which was a multi-facility 20,000 square foot space), in line with the global shift occurring in the fitness and wellness industry where large spaces are being replaced by more of a “boutique” vibe. She instead opened a 6,000 square foot space called The Studio in October of 2020, to serve as a headquarters for her new platform. This more intimate IRL location is now where the digital fitness content is filmed and virtual trainings take place, while doubling as a home for her trainers and staff, and eventually serving as a boutique space for personal training and small group classes, as soon as lockdown rules are lifted.
The digital fitness platform and app, The Studio, features a mix of on-demand high-intensity cardio training in a digital library (including the signature “Sunday Sermon”) with mat pilates core work, yoga and spin, as well as toning and sculpting sets, and is always infused with Desjardins’ holistic approach to wellness which includes the right nutrition, recovery and mindset practices.
“As a trainer, people have been telling me that I should really have an app and do something digital for years now. I have also realized I like it! First of all, things like accessibility became a very important topic. It also got me thinking about how inaccessible I've been to different communities. I'm not practicing the ‘community accessible’ kind of mentality that I've aligned in my message and have been preaching, by being in a pretty high-end facility where a specific socio-economic population has access to me. There was a disconnect and I realized that I absolutely had to create something digital — and we dove into it.”
(The digital studio offers an “All You Can Pump” monthly subscription as well as a “Pay Per Pump” model.)
“The digital platform is really for this massive influx of clients and connections. It happened through being online instead of being hidden in a space, limited by geography. I have a lot of new clients, everywhere from Calgary to New York to Los Angeles, for example. So the digital studio is for them — and because we're still in a pandemic and don't know what the next few years are going to entail.”
Desjardins’ vision is always reflected on her social media branding and all digital elements, as she’s always been passionate about visual arts, writing and creating.
Desjardins received a master's degree in visual arts at NYU and made herself the subject in her master's thesis around gender, sexuality, and the performance of gender.
“Anytime I post on my Instagram, it's genuinely me and what I want to say. Especially as someone who didn't feel represented or didn’t feel like I had a voice, and didn't see myself in the spaces I’m working in. Just to have the opportunity to be that loud queer voice is super empowering, so it pumps me up. It's a joy to do it.”
When she decided to dive headfirst and launch her own brand of personal training as a coach six years ago, she created her logo and made a commitment to herself to only align with partnerships that felt authentic to her.
“I don't do anything that doesn't feel authentic or right for me. Around four of five years ago when my Instagram gained a lot of following and traction, I started getting emails about typical brand sponsorships, representation and collaborations, and for me, it didn't feel organic because I felt it was getting in the way of the message for me, which was already centered around my family and me being queer. I needed to define my voice. So going forward, I have made decisions that always remain authentic to how I feel.”
Desjardins’ brand on her Instagram now focuses on the family she and her wife Jen have built as the parents of a young girl, Brooklyn, and her story, in the hopes to inspire others to be themselves.
As for training people virtually — Desjardins and her Studio team will continue to bring the positive vibes on the virtual front, until in-person training can restart.
“I absolutely love training people physically in person. I think there's a lot of value in that, as well as eye contact. There's never been a fear that digital is going to take over an industry. We are human, we are molecules and cells, and we need to see each other's skin, feel each other and breathe together. And so I see value in both. I think the next few years are going to be a hybrid of physical and digital. It's made people realize they can get a good workout at home. It's not just Plan B. It can be legit.”
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2cc9931d33589f340a3975f562bd52c4 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2015/01/17/new-orleans-mardi-gras-guide-2015/ | The Best Places to Eat and Drink in New Orleans | The Best Places to Eat and Drink in New Orleans
The idea of celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans is either a traveler's dream or worst nightmare. I had always assumed I would never be able to fully appreciate the debauchery that comes with a few too many Sazeracs, thumping music, and topless women—and men.
But then I found myself standing on Canal Street catching beads—by accident.
It turns out there are two versions of Mardi Gras—one for locals (aptly called Family Gras) and one for the masses. I had unwittingly booked my annual visit to the Crescent City for that first week of festivities. And it was glorious. For one thing, there’s something pleasurable about it being a bit more sedate. Plus—as the name implies—the celebrations are incredibly family friendly. (Like the Krewe of Barkus parade, which features dogs in outrageous costumes.)
This year, while hordes of tourists descend upon The Big Easy for Fat Tuesday (February 17), savvy vacationers will go early—when the Family Gras parades and celebrations begin during the first week of the month.
And because New Orleans is a city for travelers guided by their stomachs, there’s so much more than spectacle to take in—such as its restaurant and bar scene, which is arguably one of the best in the U.S.
Here, a comprehensive list of the best bars and restaurants the city has to offer. Just remember to check out the rules and guidelines surrounding Mardi Gras—and yes, that definitely means no “risqué behavior” outside of the French Quarter. But beyond that, laissez les bon temps rouler!
EATING
Cochon
As its name (which is French for pig) implies, James Beard Award winner Donald Link’s casual restaurant in the Warehouse District specializes in all things pork. And while everything on the menu is tempting, Link’s fried alligator with chili garlic mayo, smoked pork ribs, and fried boudin are the true winners. Go for lunch. Order from the extensive bourbon menu. Make sure to book a table well in advance. And after the meal, stop by Butcher—the restaurant’s sister eatery next door—for some cured meats and hot sauces to take home.
You can't knock fried alligator until you've tried Cochon's version.
Galatoire’s
In New Orleans, there’s only one way to do Friday afternoon right. And that means a very long and boozy lunch at Galatoire’s on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The restaurant has been there for more than a hundred years, but you’re not there just for the meal. It’s the predominantly local scene you’re after—where people converge to celebrate the start of the weekend and gossip about the town’s goings-on. One very important thing to note: They don’t take reservations for the downstairs dining room, which is where you need to sit. Walk-ins only, so come early or wait next door at the bar of Galatoire’s 33 Steak House.
Galatoire's is exactly where you'll want to be for a boozy Friday afternoon lunch. (Photo: Louis... [+] Sahuc)
Restaurant R’evolution
Having opened in 2012, R’evolution is a relative newcomer to NOLA’s dining scene. But it’s already a hit. Consider it for dinner and don’t neglect to get the bone marrow appetizer and braised short ribs. The charcuterie board wouldn’t hurt, either. But if you can’t make it at night, its lunch menu is superb.
Commander’s Palace
Make a lunch reservation at this legendary restaurant, which has been in business since the late 1800s. It’s the kind of place where men wear jackets and women arrive with perfectly coiffed hair—but it serves one helluva deal: a seasonal two- or three-course lunch prix fixe (for no more than $45) and 25-cent martinis.
Antoine’s
This is old world New Orleans at its finest. It’s been around since 1840 and it’s still alive and well for good reason. Many go for dinner (there’s a reasonably-priced five-course prix fixe). But the Sunday jazz brunch, from 11am to 2 pm, is exceptionally fun.
You can never go wrong with Antoines' Sunday Jazz Brunch.
Herbsaint
A cousin of Cochon, Herbsaint is chef Donald Link’s finer restaurant. Also in the city’s Warehouse District, it’s technically a casual spot, but the ambience is more elevated than Cochon’s and guests are always smartly dressed. In keeping with Link’s style, the fare is seasonal, local, and hearty.
Lilette
This little jewel box of a restaurant in the Garden District is lovely for dinner—particularly for couples. The cuisine is French-Italian. And because chef John Harris focuses on seasonality, the menu is ever-changing—but never disappointing.
August
This is chef John Besh's best restaurant—hands down. A safe distance from the maddening crowds of Mardi Gras, the only breasts you can expect to see here come from a duck. Serving contemporary French fare that focuses on seasonal ingredients, August is in a league of its own. Its elegant ambience lends itself to good conversation—so make a reservation for date night or for a quiet evening with good friends.
Acme Oyster House
Great oysters and crawfish. Enough said. But go for lunch, a very early dinner, or a 3pm pop-in. The line outside is frequently more than 10 deep, so the wait isn’t exactly convenient. There are other places nearby, but Acme is the real deal.
Lüke
Stop by this John Besh restaurant if you’re in the mood for a great raw bar or some solid brasserie fare—say, some excellent fries and a no-nonsense burger. It’s nothing fancy but the menu can’t be beat.
Mother’s
One of the many homes of the famous New Orleans po’ boy sandwich. They serve several kinds of this messy masterpiece, but it’s the fried gulf shrimp you want. And you can order the oyster, famous Ferdi special, or debris to share with friends. Get the catfish salad and jambalaya as sides. (Trust me, you’ll want them.)
DRINKING
The Sazerac Bar at The Roosevelt Hotel
The Sazerac is a knockout bar—the kind of place you’d expect to find Don Draper and Roger Sterling if Mad Men were set in New Orleans. And like the other bars on this list, it’s nothing like most of the raucous places on Bourbon Street, which are best reserved for the under-25 crowd. This is not where one gets drunk. This is where one sips and converses. Expect a swanky crowd, erudite bartenders, and amazing cocktails (including the city’s signature drink, the Sazerac).
The Columns
This beautiful Garden District hotel is where Pretty Baby was filmed. It’s worth a stop for a drink—or three—when you’re coming from Commander’s Palace or walking along Magazine Street.
The Columns Hotel in New Orleans' Garden District is perfect for that mid-afternoon cocktail.
Hotel Monteleone
The hotel has been around since 1886 and has some serious literary history behind it. (Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner were frequent guests—as were Truman Capote, Anne Rice, and John Grisham). And its legendary Carousel Bar is a stop you need to make. Try to get there early to snag a seat at its main attraction: a circular 25-seat bar that actually spins.
Hotel Monteleone's Carousel Bar has a rich literary history behind it—and an actual carousel that... [+] turns.
Napoleon House
This French Quarter gem is housed in a historic landmark that dates all the way back to 1797 and was once owned by Nicholas Girod, New Orleans’ mayor in the early 1800s. Come for the (strong) cocktails. Stay for the ambience.
SoBou at the W Hotel, French Quarter
Conveniently located in the W Hotel’s French Quarter outpost, SoBou makes for a good stop when doing the inevitable French Quarter bar crawl. The bar stocks everything. And the bourbon selection is extensive. By that I mean, you could order a pour of the elusive Pappy Van Winkle—if the other patrons don’t beat you to it first. While you’re there, make sure to grab some small plates, which are inspired by Louisiana street food.
SoBou's bourbon selection is impressive. Get a Pappy Van Winkle. Neat, of course.
WALKING IT OFF
Royal Street in the French Quarter
If you think Bourbon Street defines New Orleans, you’re wrong. If anything, it’s the one street to avoid—save for the few gems like Galatoire’s and R’evolution. In any case, you can never go wrong ambling around the French Quarter. But Royal has some of the finer antique, art, and jewelry boutiques.
Magazine Street
The street is miles long, so you’ll want to pick a section and walk it—especially when you’re not exactly sober. But the 5000s to the 1800s blocks on Magazine are solid. (You can get there via the St. Charles line streetcar. Or a cab.)
French Market
Walking distance from the celebrated Cafe Du Monde, the market is filled with stalls selling every kind of pickled vegetable, pepper sauce, jam, and other foodstuffs. There’s also costume jewelry and tchotchkes to be had. But even if you’re not into souvenirs, it’s certainly worth exploring.
The Marigny
A short walk from the French Quarter, the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood is where most of the (fun) non-touristy action is. Walk along Frenchmen Street and you’ll find the best music joints in the city—the Spotted Cat and Café Negril are not to be missed.
AND DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT HAVING A BEIGNET…
Cafe Du Monde
It’s the only place to get beignets as God intended, at least this is what both locals and tourists swear by. It’s almost always a scramble to get a table or a bag of sugar-dusted doughnuts to go. But if the line is just too damn long, go to the café’s outpost in Riverwalk. Or... there’s always nearby Cafe Beignet, where the line is nowhere near as impossible and the beignets are just as beig-nificent.
You can't leave New Orleans without having the puffy and powdery goodness that is the beignet—and... [+] Cafe Du Monde is the place to get it.
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d5ace4019b199f52508dcad4a7114e36 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2015/05/10/summer-cocktail-recipes-2015/ | Summer Cocktail Recipes: 8 Cool Drinks from Hot New York Restaurants | Summer Cocktail Recipes: 8 Cool Drinks from Hot New York Restaurants
Scotch is my daily drink of choice—specifically, what Christopher Hitchens called "Mr. Walker's amber restorative." Or something a little more potent, such as a Speyside single malt or a high-proof bourbon. But when summer hits New York hard, I occasionally get something lighter and more refreshing to survive the increasingly torrid days.
Consider how versatile summer cocktails can be: They can cool you off, make a family barbecue infinitely more pleasant, and they can even match that new citrus-colored bathing suit you just bought. All that I ask is that post-Memorial Day drinks be relatively easy to concoct—a muddle here, a shake there, and perhaps a sprig of something.
So for this summer's recipes, I asked eight New York City bars and restaurants for their coolest cocktails. And by the end of the month, all these drinks could be on the house—yours.
THE ARNOLD PALMER COCKTAIL AT IL MULINO PRIME
"An Arnold Palmer is the ultimate combination of two classic summer beverages: iced tea and lemonade. Our adult version has a stiff backswing, so you might want to finish that round of golf before knocking one back!" —Elvis Djesevic, bartender (recipe by Logan Ronkainen)
Calling for two ounces of Russian Standard vodka, Il Mulino Prime's Arnold Palmer is no virgin... [+] drink. (Photo: Paul Crispin Quitoriano)
Ingredients:
2 oz. Russian Standard Vodka
1 oz. Árvero limoncello
½ oz. simple syrup made with orange and lemon zest
Dash of 18.21 Earl Grey bitters
Lemon wheel
Preparation: Combine the vodka, limoncello, and simple syrup with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain into an ice-packed Collins glass. Top with dash of Earl Grey bitters. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
THE ISLAND PASSION COCKTAIL AT THE 21 CLUB
"Passion fruit instantly transports me to my favorite islands around the world. With this take on a traditional dark and stormy cocktail, we’re bringing the tropics to 21 for the season." —Edward Kennelly, bartender
21 Club's island passion cocktail couldn't be easier to make—it only calls for three ingredients.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Captain Morgan rum
3 oz. ginger beer
½ passion fruit
Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, shake vigorously. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice.
LINK RAY AT THE HAPPIEST HOUR
"The link ray is a long and refreshing drink. It incorporates flavors that are savory, crisp, and herbaceous—while having more adventurous components than the usual lime, mint, and cucumber commonly found in summer drinks." —Jim Kearns, head bartender and partner
Love the flavors of tequila, lime, and Suze? Then this cocktail is for you.
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. jalapeño-infused tequila, rum, or gin
¾ oz. lime juice
2 oz. celery juice
½ oz. cane syrup
½ oz. Suze
Preparation: Combine all ingredients, shake, and pour into highball glass half-rimmed with celery powder and salt. Top with soda and add ice. Garnish with celery stalk and black pepper.
FRENCH 75 AT THE HOLIDAY COCKTAIL LOUNGE
"When the weather shifts in spring, I look for simple and clean flavors. The French 75 is a classic (and very refreshing) cocktail made with cognac, which many people think of as a cold weather spirit. But it’s actually versatile enough to take you right from winter through spring and into summer." —Michael Neff, master mixologist and beverage director
You can never go wrong with a French 75. It's as delicious (and refreshing) as a summer cocktail can... [+] get.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Louis Royer Force 53 VSOP cognac
¾ oz. fresh lemon juice
½ oz. simple syrup
¼ oz. Cointreau
Preparation: Serve in a cocktail glass. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist.
THE DE LA CALLE MARGARITA AT TOLOACHE
"This is a signature cocktail at Toloache: It’s so well loved for the cool sweetness of the cucumber, which is paired with picante jalapeños. It’s definitely one of my favorite margaritas and it’s perfect for the summer months." —Julian Medina, chef and owner
Frozen magaritas? Never. Try this tasty recipe from Toloache instead. It calls for finely chopped... [+] jalapeños—so you can be sure it's a winner.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Don Diego Blanco tequila
2 oz. cucumber purée
1 oz. lime juice
1 oz. light agave nectar
½ bar spoon of jalapeños, finely chopped
1 fresh cucumber, seeded and diced (for the cucumber purée)
Garnish: Tajín, to rim the glass (optional) 1 slice of cucumber, thin
Directions: For the cucumber purée, place the cucumber in a blender (or food processor) and puree until smooth.
Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Strain the liquid into a chilled Tajín-rimmed rocks glass over ice and garnish with a thin slice of cucumber.
RAGGLE TAGGLE GYPSY AT THE DEAD RABBIT
"The combination of two light spirits, tangy sumac cane syrup, nectarine (a fruit best in the summer season), citrus, and the soft eucalyptus and earth tones of the Boker's Bitters creates a wildly refreshing drink on a summer day or makes it feel like summer when it's a dreary one. We serve this drink punch style at The Dead Rabbit with a nice chunk of ice and grated nutmeg on top." —Greg Buda, bartender
New York's Dead Rabbit does everything right—and this summer cocktail recipe is among its finest... [+] concoctions.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pisco Portón
.75 oz. Bacardí Heritage
.75 oz. sumac cane syrup
.75 oz. lemon juice
.5 oz. nectarine juice
2 dashes Boker’s Bitters
Method: Shaken
Glassware: Punch cup and ice nugget
Garnish: Nutmeg
Sumac Syrup: Add 1 tsp. sumac powder to 3 oz. of a 2:1 cane syrup, mix as the syrup is being made and steep for 30 min.
STORM’S BREWIN’ AT PORCHLIGHT
"Jamaican rum, lemon, passion fruit, and grenadine over crushed ice is the perfect drink to sip on a blistery summer day. Its tart and fruity flavors (provided by housemade grenadine and passion fruit) perfectly complement the grassy quality of Jamaican rum." —Mike Shain, general manager
During the summer months, I occasionally ditch my flask of single malt Scotch and switch over to... [+] rum. And this recipe calls for some fine Jamaican ones.
Ingredients:
.75 oz. Smith and Cross Jamaican rum
.75 oz. Appleton Estate V/X Jamaican rum
.5 oz. lemon juice
.5 oz. passion fruit syrup
.25 oz. grenadine
1 dash Allspice Dram
1 dash Angostura bitters
Glass: hurricane
Garnish: lemon wheel, orange wheel, demerara rum
Method: Build all of the ingredients in a mixing tin. Whip, shake, and strain into a hurricane glass. Float .25 oz. of 151 Demerara rum. Garnish with orange and lemon wheels.
AVENUE MONTAIGNE AT LE BILBOQUET
“Avenue Montaigne is considered to be la grande dame of French streets for high fashion—and it’s great for a summer stroll. To take diners back to the street and create a feeling of nostalgia—as if imbibers were sipping the cocktail while window shopping—we created the Avenue Montaigne cocktail, which includes light and citrusy flavors that can be enjoyed outdoors. The combination of Cointreau, Lillet White, and lemon juice provides light aromatics that make the drink approachable and refreshing during the warmer months.” —Yana Yankove, mixologist
Avenue Montaigne—Le Bilboquet's citrus-forward cocktail—is best enjoyed alfresco.
Ingredients:
¾ oz. Ketel One Citroen
¾ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Lillet White
¾ oz. lemon juice
3 dashes Absinthe bitters
Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with an orange peel and orchid.
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70734b8edda50bacd3b9573765d0b418 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2015/12/09/the-basics-of-beer-pairings-2016/ | Beer Pairings: What to Drink With Indian Food, Cajun Cuisine, Italian Red Sauces, and More | Beer Pairings: What to Drink With Indian Food, Cajun Cuisine, Italian Red Sauces, and More
Photo: Tom Kelley Archive/Getty Images
The classic axiom for pairing food and wine—red with meat, white with fish—doesn't always apply. Not anymore, at least. But what are the rules for beer? Would the same lager work with steak and sushi? Does an Indian beer actually go with Indian food? And is there an ale you can drink with decadent desserts?
To answer these questions, I sought out Portland-based writer (and professional beer drinker) Jeff Alworth—author of the comprehensive and entertaining The Beer Bible.
"The Beer Bible" by Jeff Alworth is a must-read for beer enthusiasts. The indexed 656-page book has... [+] information about the many styles of beers, the vessels you might use to drink them, beer tourism and festivals, and more.
Turns out, beer is more versatile than we might imagine. “When thinking about how to match foods and beer, there are a few things to keep in mind. In beer-producing countries, the cuisine is often well-matched with local beer styles,” Alworth explains. “Fish and chips demand a nice cask bitter while moules frites and Belgian pale ales appear to have been invented for each other. If you’re not in a beer-producing country, look for beers that will either harmonize with the flavors of the cuisine or contrast it. What you want to avoid are tastes that don’t relate to each other at all—tart and roasty, for example. Also, make sure to match intensities so a strong beer won’t overpower a delicate dish—and vise versa. And finally, for very rich and heavy dishes, consider a beer that is crisp and sharp—something that will cut through the food’s density.”
But if your local supermarket or specialty food shop is short on selection, Alworth has a fairly foolproof solution: “If all else fails, look for a saison or a pilsner: the two most versatile and food-friendly beers,” Alworth says. “Both are crisp, delicate, and balanced. Saison—a Belgian style—has a yeast-driven palate that includes fruity esters and spicy phenols but finishes very dry, perfect for many dishes. Good pilsners have a wonderful balance of lightly sweet malts, lightly spicy hops, and a crisp finish. They are rarely worse than adequate and are often perfect.”
As for cuisines that many don’t think to pair with beer (such as Italian food), Alworth has more than a few suggestions—and plenty of advice—on finding a good match. And, yes, there are beers you can absolutely drink with chocolate cake and fruit tarts.
ITALIAN RED SAUCES
“Some cuisines are occupied territory for other beverages—like the way red wines dominate Italian food, particularly dishes made with red sauces (puttanesca, Bolognese, amatriciana, and so on). It makes sense, because the sweet and acidic quality of the two fruits—tomato and grape—are made for each other,” Alworth explains. “But beer can play this game too. Look to Belgium, where the beers are yeast-forward with cuisine-friendly brews that have acidity and fruit notes. A great choice is one of the ‘Burgundies of Belgium,’ the oud bruins and Flanders red ales made west of Brussels. Classic examples are Liefmans and Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne. They have the same sweet-tart balance of a deep Italian red (and I’ve even found oenophiles who enjoy them almost as much). Little known to Americans, Italians have begun brewing their own Belgian-inspired ales in Northern Italian wine country, and many are even made with grapes. Those are harder to find, but a great pairing if you run across them.”
JAPANESE
“Japan’s cuisine is varied but anchored by a pervasive sense of umami. And because Japanese dishes are so often accented by this savory bass note, they call for a particular kind of balancing beer. In Japanese aesthetics, there’s the concept of kire, or cutting, and it describes the way a good beer pairing will address that umami note. Lagers that are simple and dry, crisp and, sharp—these kinds of flavors ‘cut’ the umami but do not muddy the palate,” Alworth says. “Native Japanese lagers like Sapporo and Asahi are brewed this way. (It’s where dry beer came from.) And they’re quite good. Pilsners and Helles lagers like North Coast Scrimshaw and Tröegs Sunshine Pils are good substitutes. When pairing with seared meats, consider German schwarzbier, a thin, crisp black lager that has a hint of sweetness and roast. Köstritzer and Live Oak are good choices.”
CAJUN AND CREOLE
“The mighty twin cuisines of Louisiana are so long on flavor that a beer must be content with playing second fiddle. Cajun and creole dishes are decadent and complex, with spicy and smoky flavors, which blend together in rich harmony. Choose beers that will join the harmony. Surprisingly, brown ales are excellent in bringing out the deeper flavors without adding a heavy note, and they are nice with meats, too. It’s no surprise that Lousiana’s Abita Turbodog is great. In that same vein, Oktoberfest–märzen beers are great dance partners, pulling out the sweeter notes in meats, quenching any fires that might have sprung up on your tongue. Sam Adams and Ayinger make great examples.”
THAI
“Nearly every Thai restaurant I've visited offers the local suds, Singha beer. And while that pale lager is a great partner for hot, humid evenings in the garden, it doesn't do nearly as well with Thai food. Thai cuisine balances a range of flavors and textures: spicy (or course), but also sweet, salty, and sour. It harnesses the pungent flavor of fish oil as a base element, but garnishes the palate with fresh, spritzy flavors from the garden. I've found success with beers that feature those herbal, spicy, spritzy flavors. Two styles are especially suited to the task. Witbier, a Belgian style that is made with coriander and citrus peel, harmonizes nicely with Thai spices like lemongrass, ginger, galangal, coriander, and cilantro. Try Allagash White or Caracole Troublette. Another possibility is gose, a lightly tart German wheat ale made with coriander and salt. The salt, spice, and acidity match the flavors in many Thai dishes. Good choices are Westbrook Gose and Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose.”
CUBAN
“Like Cajun and Creole food, Cuban food is built by layers. It’s constructed of simple ingredients and just a few spices, but slow cooking allows all the flavors to comingle, creating lush, rib-sticking meals,” Alworth says. “These dishes call for simple beers, but ones that can match the richness of Cuban fare. Traditional Latin American lagers are both too bland and too light to do justice to a nice ropa vieja, vaca frita, or Cuban sandwich. A great all-purpose beer is a malty amber ale like New Belgium Fat Tire or Anderson Valley Boont Amber. Ambers have a rounder, malty body with a similar balance of sweetness and spice (the hops). Amber ales accent citrusy notes, and nicely contrast acidic ones. Best of all, they really accentuate the sweetness of slow-cooked meats (particularly pork). Smoky, roasty flavors are regular features in Cuban cooking, and a light-bodied porter like Deschutes Black Butte or German rauchbier (a smoked lager) can be wonderful accompaniment. Schlenkerla is the world standard for this style.”
INDIAN
“India has over two dozen major languages and wasn’t united until the 1940s. It is—in many ways—a land of many cultures and cuisines. The holy city of Varanasi favors nearly spice-free vegetarian dishes, while the more heavily Muslim city of Hyderabad is famous for its intensely-spiced meat dishes. But there are elements of unity. Varanasi aside, spice is usual, and dishes are often rich with butter or oil. Local beers are decidedly bad, so set aside the Haywards 5000,” Alworth says. “Try an English bitter instead, which has a delicate balance of malt and hops, and will gently cut through richer dishes. Since the nerves that detect carbonation and spicy heat are the same, the relatively flat bitter style is a good flame-douser, too. Rogue Younger’s Special Bitter is a good choice, but the classic is Fuller’s London Pride (if you can find it). On the other hand, some fiery dishes call for an IPA (no joke!). Higher alcohol levels will battle heat, and the floral, citrusy flavors of the hops meld nicely with the spice. Ballast Point Sculpin and Surly Furious are good places to start.
DESSERT
Beer and dessert—believe it or not—can be a sublime match. You know that coffee, with its roasty and slightly acidic palate, is ideal for contrasting decadent chocolate desserts or crème brûlée. Why not try a similarly roasty Baltic porter like Żywiec, which is equal in this capacity? An intensely roasty beer, it is lagered, so it’s clean and crisp, despite its alcoholic strength. If you want to double the decadence, a strong Belgian abbey ale can offer similar levels of richness and sweetness. Rochefort 10, a Trappist-brewed example, is superb. If the dessert is fruity, you have beery choices, too. In the area near Brussels they make an acidic beer called lambic and often flavor it with fruit (these are called kriek and framboise). A ‘wild ale,’ it is made with yeasts that gobble up all the beer’s sugars, leaving intensely tart, aromatic beers that perfectly accent fresh fruit dishes. Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus (a framboise, made with raspberries) and Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek (made with cherries) are treats themselves and will work with any fruit dessert.”
Jeff Alworth is also the author of Cider Made Simple (Chronicle Books, 2015). Visit his Website at www.jeffalworth.com.
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7d561166d6413058e63b0e314d55b7c3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2015/12/18/la-liste-ranks-1000-best-restaurants-in-the-world/ | France's La Liste Ranks the World's Top 1000 Restaurants | France's La Liste Ranks the World's Top 1000 Restaurants
The world has a new best restaurant. Again.
Three-Michelin-starred Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Switzerland was recently named the finest in world by La Liste—an initiative sanctioned by France’s Foreign Ministry and tourism board, meant to counter the UK-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The new ranking will undoubtedly get competitive fine diners’ tongues wagging (and salivating) as it names 1000 top establishments in 48 countries.
Japan tops the list geographically with 126 entries, including Tokyo’s introduction-only Kyo Aji (no. 3 worldwide). France comes in second with 118, two of which made the global top ten. While the United States ranks third, with 101 restaurants on La Liste’s extensive roster. (New York’s Per Se is no. 2 in the overall list; while the city is home to six out of the country’s top ten). Rather refreshingly, China came in fourth—with 69 entries that weren't limited to Hong Kong or Macau.
El Celler de Can Roca in Spain ranks no. 6 in La Liste. (It also ranks no. 1 in The World's 50 Best... [+] Restaurants list.)
La Liste—unlike Michelin or the World’s 50 Best Restaurants—uses an algorithm (aptly named Ciacco, a glutton from Dante’s Inferno) instead of anonymous “inspectors.” Developed by systems architect Antoine Ribaut, son of former Le Monde food critic Jean-Claude, the list factors in 200 international dining guides, crowd-sourced sites (such as Yelp and TripAdvisor), plus New York Times and Washington Post reviews. It also takes into consideration Zagat, Michelin, the James Beard Award, Gault & Millau, OpenTable, and more.
Read on to view La Liste’s top 10 restaurants—and click here to view all 1,000 (or to filter them by categories).
1. Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville, Crissier, Switzerland
2. Per Se, New York
3. Kyo Aji, Tokyo
4. Guy Savoy, Paris
5. Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland
6. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
7. Kyubey, Tokyo
8. La Maison Troisgros, Roanne, France
9. Auberge du Vieux Puits, Fontjoncouse, France
10. Joël Robuchon, Yebisu Garden Place, Japan
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97d11821bdaa9518bb0c8bf5148c91aa | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2016/02/03/andrew-zimmern-miami-travel-guide-sobewff-2016/ | SOBEWFF 2016: Andrew Zimmern's Miami Travel Guide | SOBEWFF 2016: Andrew Zimmern's Miami Travel Guide
Photo: Alter, Miami [via www.foodforthoughtmiami.com]
In three weeks, hungry hordes will flock to Miami for the 15th annual South Beach Wine and Food Festival.
The five-day extravaganza—which consists of more than eighty different food- and drink-centered events—will be keeping people busy with dinners, tastings, seminars, and parties. But there’s obviously more to the city than SOBEWFF to-dos.
So Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods fame (and SOBEWFF regular) shared several of his favorite places to visit while in Miami—from where to get amazing Nicaraguan and Cuban meals to his favorite Japanese restaurants and beyond.
Andrew Zimmern is hosting two events at this year's SOBEWFF—Lucky Chopsticks and Cobaya. And he very... [+] graciously shared his favorite Miami spots. [Photo courtesy of Andrew Zimmern.]
ForbesLife: You’re hosting two events at this year’s 15th anniversary of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Lucky Chopsticks—an Asian night market—and Cobaya. What can guests expect?
Andrew Zimmern: The Cobaya is a private dinner for 120 guests and I’m thrilled to be doing it again. We did one last year and that was a blast. These small dinners are becoming true special events that are a signature of the SOBEWFF experience. I’m making an oyster vichyssoise for my passed hors d’oeuvres contribution and a veal tongue tonnato course. Several other chefs are also cooking and it’s always fun. The Lucky Chopsticks event is 7,000 people on the beach to close out the festival, with 24 chefs and restaurants providing great Asian cuisine and great music. It should be a great party.
ForbesLife: How many years have you been a part of SOBEWFF? What keeps bringing you back?
Andrew Zimmern: I've lost count! It’s been a long time. I love it. The weather is perfect, the people are great, and the cause is a great one. Supporting our food community keeps me coming back to all events I do.
ForbesLife: What are your favorite SOBEWFF events to attend as a guest (when you’re not working)?
Andrew Zimmern: I love wandering around the demos, checking out the grand tasting village, it’s the best people watching there is.
ForbesLife: Where can you get the best Cuban food in Miami?
Andrew Zimmern: Best??? That’s an awful word. I like El Palacios de los Jugos for lechon and some fritas. It’s fun.
ForbesLife: Aside from Cuban food, what other cuisines does Miami do well?
Andrew Zimmern: Miami is the capital of Central and South America. And the city does many cuisines well: Peruvian, Nicaraguan, Japanese…I love Fritanga Montelimar for real Nicaraguan treats. Zuma, Matsuri, Nobu for Japanese. I love all the Pubbelly joints plus any restaurant run by Michael Schwartz. There’s also Cena by Michelle Bernstein. Douglas Rodriguez is a genius—wherever he’s cooking, I seek out. (I think he just closed his restaurants but you can travel with him to Cuba, which sounds amazing.) Brad Kilgore is doing cool things at Alter. You should also check out Joe’s Stone Crab, Izzy’s, Alex Guarnaschelli’s new place Driftwood Room, Andrew Carmellini’s The Dutch, NaiYaRa, and Marion. I’m sure I am forgetting plenty…
Marion—one of Zimmern's Miami recommendations—serves modern French dishes in a... [+] Mediterranean-inspired setting. [photo courtesy of Marion, Miami]
ForbesLife
Where do you stay
Andrew Zimmern: I stay on South Beach at The Ritz. I’m old fashioned that way.
ForbesLife: Where can people have a quiet dinner in South Beach?
Andrew Zimmern: No such thing.
ForbesLife: Where’s the wildest dinner-and-drinks scene in South Beach?
Andrew Zimmern: 3 a.m. in whatever hotel room José Andrés is staying in.
ForbesLife: One night and one reservation. Where should I go?
Andrew Zimmern: Joe’s Stone Crab.
ForbesLife: What cannot-miss-it-for-the-world Miami experience would you recommend?
Andrew Zimmern: Fishing in the Florida Keys. I always like to head down and get a line wet when I am in Miami. Oh, and staying up late and going to some sick parties…I never do that at home. But most good places in Miami don’t even open until long after I’m usually asleep.
ForbesLife: Who do you think are the best young chefs in Miami now?
Andrew Zimmern: Brad Kilgore, Bradley Herron [at Michael’s Genuine]…anyone named Brad!
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0f83159d9e12d0e0db0561d80f6bb578 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2016/09/14/opentable-releases-list-of-100-best-restaurants-in-america-2016/ | 100 Best Restaurants for Foodies in America: OpenTable Releases Its 2016 List | 100 Best Restaurants for Foodies in America: OpenTable Releases Its 2016 List
OpenTable has just released another of its popular and much-anticipated lists: The 100 Best Restaurants for Foodies in America.
This year’s honorees are located in 30 states and Washington D.C., with California topping the list (it’s home to 17 restaurants). New York comes in second (with nine restaurants). And Pennsylvania is third (claiming eight spots). Most of the restaurants are longtime favorites (such as Bibou in Philadelphia and Girl & the Goat in Chicago) that have built a loyal following. But a handful are relatively new—such as New Orleans’ Shaya and New York’s Gabriel Kreuther.
Chicago's Girl & the Goat opened in 2010—and it has since become a city favorite.
Unlike other fine dining awards—such as Michelin, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, or the James Beard Awards—OpenTable’s list is not judged by anonymous reviewers or food critics. Nor is it decided by a complex algorithm like France’s La Liste.
Rather, OpenTable’s list reflects more than five million reviews from verified users of the reservation system in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. And it isn’t aimed at jetsetting competitive epicureans who try to book tables at the world’s most expensive and acclaimed restaurants. It’s for passionate and discerning eaters who appreciate a good restaurant. There are no numbered rankings, no category-specific awards, and no special citations here.
Philadelphia's Vernick Food & Drink serves American fare with French-Mediterranean flair.
And so some renowned restaurants with three Michelin stars—including Chicago’s Grace and San Francisco’s Benu—are nowhere to be found. Similarly, some beloved local New York restaurants that are practically impossible to get into on OpenTable—including Minetta Tavern, Babbo, and Carbone—are not listed.
Then again, the 100 restaurants on this new list may not be so easy to book by lunchtime today—so read quickly.
Fishing With Dynamite in Manhattan Beach, California is a low-key and laid-back spot that... [+] specializes in all things seafood.
To view the full (alphabetized) list, click here.
A Toute Heure (Cranford, New Jersey)
Acquerello (San Francisco, California)
Addison Restaurant (San Diego, California)
Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen (Memphis, Tennessee)
Angelini Osteria (Los Angeles, California)
Antebellum (Flowery Branch, Georgia)
Arethusa al Tavolo (Bantam, Connecticut)
Artisanal Restaurant (Banner Elk, North Carolina)
Bibou (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Bida Manda Laotian Restaurant and Bar (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Bistro L’Hermitage (Woodbridge, Virginia)
Bliss Restaurant (San Antonio, Texas)
Blue Hill (New York, New York)
Bluestem (Kansas City, Missouri)
Boka (Chicago, Illinois)
Bolete Restaurant (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
Bouchard Restaurant and Inn (Newport, Rhode Island)
Bouley (New York, New York)
Brindille (Chicago, Illinois)
Cafe Juanita (Kirkland, Washington)
Café Provence (Prairie Village, Kansas)
Carlos’ Bistro (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Castagna (Portland, Oregon)
Charleston (Baltimore, Maryland)
Charleston Grill (Charleston, South Carolina)
Costa Brava Bistro (Bellaire, Texas)
The Crossing (Clayton, Missouri)
Degustation (New York, New York)
Del Posto (New York, New York)
Erling Jensen Restaurant (Memphis, Tennessee)
Fat Canary (Williamsburg, Virginia)
Fearrington House Restaurant (Pittsboro, North Carolina)
Fishing With Dynamite (Manhattan Beach, California)
The French Room (Dallas Texas)
Fruition (Denver, Colorado)
Gabriel Kreuther (New York, New York)
Geronimo (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Girl & the Goat (Chicago, Illinois)
The Goodstone Inn & Restaurant (Middleburg, Virginia)
Goosefoot (Chicago, Illinois)
Gramercy Tavern (New York, New York)
GW Fins (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Highlands Bar and Grill (Birmingham, Alabama)
Hostaria Piave (Redondo Beach, California)
Il Terrazzo Carmine (Seattle, Washington)
Jacques’ Brasserie at L’Auberge Chez François (Great Falls, Virginia)
Joan’s in the Park (Saint Paul, Minnesota)
Keiko à Nob Hill (San Francisco, California)
The Kitchen Restaurant (Sacramento, California)
L’Auberge Chez François (Great Falls, Virginia)
L’Opossum (Richmond, Virginia)
La Nouvelle Maison (Boca Raton, Florida)
Lahaina Grill (Lahaina, Hawaii)
Le Cirque at Bellagio (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Le Vallauris (Palm Springs, California)
Les Nomades (Chicago, Illinois)
Linwoods (Owings Mill, Maryland)
Maison Blanche (Longboat Key, Florida)
Mama’s Fish House (Paia, Hawaii)
Manresa (Los Gatos, California)
Marcel’s by Robert Wiedmaier (Washington, D.C. )
Marché Moderne (Costa Mesa, California)
Market Restaurant and Bar (Del Mar, California)
Monarch (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Orchids at Palm Court (Cincinnati, Ohio)
The Oxford House Inn (Fryeburg, Maine)
Plume at the Jefferson Hotel (Washington, D.C. )
Providence (Los Angeles, California)
Quince Restaurant (San Francisco, California)
Rasika (Washington, D.C.)
Restaurant August (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge (Blowing Rock, North Carolina)
Restaurant Lorena’s (Maplewood, New Jersey)
Rich Table (San Francisco, California)
Roe (Portland, Oregon)
The Saddle River Inn (Saddle River, New Jersey)
Sette (Bernardsville, New Jersey)
Shaya (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Ski Tip Lodge (Keystone, Colorado)
Sotto (Cincinnati, Ohio)
St. Francis Winery & Vineyards (Santa Rosa, California)
The Table at Season To Taste (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Talula’s Daily Secret Supper Club (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Terra Restaurant (St. Helena, California)
Terrapin Creek Café & Restaurant (Bodega Bay, California)
Toscano Ristorante (Bordentown, New Jersey)
Townsend (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
The Trattoria (Saint James, New York)
Trattoria L’incontro (Astoria, New York)
Uchi (Dallas, Texas)
Vernick Food & Drink (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Vetri (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Zahav (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
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897d2f5a27f4aa1d26e95114e0f78081 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2016/11/06/opentable-releases-list-of-100-best-steakhouses-in-america-2016/ | The 100 Best Steakhouses in America: OpenTable Releases Its 2016 List | The 100 Best Steakhouses in America: OpenTable Releases Its 2016 List
Want to beef up your selection of great restaurants? OpenTable—the restaurant reservations system—just released its 2016 list of the Best Steakhouses in America.
Leading the country with the most carnivore cathedrals are California, Illinois, and Texas—with 17 restaurants each. New York is hot on their rump roasts with 14. And Nevada ranks third, claiming 12 spots. As expected, most of the honorees are traditional American steakhouses. Think: Keens in New York, Bones in Atlanta, and St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis. While some restaurants (such Chicago’s Swift & Sons, STK at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, and San Francisco’s Lolinda) are more novel in their approach.
San Francisco's Lolinda is an Argentinean steakhouse that does things the nuevo way. It also... [+] highlights fantastically unconventional side dishes.
OpenTable is known for generating 100-strong rosters throughout the year. But unlike other awards and rankings, the company is famously democratic in its approach: Each list reflects more than five million reviews from verified users in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Bowery Meat Company in New York's East Village isn't just for steak lovers: The duck lasagna, foie... [+] gras–chicken liver "parfait," and s'mores sundae are also menu highlights.
This one in particular features restaurants in 28 states and the District of Columbia. There are never any rankings or special citations: Rather, the lists are presented in alphabetical order. On that note, it’s safe to say that OpenTable’s “awards” are meant for the food enthusiasts of every ilk—not just competitive diners who eschew perfectly fine dining options for only three-starred Michelin restaurants.
Al Biernat's in Dallas has been opened in 1998—and it's been a city staple ever since.
To view the full list, click visit OpenTable
Want to read more OpenTable lists? Here they are: 100 Best Restaurants for Foodies in America, 100 Best Al Fresco Dining Restaurants in America, and 100 Best Brunch Restaurants in America.
Boston Chops is a relative newcomer to the scene—and it's got an impressive glass-enclosed... [+] 2,000-bottle wine room.
22 Bowens Wine Bar and Grille (Newport, Rhode Island)
801 Chophouse (Clayton, Missouri)
Al Biernat’s (Dallas, Texas)
Arrowhead Grill (Glendale, Arizona)
The Avenue Steak Tavern (Columbus, Ohio)
B&B Butchers & Restaurant (Houston, Texas)
Baltaire (Los Angeles, California)
Barclay Prime (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Bavettes (Chicago, Illinois)
Bazaar Meat by José Andrés at SLS Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Benny’s Chop House (Chicago, Illinois)
BLT Steak DC (Washington, D.C.)
Bob’s Steak and Chop House (Grapevine, Texas)
Bohanan’s Prime Steaks and Seafood (San Antonio, Texas)
Bones (Atlanta, Georgia)
Boston Chops (Boston, Massachusetts)
Bowery Meat Company (New York, New York)
Butcher & Singer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Butcher & the Boar (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Carlo & Johnny (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse (Downers Grove, Illinois)
Chamberlain’s Steak & Chop House (Dallas, Texas)
Chicago Cut Steakhouse (Chicago, Illinois)
Club A Steakhouse (New York, New York)
Cole’s Chop House (Napa, California)
Connor’s Steak & Seafood (Huntsville, Alabama)
Craftsteak at the MGM Grand (Las Vegas, Nevada)
CUT at The Palazzo Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Eddie Merlot’s (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Elway’s Cherry Creek (Denver, Colorado)
Fleming’s Steakhouse (Newport Beach, California)
Gallagher’s Steakhouse (New York, New York)
Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Guard & Grace (Denver, Colorado)
Hal’s Buckhead (Atlanta, Georgia)
Halls Chophouse (Charleston, South Carolina)
Harris’ (San Francisco, California)
Harry & Izzy’s Downtown (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse (Chicago, Illinois)
House of Prime Rib (San Francisco, California)
Hy’s Steak House-Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii)
III Forks (Dallas, Texas)
Island Prime (San Diego, California)
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse (Cincinnati, Ohio)
John Howie Steak (Bellevue, Washington)
Kayne Prime (Nashville, Tennessee)
Keens Steakhouse (New York, New York)
The Keg Steakhouse + Bar (Gilbert, Arizona)
Killen’s Steakhouse (Pearland, Texas)
Knife & Fork Inn (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Little Alley Steak (Roswell, Georgia)
Lolinda (San Francisco, California)
Manny’s Steakhouse (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Maple & Ash (Chicago, Illinois)
The Metropolitan Grill (Seattle, Washington)
Musso & Frank Grill (Los Angeles, California)
Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse (Dallas, Texas)
Oak Steakhouse (Charleston, South Carolina)
Ocean Prime Boston Seaport (Boston, Massachusetts)
Palm Restaurant (Washington, D.C.)
Portland City Grill (Portland, Oregon)
The Precinct (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Prime at Bellagio Hotel (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Quality Italian (New York, New York)
Red O (Newport Beach, California)
RingSide Steakhouse Uptown (Portland, Oregon)
Roast A Michael Symon Restaurant (Detroit, Michigan)
RPM Steak (Chicago, Illinois)
Russell’s Steaks, Chops, and More (Williamsville, New York)
Shanahan’s Steakhouse (Denver, Colorado)
The Southern (Nashville, Tennessee)
St. Elmo Steak House (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Steak 44 (Phoenix, Arizona)
Steak 48 (Houston, Texas)
Steak 954 at the W Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
The Steak House at Circus Circus (Las Vegas, Nevada)
STK at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Sundance The Steakhouse (Palo Alto, California)
SW Steakhouse at Wynn Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Swift & Sons (Chicago, Illinois)
Tony’s of Lexington (Lexington, Kentucky)
Top of the World Restaurant at Stratosphere Hotel (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse (Houston, Texas)
WiseGuys Steak & Lounge (Hilton Head, South Carolina)
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49688c1796daf2ba83256c720c8ac69c | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2018/11/30/scotch-malt-whisky-society-membership-2018/ | The Ultimate Gift for Whisky Lovers: A Membership to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society | The Ultimate Gift for Whisky Lovers: A Membership to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society
If someone were to ask me right now about the best present I’ve ever gotten, I wouldn’t even have to think about it twice: It was a membership to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, something that I have been keeping tabs on for more than a year or so.
As a dedicated follower of all things whisky, it was something that I was obsessing over. I desperately wanted to be a card-carrying SMWS member but I couldn’t justify ponying up for it, considering that I wasn’t a frequent visitor to London or Scotland back then.
The Queens Street location in Edinburgh is a multilevel space that houses a stellar restaurant on... [+] the first floor—while the third floor is dedicated to members. Photo: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
But a wonderful thing happened: SMWS launched a membership platform and an e-commerce site specifically for the U.S. market and that was a total game changer. Now, Americans are able to enjoy expressions from this much-esteemed independent bottler without having to trek across the pond. The Society established a New York office and sends bottles from there. Beyond that, once you become a member you’re entitled to every single privilege: If you decide to go to London or Edinburgh (as I did), you get to hang out in all of the society’s swank spaces—which are like elegantly–appointed clubhouses for those who like to imbibe and experiment with new whiskies, Cognac, Armagnac, rum, and even bourbon.
But more on the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
The best part of being a SMWS member? You get to buy incredibly hard to find expressions—all of... [+] which are limited edition. Photo: Karla Alindahao
What makes it incredibly appealing, at least to me, is that it truly attracts likeminded people who have a true passion for quality spirits. All of its spaces are dignified and staffed with friendly and knowledgeable staffers who are not just happy to help—they’ll also pay particular attention to the drams and bottles you purchase so that they’re able to find you something within the same flavor profile or something similar. It’s attention to detail and customer service at its best.
Oh, and another thing. People who aren’t familiar with the society may be a tad bit confused by the whole system. You have to remember that unlike in America, the UK has a long tradition of independent bottlers—and 35-plus-year-old SMWS is one of them.
In London's Greville Street, the SMWS space is a tad smaller but stocks an impressive collection... [+] whiskies. Photo: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Here’s how it works: The society handpicks the best casks from their many partner distilleries and bottles the whiskies themselves, hence the extremely limited allocation. (Think: around 250 per expression.)
And once the whiskies are bottled, the society has its own “coding system.” When you look at a SMWS bottle, there will be no distillery name. Instead, there with be two numbers separated by a period. The first number indicates the distillery it came from, while the second number represents the barrel number. They do this to discourage preconceived notions or biases in relation to distilleries—because the society wants you to focus on flavor, rather than have you fixated on your “usuals.”
Now that it’s been more than a year since I’ve joined, there’s no doubt that I’m renewing my membership—it is, after all, quite the deal (at $99 for a year) all things considered. I mean, think about the perks: entry for yourself and up to three guests to the whisky club's three members’ Rooms in Edinburgh and London, discounted dram prices at all SMWS partner bars across UK and the rest of the world, member-only access to around 20 new whiskies and spirits in the monthly Outturn, access to an extensive program of tasting events with fellow whisky lovers, and a free subscription to Unfiltered, our award-winning members’ magazine.
While you don't have to arrange for a formal tasting, I'd recommend doing it at least once. Photo: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
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e27ff5c28f366fc789565843beaba5bb | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2019/01/31/seattle-based-westland-distillery-releases-peat-week-2019/ | Westland Distillery's Much-Anticipated 2019 Peat Week Expression Is Finally Here | Westland Distillery's Much-Anticipated 2019 Peat Week Expression Is Finally Here
Snagging a bottle of Westland’s annual Peat Week release is no easy feat—no matter the bottling year.
Try as you might, there are only two things that can help you when you’re dead set on acquiring this Westland prize of a bottle: an extraordinary stroke of good luck or very useful connections in the spirits world.
Some time ago, I was fortunate enough to have come across Peat Week 2017 while I was placing my monthly order at Astor Wines & Spirits. Needless to say, I was (pleasantly) surprised. They had a few bottles left so I jumped at the chance. Alas, there was a two-bottle limit per person so I had to make do with my modest stash. But this much I can tell you: It was pretty damn great.
Westland celebrated the release of Peat Week 2019 with a week of festivities that included a... [+] cocktail competition, a symposium, and a closing party that served peated ice cream from Cupcake Royale, cocktails, and smoky bites by Bitteroot BBQ. Photo: Westland Distillery
And I expect this year’s expression to be even more phenomenal because Matt Hofmann, Westland’s cofounder and master distiller, and Shane Armstrong, the distillery’s master blender, never do things half-baked. No whiskey is put out into the market underdeveloped: The pair goes all out and experiment like mad scientists until the liquid is perfect.
Full disclosure: I haven’t yet had the privilege of tasting this year’s Peat Week. It’s so new that it was just introduced during the annual Peat Week celebrations—The Greatest Smoke on Earth—that lasted from January 22 to 26 in Seattle. Beyond that, there are only 1,083 bottles to go around and none of the New York retailers have them in stock yet.
Thanks to Baird’s Heavily Peated Distiller’s Malt, Peat Week boasts a substantial ppm of 55. To put... [+] it in perspective, Ardbeg 10—an Islay Scotch—is usually between 55 to 65ppm. Photo: Westland Distillery
But I’m told that the expression is one of the best—clocking in at 100 proof (or 50% ABV) with a substantial ppm (total phenol parts per million) of 55. And that’s all thanks to Baird’s Heavily Peated Distiller’s Malt. To put it in perspective, Ardbeg 10—an Islay Scotch—is usually between 55 to 65ppm. So that’s saying something.
Even the casks used to mature the whiskey for 36 to 63 months are also noteworthy: two first-fill ex-bourbon, one new American oak: Cooper’s Reserve, and two refill new American oak. “This release combines casks that span from three to five years in age,” Armstrong explained in a release. “The cask types used in this vatting represent those most commonly filled with peated spirit in Westland’s rackhouse.”
Peat Week 2019 clocks in at 100 proof (or 50% ABV) and the casks used to mature the whiskey are... [+] noteworthy: two first-fill ex-bourbon, one new American oak: Cooper’s Reserve, and two refill new American oak. The best part? Its SRP is $100—as long as you don’t find it in secondary markets. Photo: Westland Distillery
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83c64c4d59ecfd219052a39cdf512801 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2019/10/22/michelin-star-restaurants-new-york-2020-1/ | Michelin Announces New York Stars for 2020: Last Year’s 3-Star Restaurants Have All Retained Their Stars | Michelin Announces New York Stars for 2020: Last Year’s 3-Star Restaurants Have All Retained Their Stars
Chef Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin has once again retained its three-star status, as have Chef's Table ... [+] at Brooklyn Fare, Eleven Madison Park, Masa, and Per Se Le Bernardin
Michelin, the 32-edition world-renowned guide that’s considered the ne plus ultra of the food world, just released its 2020 list for New York City and Westchester County. It’s one of three esteemed rankings (along with the James Beard Awards and World’s 50 Best Restaurants) that can considerably influence a restaurant’s success: Earning even just one star can solidify an establishment’s place in the culinary firmament. And outside of earning one, making it to the Bib Gourmand roster (which is comprised of more “approachable” spots) is the kind of honor that can keep diners coming.
The four horsemen is one of eight new one-star restaurants in New York City. The Four Horsemen
And yet this year was much like years past—there’s still not a lot of movement in the three- and two-star categories, despite New York City having one of the most dynamic and diverse food scenes in the world. In totality, there were only ten newly-starred restaurants this year, down from last year’s 15.
Consider this: 2020’s five three-star restaurants are the same places that have been at the top of the list for the past several years. Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park, Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin, Thomas Keller’s Per Se, Masa Takayama’s Masa, and César Ramirez’s Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare have all maintained their three-star status. The only significant change was Jean-Georges’ “demotion” to two stars in 2018—after more than ten years of claiming three.
Chef Alain Verzeroli’s Le Jardinier, a new entry to this year's Michelin Guide, is known for its ... [+] vegetable-forward dishes. Le Jardinier
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And while it would be nice to see some new places on the three-star list, it’s also hard to argue the excellence of the top five restaurants. Consistency over time— good food and extraordinary service year in and year out—is one of the top criteria to reach this level of distinction. “When validating a star—either for the first time or renewing the distinction—inspectors will visit the restaurant several times over the year to make sure that the chef and his or her team can demonstrate the same mastery of the five criteria up and down the menu on every visit,” says Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin guides. “This approach assures our readers, who are our main customers for the guides, that they can trust Michelin’s opinions about a one-star restaurant (or two or three) in any market they visit.”
Chef Michael White's Marea is one of two 2-star restaurants that have been "demoted" to 1-star. (The ... [+] other is Sushi Ginza Onodera.) Marea
As for the two-star classification, there are two new inclusions: Atomix (a contemporary Korean restaurant) and Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Chef Dan Barber’s innovative and produce-forward space in Tarrytown). The two are refreshing additions, considering that both Blue Hill locations have been widely revered by judicious and enthusiastic diners for years. After all, Barber is the kind of chef that can make a carrot look as appealing as the juiciest porterhouse.
Conversely, Michael White’s Marea, which specializes in coastal Italian cuisine, was downgraded to one star. As was Sushi Ginza Onodera. And even more restaurants were stripped of their stars in the one-star designation: Faro, Café Bouloud, Babbo, Junoon, Kyo Ya, and Cafe China.
Ukiyo, one of this year's new entries, is "currently on pause," according to its website. Ukiyo
As always, this year’s most noteworthy shifts happened in the one-star category, with eight new one-star restaurants, most of which are decidedly more casual than what Michelin inspectors typically prefer—Benno, Crown Shy, Estela, The Four Horsemen, Le Jardinier, Odo, Oxalis, and Ukiyo.
In other Michelin news, there’s a singular major change to the 2020 list: the expansion of the New York City guide to Westchester County, just north of the city. And while this is a big modification, only one restaurant is in the area: Blue Hill at Stone Barns. But we may see more Westchester representation in the coming years.
Again, there are some glaring holes in this year’s guide. Surely, Lilia (by Missy Robbins) and King (by Jess Shadbolt, Clare de Boer, and Annie Shi), both of which discerning New York diners flock to are deserving of at least a Bib Gourmand. (It’s worth it to note that the Bib Gourmand designation is seen as a watchlist of sorts for restaurants that could potentially make its way to one star and beyond.)
To view the full list, scroll below.
Benno, on 27th Street, focuses on coastal Italian–Mediterranean dishes—using classically French ... [+] techniques. Benno
THREE STARS (EXCEPTIONAL CUISINE, WORTH A SPECIAL JOURNEY)
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
Eleven Madison Park
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
TWO STARS (EXCELLENT CUISINE, WORTH A DETOUR)
Aquavit
Aska
Atera
Atomix (New Entry)
Blanca
Blue Hill at Stone Barns (New Entry)
Daniel
Gabriel Kreuther
Ichimura at Uchū
Jean-Georges
Jungsik
Ko
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
The Modern
ONE STAR (HIGH-QUALITY COOKING, WORTH A STOP)
Agern
Ai Fiori
Aldea
Bar Uchū (Closed)
Batârd
Benno (New Entry)
Blue Hill
Bouley at Home
Carbone
Casa Enrique
Casa Mono
Caviar Russe
Claro
The Clocktower
Contra
Cote
Crown Shy (New Entry)
Del Posto
Estela (New Entry)
Del Posto
The Four Horsemen (New Entry)
Gotham Bar and Grill
Gramercy Tavern
Hirohisa
Jeju Noodle Bar
Jewel Bako
Kajitsu
Kanoyama
Kosaka
L’Appart
Le Coucou
Le Jardinier (New Entry)
Marea (Down from Two Stars)
Meadowsweet
The Musket Room
Nix
Noda
NoMad
Odo (New Entry)
Okuda
Oxalis (New Entry)
Oxomoco
Peter Luger
The River Café
Satsuki
Sushi Amane
Sushi Ginza Onodera (Down from Two Stars)
Sushi Inoue
Sushi Nakazawa
Sushi Noz
Sushi Yasuda
Tempura Matsui
Tuome
Ukiyo (New Entry; Currently “On Pause”)
Uncle Boons
Wallsé
ZZ’s Clam Bar
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91e6384365f7659fb2983e1e1183c7e8 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2020/03/03/best-irish-whiskeys-for-st-patricks-day-2020/ | The Best Irish Whiskeys: 15 Superb Bottles For St. Patrick’s Day And Beyond | The Best Irish Whiskeys: 15 Superb Bottles For St. Patrick’s Day And Beyond
From left: Powers Gold Label, Midleton Very Rare, Redbreast 12, West Cork Bourbon Cask, Tullamore ... [+] D.E.W, Dingle Single Pot Still, Knappogue 51, Connemara Peated Single Malt, Bushmills 16, J.J. Corry The Gael, Yellow Spot 12, Redbreast 25 Year Single Pot Still, Greenspot 10, Teeling Small Batch Photo courtesy of brands
I’ve been a brown liquor kind of gal for a substantial number of years—with Scotch and Cognac being closest to my heart.
But when March comes around, I switch over to the wonderful whiskeys (plus obscure gins) from the Emerald Isle. And for good reason. Think about it: Have you ever had a truly abysmal and undrinkable Irish whiskey? Something you would actually walk away from? I have not. Most Irish whiskeys are just solid no-nonsense choices for real (and enthusiastic) imbibers. The “worst” experience I’ve ever had was a weak pour of an expression that was satisfactory—not mindblowing, but most certainly drinkable.
And I’m not alone in my thinking. Others have started to really appreciate the merits of Irish whiskey.
According to David Ozgo, the chief economist at the Distilled Spirits Council, Irish whiskey sales were up by $1.1 billion in revenues for distillers. That translates to a 5.6 percent growth, which is not insignificant. Simply put, a staggering 4.9 million nine-liter cases were sold in America in 2019 alone. If Irish whiskeys continue in this trajectory—and if retaliatory tariffs don’t hamper the industry’s growth—the category is positioned to surpass Scotch in several years.
Beyond that, William Lavelle, the head of the Irish Whiskey Association confirmed that for the first time, a record million-plus tourists visited distilleries and brand visitor centers last year—with many (34 percent) hailing from the United States and Canada. And that’s saying something.
But where to begin? Between the different types of Irish whiskey (single malt, single pot still, grain, and blended) it can be quite daunting. So I enlisted Public House Collective’s Kenneth McCoy—the chief creative officer at Ward III and The Rum House—to curate a good mix of several bottles. Many are easy-to-find staples, which I would recommend for parties, gatherings, and other St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. And a few are what I like to call “grail whiskeys,” which will be significantly more expensive and harder to find. (For those, enjoy them with your close friends and family...there’s no need to bring a $1000 bottle to a casual gathering where half the people will be drinking Guinness.)
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15 Irish Whiskeys for St. Patrick’s Day 2020
Green Spot 10 Year Irish Whiskey ($333)
“Not to be confused with the regular NAS (No Age Statement) Green Spot, this whiskey is a great mingling of sherry and bourbon,” McCoy says. “It’s a limited-edition with only 1000 bottles released in 2005. This one is very mild, so it's hard to believe it’s a 10-year whiskey. It’s almost oily; it’s light in color; and tastes of honey, cereal, and vanilla. I recommend this neat.”
Not to be confused with the No Age Statement expression, the 10-year Green Spot is by far one of the ... [+] most coveted Irish whiskey expressions due to its highly limited allocation of 1,000 bottles. Pernod Ricard
West Cork Bourbon Cask Irish Whiskey ($25)
“If you like bourbon, this is for you. It’s delightful over ice. It’s got a sweetness that stays with you obviously because of the barrels—but the mash bill of heavy grain and malt helps too. The whiskey makes for easy drinking with cinnamon baking spice and slight pepper notes.”
Knappogue Castle 1951 ($2,008)
“If you’re lucky enough to have a taste you’ll understand why it’s so rare,” McCoy says. “I was lucky to taste this a very long time ago—but I didn’t know then what I know now. It’s aged in two types of wood (sherry and bourbon) but I feel it has much more of a bourbon finish, which I appreciate. Good luck getting some.”
Redbreast 25 Year Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey ($958)
“All-sherry single cask. Another rare and limited bottling of 600, it was made especially for The Friend at Hand Belfast connected with the Duke of York Bar—I was lucky to snag bottle number 214 out of 600. Well worth the price, which I believe was around $450 back then.”
Redbreast 25 is probably one of the hardest Irish whiskey bottles to find. Only 600 bottles were ... [+] produced. Pernod Ricard
Tullamore D.E.W Irish Whiskey ($35)
“Sweet and woody with hints of vanilla; just lovely to sip on. The taste is exceptionally crisp, giving fruit and honey with a hint of spearmint. It packs a punch even at 80 proof but smooth and it’s got a great price point at under $30.”
Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey ($40)
“Aged in rum casks that obviously give it a sweet bite. This is a go-to over ice or neat, it’s got attitude.”
Powers Irish Whiskey Gold Label ($35)
“They say everyone remembers their first time. Well, how could I forget it? This is Irish whiskey at its finest” McCoy says. “Call me biased but I’ve always been a fan. It’s got a kick coming in at 86 proof (something that a lot of other Irish whiskies lack)—followed by mild spices, wood, honey, and cinnamon.”
Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskey ($217)
“Released yearly since 1984, and aged anywhere from 12 to 20 years, this expression is a mashup of pot still and grain whiskies.”
Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey ($42)
“The only peated single malt on the market. I’m generally partial to the Scottish single malts, but this one is extraordinarily special: tastes like baked apple pie with smoke.”
A product of the Kilbeggan Distilling Company, Connemara is the only peated single malt Irish ... [+] whiskey. Kilbeggan
Knappogue Castle 14 Year Single Malt Irish Whiskey ($65)
“Super smooth, fruity, and nutty. My favorite among the line—but obviously if you can get a hold of the 1951, that will change your mind, believe me!”
Dingle Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey ($100)
“The first from the Dingle Distillery aged in Pedro Ximénez sherry barrels. Good juice,” McCoy says. “The Pedro Ximénez gives the whiskey an extra sweetness. It also adds tastes of dried fruits like raisins and has a syrup-like quality.”
Bushmills 16–Year Old Irish Whiskey ($120)
“A top whiskey, without a doubt. Lots of sherry, nut spice, and fruit. Bushmills 16 Year is best served neat in a double rocks glass, preferably next to a roaring fire.”
J.J. Corey Irish Whiskey: The Gael ($84)
“This is a delightful blend of three single malts aged 11, 15, and 26 years—plus a seven-year grain from the Chapel Gate Whiskey company” McCoy says. “There’s something special about this because it’s pure and simple, especially when compared to the later releases. The Flintlock 16 Year obviously has more age to it, and the Battalion has a bit too much fruit and smoke due to the tequila and mezcal barrels, so the Gael release really hits a sweet spot.”
Chapel Gate Whiskey’s mission is to resurrect the art of Irish whiskey bonding. And The Gael is the ... [+] first expression made, with only 7,500 bottles. J.J. Corry
Redbreast 12 Year Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey ($55)
“This was always a mainstay in my early bartending career because I've never been a Jameson fan,” McCoy says. “And to be honest this is a wonderful sipping whiskey neat or maybe a rock (or two) to allow the fruit to pop out. I still go back to it today even with all that’s on the market now. It’s well-crafted Irish whiskey. My romance with Red Breast is due to the fact that it’s a 12-year-old whiskey that has body—plus nutty spice and a warm sweetness to it. I prefer it served neat.”
Yellow Spot 12 Year Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey ($77)
“Aged in three exceptional casks of bourbon, sherry, and Malaga, the finishes deliver a brighter sweetness to it.”
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d72d83d9395055999dff2ce4b1fa687d | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2020/04/17/best-mezcals-to-try-now-2020/?sh=56c64edeef3a | A Comprehensive Guide To The Best Mezcals: 25 Bottles To Try Now | A Comprehensive Guide To The Best Mezcals: 25 Bottles To Try Now
From left: Cinco Sentidos, Don Mateo, Banhez, Del Maguey, Lalocura, Lagrimas de Dolores, Mezonte, Mal Bien, Derrumbes, Mezcal Vago, Erstwhile Mezcal
When it comes to Scotch, a little smoke really lights my fire—peated whiskies from Islay (and other regions) are some of my all-time favorites. And that’s just one of the many reasons I prefer mezcal over its cocktail cousin, tequila.
Like an ostrich and emu—both spirits have plenty in common: They're each distilled from agave and aren’t typically aged more than a few years, sometimes just months. But for my money, mezcals are generally more complex than most tequilas, and smoke is only a part of what elevates it.
"Mezcal, unlike tequila, can be made with any agave grown in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Durango, ... [+] Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacan, and Puebla," Says Lou Bank, the founder of SARED Agave. "And mezcal is now a product controlled by a denomination of origin." Getty
But where to start? Whenever I recommend a new spirit category to friends, I usually ask what they like to drink first before finding an equivalent: You’re a bourbon drinker? Here are some Cognacs you’ll love.
Unfortunately, my familiarity with mezcal’s technicalities is rudimentary at best. So I reached out to Lou Bank, the founder and executive director of S.A.C.R.E.D (Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education and Development)—a 501(c)3 not-for-profit that uses traditional and artisanal agave spirits from rural Mexico as a channel to advance the communities that produce these truly special mezcals and raicilla.
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And the man certainly knows his stuff.
“When I visited Oaxaca for the first time in 2008, I thought I was just going on vacation and would get to enjoy a broader selection of mezcals than I was able to access in Chicago. I never expected it to lead me to start a non-profit organization,” Bank says. “What I experienced that time showed me that there was something very special going on with these spirits—that they tasted so different because they were made in a way that spirits aren’t normally made. Time stood still in these communities. They were using methods that had disappeared during the industrial revolution. I went back the following year, and the year after that. And then a couple times the next year.”
Lou Bank founded S.A.C.R.E.D (Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education and Development)—a ... [+] 501(c)3 not-for-profit that uses traditional and artisanal agave spirits as a channel to advance the communities that produce these truly special mezcals and raicilla. Cory James
By 2013, Bank had developed relationships with mezcaleros and started hosting mezcal tastings—sending the proceeds to Eduardo Angeles (now the maestro mezcalero of Lalocura) to help build a library for the children of Santa Catarina Minas. “That money would be sent directly to the project via PayPal or they would hand me cash, which I would carry down on my next trip. By 2017 the library was finished,” Bank says. “So I went looking for other projects to support. At the same time, I found myself with a couple of corporations asking how they could participate. All of this made me realize I needed to formalize the process—so I incorporated S.A.C.R.E.D.”
Since then, the organization’s projects have multiplied. It’s now developing a rain-capture system in Santa Maria Ixcatlan, Oaxaca—and anticipating completion by May 2021. It has also helped with repairs to the greenhouse in Minas and earthquake relief to a community center and school in Zaachila—plus a mezcalero’s home in Miahuatlan. And its largest program to-date is the replanting of agave. “We’ve purchased over 22,000 baby agave plants from a middle school in Zaachila, at a price that is two to three times market rate, thus supporting this school in a community of need,” Bank says. “And we’ve given those agave seedlings to families who make traditional agave spirits, helping them replenish the source material they need to continue doing what they are doing.”
Unlike tequila, most mezcals are still produced the old-fashioned way—by communities and families in ... [+] rural Mexico, sans industrial equipment. S.A.C.R.E.D Agave
So if you want to change up your drinking game for Cinco de Mayo—or any day on the calendar—Bank curated some unforgettable mezcals for those with other preferred pours: “My great hope is to get people to drink more agave spirits that have been made the non-industrial way. But I don’t believe that the public can just jump from drinking vodka-and-soda to drinking neat spirits that taste like cheese or roasted poblanos. So I’ve designed a list of offerings that I hope can meet people where they are, and perhaps offer them a path toward drinking the kinds of crazy agave spirits that I love—so that the people who make these spirits find the kind of financial reward that enables them to continue making what their families have been creating for generations.”
25 of the Best Mezcals to Try Now
IF YOU LIKE TO DRINK COCKTAILS…
“Anyone who has entered a cocktail bar in the last five years has seen the emergence of the mezcal cocktail,” Bank says. “If you want to dip your toe into those waters, try a cocktail made with Sombra Mezcal ($36), Cruz De Fuego Mezcal’s Espadín ($40), or La Luna Mezcal’s Cupreata ($45). All three are affordable bottles that taste good neat, but also work well in cocktails. Unlike some of the more exotic mezcals, these brands work hard to make each bottle taste the same, so that bartenders can rely on a specific flavor profile for their cocktail recipes.”
Monte Alban Mezcal
IF YOU’RE A BEER AFICIONADO…
“Monte Alban ($27) is an old-school mezcal that has been in the U.S market for decades,” Bank says. “It’s gold in color and has a worm (caterpillar, really) in the bottle. Twenty years ago, if you knew what mezcal was, this is what you pictured. Smoky and salty—and earthy from the worm. If all of your beer-snob friends laugh when you order PBR, this is what you should get when they start talking about mezcal. And eat the worm, just to show them you’re for real.”
Fidencio Unico Mezcal
IF YOU LIKE TO SIP PREMIUM TEQUILA…
“There are hundreds of varieties of agave—the plant that provides the sugars to make mezcal, tequila, raicilla, and other agave-based spirits. If the only agave spirits you’ve had are tequilas, then you’ve only tasted one agave: The tequilana blue weber,” Bank explains. “By law, that’s the only agave that can be used to make tequila. And to meet demand, almost all tequilas have introduced some level of industrialization, so you usually only get to taste blue weber agave that has been processed in an industrial way. If you want to taste the same kind of agave that has been converted into a spirit in an heirloom manner, try La Luna Tequilana ($80). They’ve roasted the agave in a stone-lined earthen oven, milled it by hand using wooden mallets, fermented it open-air in wooden barrels, and distilled it in wood-fired copper stills. Sip it slowly, neat, and experience the taste that created the demand for tequila a hundred years ago. Again: The smaller the sip, the bigger the flavor. And once your palate has tasted the La Luna Tequilana, try the espadín from Lalocura ($153), made in the same type of heritage way but with a different agave and may well be the best illustration of why Oaxaca is the epicenter of mezcal. Also try the Ensamble from Los Vecinos Mezcal ($65), which features a few different agaves processed in an assortment of ways and blended to a sweet, peppery sipper; or Fidencio Unico mezcal ($45), which proves that not all mezcals are smoky.”
IF YOU WANT TO TRANSITION FROM MEZCAL COCKTAILS TO NEAT MEZCAL…
“Here’s a pro move: Try a neat pour of the mezcal used in your favorite cocktail. Take small sips and hold those sips on your tongue to the count of five before you swallow,” Bank recommends. “That first sip will clear your palate; the second will introduce your palate to the complexities of the spirit; the third will be your first ‘actual’ taste of the spirit, now that your palate has been initiated. The smaller the sip, the bigger the flavor. And the more often you drink agave spirits, the better your palate will get at identifying complexities. Once you’ve fallen in love with the mezcals from your cocktails, expand to crowd-pleasers like Mezcal Vago’s Elote expression ($60), Del Maguey’s Chichicapa ($68), or the soon-to-the-market Vámonos Riendo mezcal, which is an espadín-tobalá blend that is mildly fruity, mildly spicy, and absolutely delicious.”
Lagrimas De Dolores Mezcal Añejo
IF YOU LIKE FINE WHISKEY…
“You sip your Scotch and bourbon slow, savoring the caramel and vanilla flavors that the wood has imparted. But you can also enjoy those same flavors on top of an agave base with reposado and añejo mezcal expressions,” Bank says. “Some gringo mezcal enthusiasts will tell you that this is the wrong way to drink mezcal—that the wood buries the flavors of the agave or that it’s not traditional to age your mezcal in wood. To the former, I’d say that the wood doesn’t bury the flavors any more than their beloved pechuga expressions do. Pechuga is a mezcal that has been distilled with fruit and (often) some form of protein, like chicken, added to the still. And those same enthusiasts love their pechuga. To the latter I’d say that the intention may not have been to age in wood. But until the mid 1900s, the only way to transport mezcal was in wooden barrels attached to donkeys, so that for sure was aged. And to all of them I would say, try Lágrimas De Dolores Mezcal’s Añejo Cenizo—a musky, vanilla-accented dram out of Durango, Mexico, that pays homage to the owner’s grandmother, who would only drink wood-aged mezcals.”
IF YOU LOVE A SMOKY, PEATY ISLAY SCOTCH…
“So you have an adventurous palate and want to drink something with big, bold flavors. Try La Venenosa Raicilla Costa ($97), which is like smoky blue cheese submerged in mineral water, or Lalocura’s Tepextate, which hits you in the face like a water balloon—just imagine that someone replaced the water with pollen, black pepper, and poblano chiles. Or try Del Maguey’s Tobalá ($122), which was made from agaves that were cooked underground—and then left there for 30 days to grow crazy molds.”
Banhez Pechuga Mezcal
IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO PAIR WITH YOUR DESSERT…
“Pechuga-style mezcals are generally distilled with fruits, spices, and protein (the latter usually taking the form of a chicken or a turkey),” Banks says. “For a fruity dessert, try the Pechuga from Banhez ($100), Don Mateo ($100), or Don Amado ($110)—or the new-to-market Diaz Brothers Agave pechuga distilled with Dark Matter Coffee, chocolate, and habanero chiles. If you’ve got a dark chocolate dessert, try balancing it with a sweet pour like the Durango release from Derrumbes Mezcal ($77) or the flowery sweetness of Erstwhile’s Tobalá ($90).”
Mal Bien Tobala Mezcal
IF YOU’VE BEEN DRINKING MEZCAL AND WANT TO GO DEEPER…
“To my palate, the greatest magic of agave is expressed in the handmade spirits that are bottled and exported in the exact same form as they are consumed in the rural Mexican communities where they’re made,” Bank says. “I don’t begrudge anyone making or bottling something consistent for a broader audience, which expects each pour to taste like the first one they had. But what speaks to my palate are the surprises from great artisans who have all the skills of a four-star chef. I can’t describe to you the flavor profile of a bottle of Victor Ramos’ tobalá from Mal Bien ($109), because it literally depends on which bottle you have. Do you have the one Victor made in March 2018? Or February 2019? The 400 decisions Victor makes in his entirely non-industrial process will result in significantly different flavors with each batch. The only consistent thing about it is: If Victor’s name is on it, it will be truly amazing. The same can be said for Berta Vasquez’s Mexicano releases from Rezpiral ($100), Alberto Martinez’s Sierra Negra releases from Cinco Sentidos ($112), and Hildegardo “Japo” Joya’s Amarillo expressions from Mezonte ($170). (And if you can’t find those specific expressions from those brands, know that I’ve enjoyed literally everything I’ve had from each of the four of them. You can’t go wrong with any of their creations.) But that’s specific to my palate. If you want something specific to yours, go to mezcalreviews.com and do a little research. They have more than 800 bottles reviewed—and there’s something for everyone listed on the website.”
IF YOU’VE ALREADY GONE DEEP AND WANT TO DROWN...
“Go to Mexico. I mean, don’t go now—wait until all signs of the novel coronavirus have disappeared. When you meet the people who make these spirits—the people who have eschewed industrial techniques in favor of traditional methods; who put results before convenience—you’ll gain a greater understanding of why these spirits are both delicious and important. And why it’s important to wait. These rural communities are a treasure out of time, and that time isn’t one that is prepared to deal with the coronavirus. In the meantime, try Maguey Melate’s mezcalero-of-the-month club: The rural communities come to you in these small-batch, rare expressions sent in packages of two bottles every other month. And once COVID-19 has crawled away, think about hitting Mexico City first. There, you can pick up of El Tigre, a heritage agave spirit from rural Guerrero. (You’ll likely find a bottle or two at Sabra Dios in Condesa.) Or try Almamezcalera’s Salmiana expressions from San Luis Potosí at Erick Rodriguez’s tasting room near the Mexico City airport. Then head south to Oaxaca or north to Durango. Check in while you’re planning your trip at sacred.mx for some great tour guides who can take you to traditional producers, or to get GPS coordinates so you can make the drive yourself.”
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fb9adb6e26d6f8a83330bf2bd8b4b07b | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2020/04/30/easy-recipes-coronavirus-quarantine-2020/ | Cook Like A Michelin-Starred Chef: Ornellaia’s Giuseppe D’Errico Is Making These 3 Easy Dishes | Cook Like A Michelin-Starred Chef: Ornellaia’s Giuseppe D’Errico Is Making These 3 Easy Dishes
Ristorante Ornellaia
The kitchen has always been my sanctuary. But preparing multiple meals every day in quarantine has me (and many others) suffering from chronic cooking fatigue. Thankfully, there is a cure.
With the world’s most celebrated chefs opening their recipe books on social media or providing free virtual cooking lessons, it’s never been easier to find new culinary inspiration and reignite that inner pilot light.
Giuseppe D’Errico, the head chef at Zürich’s Michelin-starred Ristorante Ornellaia, served me one of ... [+] the best meals I've ever had. So I asked him what I could easily make at home to transport me back to the famed restaurant while in quarantine. Ristorante Ornellaia
Among the best meals I’ve had in the past year was at Ristorante Ornellaia in Zürich, the only restaurant operated by the famed Bolgheri winery. Michelin-starred chef Giuseppe D’Errico’s dishes were simple fare—pappardelle with hare ragout and scallop carpaccio—with complex layers of flavor that are still memorable.
So what could I make at home that could transport me to Chef D’Errico’s restaurant? I asked him.
PEA AND MINT SOUP
Ristorante Ornellaia
“The soup is excellent in this period of quarantine because we use fresh products every season, making them quite easy to find. Doing this not only supports the local producers, but also makes the dish very fresh and tasty without the large caloric intake. If fresh peas aren’t available, use frozen peas instead.” —Chef Giuseppe d’Errico, Ornellaia Ristorante, Zürich
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Ingredients:
2 Pounds fresh peas
3 Spring onions
500 ml. Vegetable broth
1 Clove of garlic
1 Bunch of mint
Extra virgin olive oil
Small loaf of bread or 2 rolls for cubing
Directions: Clean the peas and cook them in boiling water, putting a small amount aside to garnish your dish. Then cut the spring onions into julienne strips and sweat them in a saucepan with a little extra virgin olive oil. At this point, add the peas and sprinkle with the vegetable broth. Once the cooking is finished, mix everything and adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Then cut the bread into small cubes and sauté them in a pan with a clove of poached garlic and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Chef's Tip: before serving, add the mint for about ten minutes to infuse the flavor into the soup. You can also add some aromatic herbs to decorate your dish and give it some extra tasty notes.
LEMON VEAL
Ristorante Ornellaia
“Veal is a very lean meat—with a good protein content, low cholesterol, and high digestibility. Also, this recipe is a good example of a ‘sustainable meal.’ Instead of throwing away your old bread, use it to make a lemon crust. The veal can be replaced with pork loin or chicken breast as long as they are products that do not come from intensive factory farming facilities.” —Chef Giuseppe d’Errico, Ornellaia Ristorante, Zürich
Ingredients (Makes 2 Servings):
1 Pound of first cut veal (entrecote, rump, or a tender cut)
½ Cup of white breadcrumbs (old and dry)
10 Tablespoons butter
1 Untreated lemon
2 Eggplants
Salt
White pepper
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions: Clean and cut the eggplants into two lengthwise halves. Score the whole surface, season with salt and pepper and glaze with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Once cooked, recover all the pulp. Hand mix it with the remaining extra virgin olive oil in order to obtain a smooth and homogeneous purée. If you need to, adjust with salt and pepper. Coarsely chop the crumbs of dry bread with the help of a knife or mixer. Mix the crumb with 8 tablespoons of previously melted butter to achieve a creamy consistency. Grate the lemon peel, add a pinch of salt, and mix until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Roll out the lemon dough between two sheets of baking paper with the help of a rolling pin or an empty bottle of wine. Let rest in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, cook the meat in a pan over low heat with the remaining butter. Cook approximately 2 minutes per side. Place your lemon viennoise on the meat. Complete the cooking in the oven at 415°F for about 4 minutes. Then let the meat rest for 3 minutes. Recover the juices and the cooking fat and add a few drops of lemon to liven up the sauce. Cut the meat and garnish it with a quenelle of eggplant purée and the well-heated sauce. Ready to serve!
BEEF TAGLIATA WITH SOUR ONIONS
Ristorante Ornellaia
“I believe that beef tagliata is the perfect dish to cheer anyone’s mood, especially these days. The balcony (or for the lucky ones, the garden) has truly become the place where we spend most of our quarantine days. We sing songs. We applaud doctors and nurses for their incredible work. We celebrate Easter—and toast to life and hope! Therefore, with the necessary precautions, why not make a barbecue dish to add some joyful and tasty notes to your day?” —Chef Giuseppe d’Errico, Ornellaia Ristorante, Zürich
Ingredients (Makes 2 Servings):
1 Pound veal entrecote or rump steak or a tender cut
3 Red onions
3 Spring onions
Salt
Black pepper
1 Bundle of tarragon
4 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
Directions: Finely chop the red onion. In a saucepan, heat the sugar for a few seconds and then add the red onions. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, then add the wine vinegar. Cover with a lid and simmer until the onion is soft and slightly wilted. Set aside the onion compote and season with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Cut the spring onions in two and cook them on the barbecue for 4-5 minutes (or grill pan). Season the entrecote with salt and pepper. Cook it 3 minutes per side on the barbecue (or grill pan) at a temperature of 400°F. Once the cooking is finished, let the meat rest for about 4 minutes. Cut and serve the entrecote with the onion compote, the spring onions, and a sprinkling of fresh pepper.
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679278ef176e937ff0378d3e4e19ceb2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2020/06/17/best-tonic-waters-for-summer-cocktails-2020/ | These 6 Tonic Waters (And 2 Tonic Syrups) Will Elevate Your Summer Cocktails | These 6 Tonic Waters (And 2 Tonic Syrups) Will Elevate Your Summer Cocktails
Photo Illustration: Kristin Tablang
Fashioning a bulletproof cocktail is whole lot like cooking a superb meal.
Consider this: the core principles and the end goal are the same. It’s all about using a combination of learned techniques (and sometimes, hacks) to create something delightful. Whether you’re crafting libations or prepping a Michelin-worthy dinner, what you’re really doing is using complementary ingredients to build layers of flavor to achieve nuance, depth, and balance.
And the best way to do this is to properly follow two guidelines: Use the best ingredients you can afford and avoid shortcuts as much as you can. (By that I mean, use freshly squeezed citrus instead of Mott’s real lemon.) It goes without saying that when you’re working with the good stuff—all fresh and well-sourced—you’ll get above average results, no matter how simple the recipe.
Take for example, the humble gin and tonic—which is already delicious and refreshing in its own right. But add a few flourishes (such as sprigs of rosemary or berries) and swap out your Canada Dry for something a little more exciting, then your G&T will truly sing.
And Simon Ford, cofounder of the extremely popular Fords Gin, agrees. The man is very exacting when it comes to his tonics. And he’s not too shabby when it comes to history either.
Elevate your gin and tonic with sprigs of rosemary and your preferred citrus—or even berries. Getty
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“Tonic water is essentially a measure of quinine—a bitter compound derived from the powdered bark of the cinchona tree and a tremendously effective anti-malarial (it thins the blood)—dissolved in carbonated water with an optional sweetener to help mitigate the bitter flavor,” Ford explains. “The cinchona (A.K.A the ‘fever’ tree) originated in South America and was used for several health remedies. But it wasn’t until the European influence spread across the continent that its efficacy in treating malaria was discovered. For some, the bitter flavor was a bonus and added a dimension to the drink that couldn’t be found anywhere else. And to this day, it’s a unique flavor that can’t easily be reproduced.”
I’m fascinated with what can come of chance encounters: If an 18-year-old Mick Jagger, a student at the London School of Economics, hadn’t been on platform 2 of Dartford Station on the morning of October 17, 1961, he wouldn’t have encountered an art college-bound Keith Richards and struck up a conversation right then and there,” Ford continues. “Supposedly, if Ernest Hamwi, a waffle vendor at the 1904 World’s Fair, didn’t offer a rolled-up ‘cone’ to Arnold Fornachou, a nearby ice cream vendor, when he ran out of bowls, he would’ve simply been stuck with a large inventory of waffles on a very hot day. Likewise, if the armies of the British East India Trading Company hadn’t been given their daily rations of citrus (for scurvy), quinine (to combat malaria) in the form of ‘tonic’ water, and gin (for sanity) in the early 19th century, they wouldn’t ever have thought to combine all three things into what would become one of the most famous highballs in history: the Gin Tonic.”
The basic G&T is one of the easiest cocktails to master: one part gin, three parts tonic, a light ... [+] squeeze of citrus, and garnish. And yes, you can add extras such as cucumbers, berries, herbs—or whatever else your heart desires. Eric Medsker
Fast forward to the present day and you’ll find that tonic is not what it once was. The amount of quinine has been cut drastically to play down the bitterness—while sugar content jumped.
“The world’s first commercial tonic water was introduced in 1858 by Schweppe’s—with other brands following suit. It wasn’t until the craft cocktail revolution of the early 2000s that the drink saw a quantum leap in variety and quality,” Ford says. “For decades prior, the selection was always relegated to the Schweppes–Seagram’s–Canada Dry trifecta. (Or, if you grew up like I did, Waitrose brand). All venerable marks, yes. But laden with high fructose corn syrup, stabilizers like sodium benzoate, and some sort of citric acid—hardly on par with the bottle of gin you’ve spent more than $30 on! If two-thirds of your beverage is a single ingredient, you have to make sure that it’s punching above its weight. It’s easier to justify spending a bit more on tonic to more accurately reflect the quality of the gin—and therefore the experience as a whole. The key here is not just to pair the right tonic to the right gin, but also to further complement (or contrast) the gin’s botanicals with your choice of garnish.”
Best Tonics for Your Summer G&Ts (and Other Cocktails)
FEVER-TREE PREMIUM INDIAN TONIC ($30/PACK OF 24)
“In 2004, after decades of all the same tonics on the shelves, Charles Rolls and Tim Warrillow created the drinkable version of Bannister’s four-minute mile,” Ford says. “Using cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, smaller bubbles, and a good dose of quinine sourced from the ‘fever trees’ in Rwanda and the Congo made this the yardstick against which all craft tonics would soon be measured. It’s still winning awards. I’ll take this with a slice of lemon or lime.”
FEVER-TREE MEDITERRANEAN TONIC ($36/ PACK OF 24)
“Let me preface this by saying I am not on the Fever-Tree payroll (though I do my part to keep their depletions healthy),” Ford says. “The Mediterranean iteration was their other important contribution to the tonic world. The base formula is identical to the Indian, but the addition of lemon–thyme shifts the profile to accommodate lighter-flavored spirits such as vodka. It’s still phenomenal with gin, though. I take mine with a sprig of rosemary or lemon verbena.”|
Q INDIAN TONIC WATER ($18/ PACK OF 12)
“This was Q’s effort to create a tonic to handle a more assertive, juniper-forward gin as the craft boom was in full swing. (Their Spectacular tonic, sweetened with agave nectar, had already made a name for the company),” Ford explains. “Q Indian has bigger bubbles and a bit of cane sugar (in addition to the agave), and it provides a much sturdier backbone to withstand dilution in more complex cocktails. From a garnish standpoint, you can really pile it on with the layers. Cinnamon sticks, orange half-wheels and thyme sprigs have all been spotted in my gin tónica glass with this one.”
EAST IMPERIAL YUZU TONIC ($8/ PACK OF 4)
“Based off a 1903 family recipe, East Imperial’s first offerings were significant from a mixological perspective. Their two original tonics pulled no punches and were meant to showcase a good gin in a hi-ball,” Ford says. “Their Yuzu dropped with about as much excitement and anticipation in the industry as would a new Kanye album (Yeezy yuzu?)—and much like his albums, it delivered. Think of this one as an option for a poolside G&T. What you might not get in quinine, you instead get bright, citrusy notes that beg for more fruit and lighter herbs. Try adding raspberries and mint.”
INDI & CO ORGANIC TONIC ($8/ PACK OF 4)
“Full disclosure: This tonic hasn’t been readily available in the U.S. for years now, but it left a tattoo on my brain when I tasted it for the first time,” Ford says. “It’s a tonic, sure, but it’s been supercharged with all sorts of natural extracts—orange, lemon, lime, quinine, and nigella seed. It’s a remarkable product and is one of multiple offerings (they make a strawberry tonic and I sincerely hope one of my EU friends can send me a case for research). If you ever come across a bottle of this, I can’t recommend highly enough to mix it with some Fords gin, they go together exceptionally well, and not just because they both have elephants on the label. (Shameless plug!)”
JACK RUDY CLASSIC TONIC SYRUP ($16 FOR ONE 17-OUNCE BOTTLE)
“At some point in the aughts, people realized tonic syrups would make more sense from the bartender standpoint,” Ford says. “This would allow them to play with the flavors of a G&T by changing the soda water, so long as there was a measure of a good tonic syrup in the glass, as well. Brooks Reitz created this balanced syrup with lemongrass and orange peel to give an elevating twist to the standard G&T. Try this with grapefruit zest and jasmine pearls in the glass.”
SMALL HAND FOODS YEOMAN TONIC SYRUP ($17 FOR ONE 17.5-OUNCE BOTTLE)
“Starting in 2008, Jennifer Colliau, an accomplished Bay Area bartender, made it her mission to provide high-quality syrups at a time where Finest Call and Rose’s Lime Cordial were holding the sweet and sticky reins,” Ford says. “Her tonic and orgeat syrups became building blocks for the craft bartending scene—and to this day are still the mark of a serious beverage program. Her Yeoman Tonic was created in collaboration with Desmond Payne MBE, the master distiller of Beefeater gin (and an old friend, to boot) in order to pair perfectly with his gin. It does not disappoint: The amount of cinchona is reduced to mitigate the bitterness, and in turn bring out the citrus notes of a gin like Beefeater. Citrus will always work with citrus, so I prefer mine with a peel each of lemon, lime, and grapefruit.”
LONDON ESSENCE GRAPEFRUIT–ROSEMARY TONIC WATER ($1/BOTTLE)
“This is an offering from a company founded in 1896 and ‘refreshed’ in 2016 to suit the needs of the developing worldwide gin palate,” Ford says. “Their grapefruit–rosemary tonic is emblematic of the subtle complexity of when a fruit meets an herb, without crowding the stage. The effervescence of a good highball helps to bring out the lighter, more floral notes of both ingredients. This one was designed for use in more than just gin and tonics. (Try it with an amaro!) I remain undeterred, though. I’ll take this one tall, with a good London dry gin and a splash of Meletti.”
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4c02f6e6a39bde16f85214918a8b19bb | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2020/12/14/easy-cocktail-recipes-mezcal-cocktails-2020/?sh=4fba9dd53094 | 13 Easy-To-Make Mezcal Cocktails For Winter | 13 Easy-To-Make Mezcal Cocktails For Winter
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I first encountered mezcal during a particularly fun party in Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans a while back. And I’ve been hooked ever since.
So I did what any curious spirits enthusiast would do: I began my mezcal education with the help of Lou Bank—the host of the podcast Agave Roadtrip and founder of S.A.C.R.E.D (Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education and Development), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit that uses traditional and artisanal agave spirits from rural Mexico as a channel to advance the communities that produce truly special mezcals and raicilla.
“What I experienced my [first] time in Oaxaca showed me that there was something very special going on with these spirits—that they tasted so different because they were made in a way that spirits aren’t normally made. Time stood still in these communities. They were using methods that had disappeared during the industrial revolution. I went back the following year, and the year after that,” Bank says. “My great hope is to get people to drink more agave spirits that have been made the non-industrial way. But I don’t believe that the public can just jump from drinking vodka-and-soda to drinking neat spirits that taste like cheese or roasted poblanos.
From left: The Haitian Divorce, Tiger Lily, Summer Dayz, Pinot Noir Mezcal Mule, and Dry Curaçao ... [+] Margarita Photo Illustration: Kristin Tablang
And it seems like his efforts—combined with others’—have been working: Mezcal has been growing increasingly popular each year for the past several years. Not too long ago, the Distilled Spirits Council released that Mexico’s other popular agave-based spirit has grown from less than 50,000 cases in 2009 to more than 350,000 in 2017—a massive leap by any measure.
And while I enjoy my mezcals neat, sipping them slowly after a grueling Monday, I also love what they bring to cocktails: nuanced and varying flavor profiles, a satisfying finish, and (more often than not) a smokey touch. The spirit is also wonderfully versatile: You can make cocktails for any season or occasion or non-occasion.
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So here, 13 spirits professionals shared the (easy-to-make) mezcal cocktails they’ll be making for themselves this winter. And you best believe that I’ll be making them too—because who says no to a mezcal hot chocolate?
Easy Cocktail Recipes: Mezcal Drinks To See You Through This Pandemic Winter
Tim Becker for Craft Spirits Cooperative and Vintus New York
THE HAITIAN DIVORCE
“This drink is awesome in general: Every ingredient contains alcohol so it’s perfect for the world right now. When folks would ask for a smokey whiskey drink this is what I gave them—and there is no whiskey in it. This is far from a colorless flavorless cocktail. And the Sherry gives it an entire fourth dimension. And I love the Steely Dan song of the same name that it’s named after. Same goes for the term ‘yacht rock.’ I developed it at an iconic bar where I was head bartender: The Beagle. (R.I.P.) And it is on menu at Dear Irving, where I was also head bartender.” —Tom Richter, New York spirits specialist for the Craft Spirits Cooperative and Vintus New York and owner and creator of Tomr’s Tonic
Ingredients:
3 dashes Angostura bitters
0.75 oz. mezcal (Legendario Domingo Espadín preferred)
0.5 oz. Pedro Ximénez Sherry (Lustau preferred)
1.5 oz. aged rum (Barbancourt 8 preferred)
Method: Build in a double old fashioned glass. Lower a large format rock into the glass and stir until chilled. Express a lime twist and an orange twist over the drink and tuck the twists into the glass along the side of the ice cube.
Claire Mallett
OAXACAN CHOCOLATE HUG
“Oaxaca is known for mezcal—but it’s also known for chocolate, and they play wonderfully together. Hot chocolate is so comforting in the colder months, especially this holiday season when socially distanced gatherings are outside. Spicing it up with mezcal gives it a slight peppery and earthy element, which balances the richness and subtle sweetness of Organic Mixology’s dark chocolate and sea salt liqueur. Mr. Black’s single-origin coffee liqueur adds a little bitterness and a caffeine kick, while the orange bitters offers a dash of citrus to round out the cocktail. Twenty-twenty has been a rough year and I think everyone could use a hug.” —Claire Mallett, bartender at Catch One, Los Angeles
Ingredients:
1 oz. Ilegal Mezcal Joven
1 oz. Organic Mixology dark chocolate and sea salt liqueur
0.5 oz. Mr. Black coffee liqueur
3 dashes of orange bitters
4 oz. hot chocolate**
Heavy cream
**For Hot Chocolate: Take 3 tsp. of dark chocolate chips, stir in 4 oz. of hot milk.
Method: Add mezcal, liqueurs, and bitters to your mug or glass. Stir in 4 oz. of hot chocolate. Pour the heavy cream over the back of a spoon gently, this will give you the marbling effect on top. For multiple servings multiply the ingredients by number of servings.
Camille Austin
TIGER LILY
“Mezcal can be powerful on all the senses and depending on which of its flavor spectrums one would like to highlight, it can be a very versatile spirit for making cocktails. The element of terroir is what I love to discover first and foremost: those green, citrus, aromatic, and herbal notes that come from the agave variety used and region(s) where it’s produced. Ojo de Tigre is an inviting mezcal that boasts both accessibility and complexity with its fresh, bright flavor profile from the Oaxacan Espadín agave and more herbal undertone from the portion of tobala from Puebla used in our blend. Refreshing and slightly fruity cocktail combinations are my favorite to showcase the mezcal’s freshness.” —Camille Austin, director of advocacy at Casa Lumbre Spirits
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Ojo de Tigre mezcal
1.5 oz. pineapple juice
2 oz. ginger beer
Method: Build all ingredients over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice or lime wedge.
Juan Fernandez
MEZCAL PALOMA
“This is a twist on the classic summer tequila cocktail. The mezcal brings a smoky and peppery aspect to the drink, coupled with sour tangy fall flavors of cranberry and pomegranate.” —Juan Fernandez, beverage director at The Ballantyne, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Charlotte
Ingredients:
2 oz. mezcal
1 oz. pomegranate juice
1 oz. cranberry juice
1 splash lime juice, optional
Partial salt rim, optional
Splash of agave, to taste
Method: Combine all ingredients over ice in a Collins glass, then top with club soda. Garnish with either a dehydrated orange wheel (or orange slice) and cranberry.
LOS MUERTOS
Charles Joly
“The Los Muertos is a direct ode to the classic Corpse Reviver No. 2. It’s my preferred way to enjoy this drink. You’ll notice I split the mezcal base with a bit of blanco tequila—this makes it a perfect intro to mezcal for the uninitiated and maintains a balance in the cocktail, so no one ingredient bullies the rest. We did this same thing in our Crafthouse Cocktails smoky Margarita: truly just a more straightforward style mezcal sour than the Muertos.” —Charles Joly, cofounder of Crafthouse Cocktails and winner of Diageo World Class 2014
Ingredients:
1 oz. mezcal
0.5 oz. Don Julio Blanco tequila
0.75 oz. dry curacao
0.75 oz. Cocchi Americano (or Lillet Blanc)
0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
0.25 oz. simple syrup
3 dashes (or scant barspoon) absinthe
Method: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled coupe. Cut an orange peel and flame oils over the top of the cocktail. Float in glass.
Steve Freihon
SUMMER DAYZ
“I’ve always been a big fan of beer cocktails and so wanted to put one on the menu at The Orchard Townhouse. This drink has loads of flavors and spirits of the season: pisco, select aperitivo, pineapple and all capped off with a vibrant citrusy IPA.” —Naren Young, bar director at The Fat Radish Popup at The Orchard Townhouse
Ingredients:
1.25 oz. Pisco
0.5 oz. Select Aperitivo
0.25 oz. Montelobos mezcal
1 oz. pineapple juice
0.5 oz. spiced pineapple syrup
0.25 oz. lemon juice
2 dashes saline solution
5 dashes orange bitters
Method: Shake ingredients hard with ice. Add some IPA to shaker after. Strain over fresh ice in a highball glass and garnish with an orange slice.
Dan Magro
PINOT NOIR MEZCAL MULE
“This wine cocktail is a two-toned, smokey, holiday crowd pleaser! As the Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir ice cube slowly melts it changes the flavor profile over time, adjusting to a well-rounded, smooth velvety texture.” —Dan Magro, mixologist and author of Suck It Up: Extraordinary Cocktails for Everyday People
Ingredients:
2 oz. mezcal
Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir
1 oz. fresh lime juice
4 fresh cranberries
Ginger beer
Fresh rosemary, to garnish
Method: Pour Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir into large square ice cube trays and freeze overnight. Combine cranberries, lime juice, and mezcal in a shaker. Muddle until thoroughly blended. Fill with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass over a Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir ice cube. Top off with ginger beer. Carefully light a sprig of rosemary allowing it to crackle for a few seconds and generate small smoke streams. Garnish cocktail with smoking rosemary sprig.
Double Chicken Please
COMPOSITION #9
“This is a fun twist on classic michelada—with a touch yuzu and black pepper, it gives the drink a nice citrus and smoky note. It’s easy to make and also very easy to drink.” —GN Chan, founder at Double Chicken Please, New York City
Ingredients:
0.75 oz. Ilegal Mezcal Joven
2 oz. Clamato juice
0.25 oz. yuzu juice
3 dashes green Tabasco
3 oz. Corona
Garnish with pinch black pepper
Method: Mix all the ingredients except beer in the glass, add ice then top with beer, sprinkle black pepper on the top.
The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills
THE KING’S RANSOM
Mezcal has gained tremendous popularity the last few years, especially in the United States. The unique smokiness found in mezcal is not that hard to get used to. But for those who fear stepping into a new unknown, this cocktail makes it much easier to enjoy mezcal for first timers. The cocktail still allows that unique smoky flavor of the mezcal to shine through but tones down the roughness of the spirit with a variety of ingredients that work well together to create this unique and very flavorful drink. This explosion of flavor will surely take you away from the crazy world we’re living in right now even if just for a few minutes and shifting your focus back to your senses. All the ingredients can be found at your local liquor store and the drink is very easy to make—especially if you were wondering what to do with that bottle of mezcal in your cabinet that is too powerful to drink by itself.” —Piero Procida, food and beverage director at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Ingredients:
1 oz. Mezcal Union
0.75 oz. green chartreuse
0.75 oz. St. Germaine
0.75 oz. lime juice
Method: Add all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice. Shake and fine-strain into a Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a tajín rim and a lime wheel.
David Mor
KIND OF A NEGRONI
“I have an ongoing joke with some friends about the constant use of ‘riffs of Negronis’ on menus and how it tends to be a bartender’s go-to. And honestly, why not? Negronis are delicious. They are comforting and boozy—plus they’re delish year-round. The general idea of the Negroni is to offer something that is balanced in its bittersweetness and complexity. No individual ingredient should necessarily outshine the other. Roku Gin is a perfect base for it, since it already offers these bold citrus and spice notes—a profile that makes for a perfect slow sipper to ease us into the cold weather. The bitter flavor is coming from an amaro that provides an equal amount of citrus notes, but provides a hint of nuttiness. And rather than utilizing a sweet vermouth, I decided to add a couple more hints of nuttiness with a classic walnut liqueur and dry Sherry. Finally, to totally make this drink feel like a weighted blanket, I split the base with a tinge of mezcal to keep the cocktail sexy, alluring, and perfect for a lay on the sofa, while watching Killing Eve for the second time through.” —David Mor, founder of SPILL and Chicago-based beverage consultant
Ingredients:
1 part Roku Gin
0.5 part Mezcal Verde Espadín
0.75 part Antico Amaro di Serravalle
0.5 part Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry
0.25 part Watershed Distillery Nocino
Method: Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir for 20 seconds or until drink is well-integrated and chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an expression of lemon oils and manicured peel.
Andrew Kist
SINKING STONE
“Frequently in the cocktail world, drinks imitate drinks imitate drinks—and this one is an adaptation of the Negroni. I liked the higher-proof mesquite notes of this particular espadín mezcal and I wanted to heighten its slight bitterness and fruit notes. I elected to use a blend of Plantation rums and Spanish vermouth to accomplish this. This funky, earthy, bitter sipper brings in different fruit notes and a sweetness out of this complex mezcal.” —Ivy Mix, author of Spirits of Latin America and cofounder at Leyenda, New York City
Ingredients:
1.25 oz. Koch Espadín Mezcal
0.5 oz. Plantation Jamaican Rum
0.5 oz. Atxa Vino Vermouth Blanco
0.5 oz. Cynar
0.25 oz. Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum
Orange twist, for garnish
Method: Add all the ingredients, except the orange twist, to a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass over a big ice cube. Express the oils of the orange twist over the glass and rest the twist in the glass.
Maison Ferrand
FERRAND DRY CURAÇAO MARGARITA
“Perfect for the summer to fall transition is the Ferrand Dry Curacao Margarita. It is easy to make, straight to the point and it makes you savor the end of summer heat.” —Nico de Soto, beverage consultant, owner of Danico (Paris) and Mace (New York City)
Ingredients:
1 oz. mezcal (or 100% agave blanco tequila)
1 oz. Ferrand Dry Curaçao orange liqueur
0.5 oz. fresh-strained lime juice
0.5 oz. simple syrup (or 2 tsp. of superfine sugar)
4 oz. ice
Lime wheel, for garnish
Method: Combine all ingredients (add ice last) in blender. Blend on highest speed just until ice is fully crushed. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Gavin Humes
RED SKY
“With the smoke from the mezcal and the sweetness of the apple cider, this drink really screams fall to me. It reminds me of sitting around a campfire, which is everything I want during the colder months. Think: burning the raked piles of leaves in the fall and drinking mulled cider—or eating apple pie. It’s a delicious combination that really lets the mezcal shine.” —Gavin Humes, food and beverage director at Scratch Restaurants
Ingredients:
2 oz. Vida Mezcal
0.75 oz. unfiltered apple cider
0.5 oz. Maraschino liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Method: Combine in a shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Double strain into a coupe.
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d12d69d5149441cde1ecb0b48736e03d | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2021/03/29/best-margarita-recipes-2021/?sh=218b33b658d3 | Easy Cocktail Recipes: 8 Superb Riffs On The Margarita | Easy Cocktail Recipes: 8 Superb Riffs On The Margarita
Chris Taylor's habanero-passionfruit margarita delivers summery vibes—with a kick. Tanteo
As far as I’m concerned margarita season starts now.
Nevermind that mercury still falls consistently below 60 degrees where I am in New York City. I (and many others) are over winter—not to mention our godforsaken down coats. I’m ready for cocktails that’ll elevate my mood and jolt me out of my pandemic-enhanced cold-weather blues. And enjoying a superbly made margarita does just that and never disappoints: There’s seriously no going wrong here, especially when you consider that margaritas are relatively easy to make.
And truth be told, this gem of a cocktail needn’t be relegated to the warmer months of the year, or for beach vacations, or for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Readers, this is no seasonal drink. It’s cocktail that can delight you throughout the year. (The way a Bloody Mary or martini can.)
The El Coco Carlos—by Chas Martin and Benji Homsey—took the classic margarita and added elements of ... [+] coconut and orange to make the cocktail extra refreshing. The Charles (Dallas, Texas)
Even in the depths of winter, my partner-cum-personal bartender concocted multiple magarita variations for me: There were smokey mezcal ones in December, honeybell-and-jalapeño margaritas in January, and even extra spicy multi-citrus ones in February.
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So for more inspiration, I reached out to eight of the country’s top spirits professionals to share the margarita recipes they’ve been preparing for themselves—from Atlanta’s Jarrett Holborough to Los Angeles’ Hilary Chadwick to New Orleans’ Chris Zulueta and beyond.
8 of the Best Margarita Recipes to Serve All Summer
The Hacienda De Lavender Margarita Jarrett Holborough
HACIENDA DE LAVENDER
“For my cocktail Hacienda de Lavender, I took the classic tequila cocktail and using Tequila Herradura reposado, added elements of herbal, savory, and springtime notes. The result was a thoughtful twist on the classic Margarita.” —Jarrett Holborough, spirits educator and bar man at 12 Cocktail Bar (Atlanta, Georgia)
Ingredients:
2 oz. Tequila Herradura reposado
1 oz. lime juice
1 oz. lavender syrup
¼ oz. orange juice
Pinch of salt
Method: Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice, shake, and strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with two sprigs of lavender.
The Sparkling Farmers' Market Margarita Hilary Chadwick
SPARKLING FARMERS’ MARKET MARGARITA
“This is the perfect margarita for day drinking. The bright, sweet notes of farm-fresh blood oranges are perfectly balanced by the rosemary—and the Ferrand Dry Curaçao lends a long-lasting finish. Topped with bubbles, this makes for the most refreshing cocktail. I was first inspired to make this cocktail after visiting the Santa Monica farmers’ market and sampling Schaefer Farms’ incredible citrus selection. Blood oranges are sweet with just the right amount of tartness to make it easy to enjoy all day.” —Hilary Chadwick, bartender and spirits specialist at A.O.C. (Los Angeles, California)
Ingredients:
2 parts El Tesoro blanco
¾ part fresh-squeezed blood orange juice
½ part fresh-squeezed lime juice
½ part Ferrand Dry Curaçao
½ part rosemary simple syrup**
Topo Chico
**Rosemary simple syrup: Add 4 to 5 sprigs fresh rosemary to 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Once the rosemary water reaches room temperature, add 1 cup sugar and stir until incorporated.
Method: Add ingredients to shaker and fill with ice. Strain into your favorite glass and top with Topo Chico for a sparkling farmers’ market margarita! Garnish with a blood orange wheel and fresh rosemary sprig.
The El Coco Carlos Margarita The Charles (Dallas, Texas)
EL COCO CARLOS
“This is the perfect margarita for the summer! Refreshing, cool, and delicious!” —Chas Martin and Benji Homsey, co-owners at The Charles (Dallas, Texas)
Ingredients:
2 oz. Flecha Azul reposado tequila
1 oz. coconut water
0.75 oz. fresh lime juice
0.5 oz. agave syrup
Orange wedge
Method: Start by muddling an orange wedge in your shaker, then combine the rest of the ingredients in the shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a salted rocks glass over one giant cube. Garnish with an orange spiral or wedge.
The La Mar Margarita Perfect Purée of Napa Valley
LA MAR
“I was inspired to create this cocktail by a chef friend of mine: One day he made me a beautiful dish with yuzu, Thai basil, and noodles—I loved it so much and that made me bring the same flavors to the glass.” —Manny Hinojosa, global brand ambassador at Tequila Cazadores
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Perfect Purée Yuzu Luxe Sour
1 ½ oz. Tequila Cazadores blanco
½ oz. Martini & Rossi bianco vermouth
½ oz. agave nectar
¾ oz. lemon juice
3 Thai basil leaves
Method: Combine all the ingredients with ice. Shake, double strain, and serve up in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist, basil, and a dash of togarashi.
The Colada-Rita Margarita House Tribeca
COLADA-RITA
“When you dream of lazy summer days bathed in sunshine, your mind races towards refreshing sips of cold margaritas or piña coladas. But why restrict your choice to just one when you can employ the best qualities of both? There’s something magical about exploring the marriage of these historic cocktails and you’ll find that employing the signature grassy notes of Camarena Silver will impart an interesting earthy-spiciness to the fresh island flavors of this build. It doesn’t hurt that it also evokes daydreams of Puerto Vallarta beaches, sunshine, and saltwater living.” —Christopher Chamberlain, beverage development manager at E&J Gallo Spirits
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Camarena Silver
0.5 oz. dry curaçao
1 oz. fresh lime juice
0.75 oz. Coco Reàl cream of coconut syrup
1.25 oz. pineapple juice
Directions: Add ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with a small amount of pebble ice and vigorously shake together to combine and chill. Strain mixture into glass and fill with fresh pebble ice. Garnish with pineapple frond.
The La Femme Margarita Diego Nava
LA FEMME
“La femme comes from the idea of serving an easy drinking skinny margarita without the presence of sugar bringing notes from lychee and melon from Pomp & Whimsy.” —Diego Nava, general manager at Tacology (Miami, Florida)
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Tequila Inevitable
1 oz. Pomp & Whimsy gin liqueur
0.5 oz. lime juice
Method: Pour all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and serve over ice in a margarita glass with salt rim.
The Habanero-Passionfruit Margarita Tanteo Tequila
TANTEO TEQUILA HABANERO-PASSIONFRUIT MARGARITA
“We created the habanero-passionfruit Margarita to be a little different. We’re on the beach and there is nothing that says ‘beach’ better than a spicy Tanteo margarita at GuacAmigos.” —Chris Taylor at GuacAmigos (Newport Beach, California)
Ingredients:
2 oz. Tanteo habanero tequila
1 oz. Cointreau
½ oz. passion fruit purée
½ oz. lime juice
Method: Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.
The Firewalk With Me Mezcal Margarita Chris Zulueta
FIRE WALK WITH ME
“This drink is inspired by the Mexican Firing Squad cocktail, which is from the 1930s. A Charles Baker discovery—the Indiana Jones of cocktail making. Charles found this drink at a bar in Mexico City but it was with tequila. I chose Cruz De Fuego mezcal for its spicy peppery esters. It has notes of ginger and peppercorns, lending itself perfectly to a spicy cocktail.” —Chris Zulueta, at Sylvain (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Cruz De Fuego Ensamble mezcal
0.5 oz. ABC Ayiti Bitters Zoranj Anmé
1 oz. lime juice
0.75 oz. chile-pomegrante syrup** (1:1)
**Chile-Pomegranate Syrup (1:1):
3-4 pomegranates (mine were medium sized); should yield 2 cups of juice
8 chile de arbol for potent spice
4 guajillo chiles for tangy, sweet cranberry fruit, and light spice
4 cups of sugar
2 cups of water
**For the Syrup: Juice pomegranates by cutting parallel to the stem. Juice with a large orange hand juicer. Begin by removing stems and seeds. Toast chile peppers on stove on medium heat for 1-2 minutes per side. Add water and bring to a boil. Add the juice of pomegranates and sugar until fully emulsified.
Method: Shake all ingredients and strain over ice. No garnish unless you have leftover pomegranate seeds for at least some dietary fiber for the marg animal in all of us.
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34f732bb035bb680da4fa946fa6eadac | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlaalindahao/2021/03/31/best-wine-cask-whiskies-2021/ | 4 Excellent Wine Cask Whiskies That Deliver Barrels Of Flavor | 4 Excellent Wine Cask Whiskies That Deliver Barrels Of Flavor
From Left: Teeling Single Grain Irish whiskey, Starward Nova Australian single malt whisky, Kavalan ... [+] sherry cask single malt whisky, and Glendronach Port Wood Single Malt Photo Illustration: Kristin Tabland
Much as a bottle of Bordeaux improves with age, it stands to reason that a whisky matured in a wine cask will only improve over time. At least that’s the premise behind the distilleries who take the rare step of experimenting with wine and whisky—and take it a step further in the name of innovation and experimentation.
Unlike, say, single malts that are simply finished in wine casks for an abbreviated period of time, these expressions are actually matured in barrels that once held shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, sherry, or even pinot noir to produce an alchemical alcohol.
Starward Nova—a stellar single malt from Australia—is matured in shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, and ... [+] pinot noir barrels. Starward Whisky
David Vitale, the founder of Australia-based Starward Whisky, is particularly fond of using a variety of wine casks to age his expressions—as opposed to the more traditional ex-bourbon vessels, which happen to be more economical, thanks to the barrel surplus brought about by the stringent regulations governing American bourbon and rye.
But of course, Vitale is very well positioned in terms of acquiring casks of his choice. After all, Australia is known for its spectacular vineyards and its ethos of strategic viticulture. And really, what’s better than locally sourced barrels with which to age your distillates?
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Rachel Barrie, one of the most distinguished master blenders in Scotland, is respondible for all the ... [+] wine-cask-matured whiskies at GlenDronach, BenRiach, and Glenglassaugh. Glendronach
“We chose full maturation periods because we wanted to make a whisky that was inherently Australian, as well as shine a light on Aussie wine producers who take deep care of their wines by using oak barrels. To me, there’s a lovely and quite unique relationship with the winemakers we use,” says Vitale. “Their intent and purpose in choosing a wine barrel is very different to the intent and purpose we have in using them. All great Starward barrels are from exceptional wineries using amazing barrels—but not all amazing barrels make great Starward barrels. So we’ve developed, with their help, a ‘Rosetta Stone’ of sorts to decode what works for us. It’s about laddering up flavor into the almost-ready spirit, primarily the oak characters which have had the edges taken off them by holding wine in them, but importantly highlighting the wine itself and what—using alcohol as a flavor carrier—happens as it’s exposed to the elements over time.”
Here, four stellar wine-cask-matured whiskies that are worth every penny. Scroll all the way down to read all about them.
Best Wine Cask Whiskies That Deliver Loads of Flavor
TEELING SINGLE GRAIN IRISH WHISKY ($50)
The thing about Teeling Irish whiskeys is that you can never go wrong. In my experience, I’ve never had a subpar expression—cofounder (and brothers) Jack and Stephen Teeling both have exceptional palates, as does Alex Chasko, the company’s master distiller and blender, who, ironically enough, is from the great state of Oregon). Another thing: Teeling is not afraid of all kinds of experimentation because they’re all about curiosity, experimentation, and adventure. This particular expression is as good as it gets without totally dismantling the DNA of what Irish whiskey is. The single grain is so versatile that I even use it my Irish coffee—and it does impart a distinctively bright quality to this classic coffee cocktail. “The California red wine barrels gives our single grain an amazing red fruits and rich berries on the nose,” Chasko says. “This fits perfectly with the spice and dry tannins that comes from the French oak that were used to make the casks. The result is a whiskey that is packed full of flavour and drinks more like a bourbon than a typical Irish Whiskey.”
KAVALAN SHERRY CASK SINGLE MALT ($170)
Kavalan is known for its beautiful finishes and “experimental” maturation. If you want a port cask or a sherry cask or any other kind of wine-cask whisky, the Taiwanese distillery should probably be your go-to brand—despite the fact that it may cost you more than a pretty penny. (Many collectors have been feverishly hoarding Kavalan’s releases.) But don’t make this common mistake: This particular expression is not to be confused with Kavalan’s Solist Oloroso Sherry Cask Strength, which is bottled at substantial 56.3% ABV. Instead, this less expensive—but equally delicious—expression takes the original Solist (which is, by the way, not available in the American market) and dials the proof back by a few notches to 92 proof. And the result is no less spectacular. It also makes the whisky a tad more accessible to the enthusiasts who have just started to explore their palates. Back then, Kavalan’s former master blender, Ian Chang, worked in collaboration with the much-admired late whiskey consultant, Dr. Jim Swan, to develop this Award-winning whisky. And they succeeded—without a doubt. These days, Kavalan happens to be one of the more sought-after Asian brands—after Suntory’s portfolio of whiskies.
STARWARD NOVA AUSTRALIAN SINGLE MALT ($52)
David Vitale of the famed Australian whisky distillery, Starward, doesn’t compromise. To him, it’s all about flavor and integrity and bringing local expertise together. And by that I mean, Vitale had the idea of making use of his Motherland’s viticulture and wine knowhow to create spirits that were evocative of all things Aussie. “In our first release of Starward back in 2013, we exclusively used Apera wine barrels. Apera is a style of Australian fortified wine—it’s most like Spanish sherry. The product it produces is sentimentally my favorite, but it is increasingly difficult to find these barrels as the fortified wine industry in Australia is in decline,” Vitale says. “So we learned then that having one barrel type is a risk to sustaining growth of the business over the longer term. What other barrels can we use? Aussie red wine barrels of course! Interestingly, we feel like the wood strategy that a winemaker chooses has a far greater influence on flavor than the particular style of wine. And in some wineries, it might be that the first vintage is an iconic Aussie shiraz that takes the biggest hit of oak tannins and then the last use might be a pinot noir, which has less oak influence but benefits from time in wood nonetheless. We do have single varietal barrels from smaller wineries and we are really excited about sharing the results with drinkers as a limited release.”
THE GLENDRONACH PORT WOOD HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT ($106)
If you’re into sweet-ish Scotches that are finished in sherry or Port, then you’ve got three go-to brands that you may want to try. And of course, those three distilleries—GlenDronach, BenRiach, Glenglassaugh—are helmed by none other than master blender Rachel Barrie. Even before I met her, I had experienced her whiskies all over the world during my travels—from Zurich to Paris to Milan to Scotland to Hong Kong and beyond. And I have never had a disappointing expression…particularly this one. Barrie’s style as a blender is very intuitive: She knows what works. She knows when a blend is too much. And she certainly knows when a blend is just right and nearly perfect. This expression, in particular, happens to be fantastic: It’s matured first in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks—followed by a second maturation in fine Port. Everything about it is ripe stone fruit sweetness—perfect for an afternoon sip or a nightcap. Personally, I even drink it sometime before lunch just to hype myself up for yet another pandemic lunch. And while its price point is a little more than what may would like to spend on—especially in this economy—I can guarantee you that it will make the rest of this godforsaken year better. “Utilizing sherry and Port casks is a celebration of the traditional and historical styles of early Scotch whisky maturation. By combining three fortified wine casks, Rachel has created an expression that stays true to our distilleries roots—while simultaneously enriching the GlenDronach experience for the whisky drinker,” says GlenDronach senior brand ambassador, Greg King. “If you go back to just a few years ago, GlenDronach released several limited Port wood finishes. Most recently a 10 year—and prior to that a 15-year and 18-year tawny Port. People still ask me about those Tawny Port finishes today, and I always say if you find one, grab it because they are incredibly delicious and incredibly rare.”
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677eb67ca59cff997c84ce7f08a0cf82 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/02/24/the-cambrian-ai-landscape-cerebras-systems/ | The Cambrian AI Landscape: Cerebras Systems | The Cambrian AI Landscape: Cerebras Systems
This startup stands alone with its innovative Wafer-Scale Engine for AI and HPC
Let’s take an updated look at one of the most interesting AI startups: Cerebras, which came out of stealth in August 2019. The company has an unheard-of aggressive design, using an entire 14nm wafer as a single "chip" along with a custom CS-1 system for power and cooling. The "chip" contains over 400,000 cores, and the system consumes some 20KW of power and has 18 GB of on-die SRAM memory with a 100 Pb/s proprietary fabric. The unique approach has gained the US DOE supercomputing centers' attention, first at Argonne National Labs, which has purchased at least one of the ~$2M systems.
The theory is compelling and straightforward: The CS-1 should be a more efficient accelerator, and it should be easier to deploy a single massive system than on hundreds or thousands of small, distributed servers. That's the theory. Conversations with the head of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) indicated that the platform is promising. Since the ANL announcement, Cerebras has announced deployments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPPC), and GlaxoSmithKline. The latter is significant in terms of commercial software and model development.
The Cerebras "chip" is composed of interconnected dies on a single wafer, designed by Cerebras and ... [+] manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Source: Cerebras Systems
A single 15U CS-1 system purportedly replaces some 15 racks of servers containing over 1000 GPUs. We won't even ask about TOPS because the system's value is in the memory and interconnect, not just the cores. So TOPS are mostly meaningless here.
Cerebras will win any comparison with any other chip since it is composed of eighty chips ... [+] interconnected on a wafer. Source: Cerebras Systems
Last year Cerebras announced a commercial customer, GlaxoSmithKlein, a second DOE installation at Lawrence Livermore National Labs and a multi-system win at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The company recently announced a design win with HPE at EPCC, the supercomputing center at the University of Edinburgh.
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Interestingly, Cerebras also announced work with the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), in which the CS-1 set record benchmarks in a non-ML workload. In a computational fluid dynamics model, the type used to model the combustion chamber of a power plant, for example, the CS-1, was more than 200 times faster than the Joule supercomputer housed at NETL.
As CEO Andrew Feldman says, "In AI hardware, you can go high, or you can go low. Anything in between is dead." We think it is safe to assume that the Cerebras system will remain in a class by itself for the foreseeable future.
The Cerebras CS-1 system could be a dramatic departure for data centers looking for maximum ... [+] performance and total data center efficiency. Source: Cerebras Systems
Strengths: The bold wafer-scale design uniquely positions Cerebras as having the highest performing and highest power AI server in the industry. The communication and shared memory benefits of this design should be massive.
Weaknesses: Like all startups, Cerebras success may come down to optimizing software to run across the WSE, particularly the ability to share the wafer amongst secure, private tenants for cloud processing. I would note that early adopters like the DOE can ameliorate this challenge.
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760481fbb7b1ad075b28b582f28e0219 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/02/25/the-cambrian-ai-landscape-groq/ | The Cambrian AI Landscape: GROQ | The Cambrian AI Landscape: GROQ
Ex-Google TPU Engineers Know What They Are Doing!
Groq is now sampling to select customers and claims to have built the most efficient DNN processor in the industry. However, we need more transparency to substantiate this claim, in my opinion.
Groq was founded in 2017 by the engineering leadership team that created the Google TPU, with Jonathon Ross as CEO and initial funding provided by Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital. Groq focuses on inference processing, however, its first chip supports high-performance floating-point and so it could also train a neural network. The first part, now sampling, is expected to be in full production soon. As is so often the case with startups, we hope the company can disclose more about its early customers in the coming few months.
The GROQ processor is a unique and novel design, acting as a single core with a high level of vector ... [+] and matrix (tensor) parallelism. Source: Groq
We spoke with CEO and cofounder Jonathon Ross, and he made it clear that the company was building what he believes could be the fastest single-die chip in the industry. (We pre-pended his claim with "single-die" in light of Cerebras.)
The Groq node design with two cards with 4 TSP's each, joined with 2 AMD Rome EPYC CPUs. Source: Groq
Figure 33: The Groq node design with two cards with 4 TSP's each, joined with 2 AMD Rome EPYC CPUs. Source: Groq
Mr. Ross appears to have been right—the Groq Tensor Streaming Processor may be the fastest single AI die to date at 1000 TOPS at full frequency. Groq has said the chip delivers 250 trillion floating-point ops per second (FLOPS), which would enable training at the edge and in data centers. Of course, the usual caveats apply and we await application performance benchmarks to see if the software can deliver on the hardware's potential. Still, these are impressive numbers.
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Inspired by a software-first mindset, Groq pushes many optimizations, control, and planning functions to the software. The company claims this results in higher performance per millimeter of silicon, saving die area for computation. Perhaps more importantly, the compiler's tight integration and the hardware produce deterministic results and performance, eliminating the time-consuming profiling usually required.
According to the white paper released by the company, "the compiler knows exactly how the chip works and precisely how long it takes to perform each computation. The compiler moves the data and the instructions into the right place at the right time so that there are no delays. The flow of instructions to the hardware is completely choreographed, making processing fast and predictable. Developers can run the same model 100 times on the Groq chip and receive precisely the same result each time."
The Groq TSP moves control, planning, and cache management into the software stack, freeing up logic ... [+] for processing. Source: Groq
Last summer, the company disclosed its intention to enter the automotive marketplace, with a scalable accelerator, in addition to its effort to penetrate the data center. "Because it's deterministic, [Groq's chip] appeals to the autonomous folks because it simplifies its software design," said Bill Leszinske, VP Products, and Marketing at Groq. "They have hours of video footage that it uses to train its models every night, to make incremental improvements. And so, you enable training and deployment in the field on the same hardware, which simplifies its development cycle as well."
We look forward to learning more about Groq as the company begins to stake out its target markets and reveals more details about the application-level performance. But the initial claims are undeniably impressive. We wonder about the memory architecture, which has only 220MB of on-die memory with no DDR memory to act as a local store as far as we understand. Graphcore quickly learned that its chip needed more memory for handling large AI models and increased its SRAM to 900 MB per IPU. We would expect Groq to announce its 2nd generation platform sometime this year, which could likely add more SRAM needed for larger models.
Strengths: The Groq Tensor Streaming Processor (TSP) architecture is unique and potentially higher than other accelerators. Its deterministic nature could be a significant differentiator in applications requiring real-time latencies.
Weaknesses: The burden on the software (especially the compiler) is a heavy lift. Memory capacity could be an issue for larger models, but we suspect the Groq team is already working to resolve this limitation.
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f4a6a1937daf182faaf42f74d6cf58a1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/03/04/the-cambrian-ai-landscape-qualcomm/ | The Cambrian AI Landscape: Qualcomm | The Cambrian AI Landscape: Qualcomm
Can mobile chip giant finally break into the data center?
Qualcomm began sampling the Cloud AI100 to select data center customers last quarter. The performance looks to be promising, based on the limited benchmarks we have seen, and the power efficiency for inference processing looks world-class. The new platform delivers up to 400 Trillion Ops Per Second (8-bit TOPS) per chip, but consumes only 75 Watts. A mid-range version cranks out 8 TOPS/Watt, an industry-leading mark, although we have repeatedly seen that TOPS does not directly translate to anything but, well, TOPS. The company has shared only a few application benchmarks, and so we anxiously await more data as early clients experiment with the platform. If Qualcomm can announce large customer wins in the next six months, we believe the company will become a significant force in the market for data center AI acceleration.
Performance and Power
Qualcomm CloudAI100 models are all fast and extremely efficient inference platforms. Source: Qualcomm Technology Inc.
The figure above shows the relative performance and power of the three Cloud AI100 SKUs versus NVIDIA, Groq, and Intel Habana Labs. We would point out that ResNet-50 is a small benchmark by today's standards, especially when compared to NLP models like Google's BERT and OpenAI's GPT-3, which demand significant memory capacity. But this initial data shows an impressive result: The 20-watt Cloud AI 100 M2 delivers roughly 10 times the performance as the 2-year-old NVIDIA T4 and consumes less than a third as much power. Intel Goya is four times slower and requires five times more energy. We anxiously await performance data with larger models, such as the MLPerf benchmark suite, especially for DLRM, as the recommendation market is wide open to new competitors. We may find the initial design to have inadequate memory capacity for the newer larger models being deployed.
Software for AI
Most AI silicon challengers fail to provide a complete optimized development environment concurrent with their first production chips launch. Qualcomm is a notable exception, having spent years building software and models for the Snapdragon AI Engine. We would assert that QUALCOMM's AI software story is one of the industry's most comprehensive, trailing only NVIDIA in breadth and depth. The figure below shows that the stack now includes two software development kits (SDKs) explicitly targeting the Cloud AI100: an AIC Apps SDK, which provides an optimizing compiler, and an AIC Platform SDK containing the requisite runtime libraries, APIs, kernels and tools. A natural language model, BERT, and recommendation engine, DLRM, are also new additions, likely indicators of early customer evaluations now underway for the platform.
Qualcomm offers a comprehensive development stack for AI. Source: Qualcomm Technology Inc.
Should the specs be equal, we believe that many customers would choose to do business with an established semiconductor company like NVIDIA, Intel or Qualcomm over a startup. Qualcomm provides rock-solid quality, performance, efficiency and support, as well as a comprehensive software ecosystem for AI inference processing, born from years of experience with Snapdragon. It's a powerful combination, and we look forward to seeing more benchmarks and customer testimonials.
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Strengths: Track record of power efficient chips, with a legacy of AI on Snapdragon. Large, dependable semiconductor supplier.
Weaknesses: Qualcomm has yet to produce the range of benchmarks that would portray the company’s potential, nor any customer design wins.
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b19dd087fd4cbbfd7362f063f2b80b09 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/03/10/if-you-love-ai-do-not-miss-nvidia-gtc-this-year/?sh=2d48b3ce5641 | If You Love AI, Do Not Miss NVIDIA GTC This Year! | If You Love AI, Do Not Miss NVIDIA GTC This Year!
I just got an email from NVIDIA touting this year’s GTC event (April 12-16) and have to share this with you, in case you haven’t already heard. The virtual graphics, AI, and HPC event will headline AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio (University of Montreal), Geoffrey Hinton (Google and The University of Toronto) and Yann LeCun (Facebook and New York University). These three Turing award winners will each present a deep dive exploring their vision for the future of AI. These three will go down in history as the inventors of the modern AI era. The three luminaries will join hundreds of speakers from companies such as EPIC Games, Zoox, Verizon, Audi, Wells Fargo, Arm, Red Hat, IBM, ILM, and many others.
Jensen Huang will kick off the event, as he does every year, with news from NVIDIA engineering and ... [+] partners. NVIDIA
The event starts with Jensen’s news-filled keynote on April 12, at 8:30 am Pacific. Registration is free and is not required to view the keynote. And by going virtual for the second year, the event is expected to draw more than 100,000 attendees.
One of the things that amazes me every GTC is the breadth of science and industry that come together to share ideas, best practices, and hand-on labs and workshops. From the novice to the best in the business, GTC has something for everyone. In fact, the week-long event offers over 1,300 talks about the data center, AI, networking, graphics, and. autonomous vehicles.
“GTC brings together a massive ecosystem of developers, researchers and corporate leaders who are using AI and accelerated computing to change the world,” said Jensen Huang. “We have our strongest program ever this year, highlighted by Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun, among 1,300 sessions focused on every aspect of computing and networking. There is no better place to see the future and how you can help shape it.”
And of course, we all expect to see Jensen’s cool black leather jacket and nifty shoes on display, setting the fashion trends for High Tech for the coming year. See you there!
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dabe6fa302def81cc276cd527722ee90 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/04/06/intel-ice-lake-launch-reminds-us-that-cpus-are-complex/?sh=56069c2e12b4 | Intel Ice Lake Launch Reminds Us That CPUs Are Complex | Intel Ice Lake Launch Reminds Us That CPUs Are Complex
And that CPU battles encompass far more than core count and SPEC benchmarks
AMD’s EPYC 3 launch set the stage last month in its battle with Intel, claiming superior per-chip and per-core performance. Now, Intel’s “Ice Lake” Xeon CPU would need to put on one heck of a show to steal back a little limelight and the company rose to the challenge admirably. Let me explain.
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 16: The Intel logo is displayed outside of the Intel headquarters on ... [+] January 16, 2014 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images
And now, “The Rest of the Story”
Intel’s Ice Lake CPU suffered from manufacturing delays encountered on Intel’s 10nm fabrication line. Consequently, the chip could not rise to meet AMD’s high bar for straight-out scalar performance enabled by AMD engineering and TSMC 7nm manufacturing. So Intel’s marketing team pivoted to focus on what I would term “The Rest of the Story”, where Intel can rightly claim superiority across a broad spectrum of important technology. Here is a list of what caught my attention when comparing Ice Lake to AMD’s Milan CPU:
Intel’s Ice Lake CPU offers significantly better performance for AI and HPC, thanks to DL Boost and AVX512 vector instructions. Intel claims its security and compression technologies enjoy superior crypto acceleration for encryption-sensitive workloads. Intel’s Optane SSD memory offers leading performance and up to 6 TB per socket. Intel launched a new Ethernet NIC supporting 200GbE per PCIe card. Ice Lake offers built-in security with Intel Software Guard Extensions, Platform Firmware Resilience and Total Memory Encryption
The new Ice Lake CPU did not match AMD in core count (40 vs 64), but did finally close the gap in memory bandwidth and capacity with 8 memory channels per chip. Many of Intel’s performance claims contrasted the Ice Lake to its predecessor, showing 20% improvements in Instructions Per Cycle, 46% average increase in performance, and 74% better AI performance than the previous processor.
While all that is nice, we all want to see comparisons to the competition, not an older Intel chip. The image below tells a nice story, with up to 50% better vector floating point and up to 4X better image processing at batch size=1 than the new AMD 7763 chip.
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Intel claims superior performance over the 64-core EPYC 7763, thanks to its exploitation of 512-bit ... [+] wide vector processor and the 8-bit DL Boost technologies. Intel
Let’s talk a little bit about that memory thing. AMD uses a hub chip to access local DRAM as well as provide connectivity to a second socket’s memory. This can create a wider range of memory latencies than one sees in a single (monolithic) die from Intel. For most users this may not be an issue, but for others, this memory latency variance (called “jitter”) could create problems if one needs tighter bands around memory response time. AMD would probably counter that many of their customers will never see this issue, as the 64-core EPYC can meet many customer needs with a single-socket server.
While AMD enjoys many benefits from it chiplet approach, consistent memory latency is not one of ... [+] them. Intel
Conclusions and Recommendations
If data centers were looking for some good reasons not to abandon Intel CPU’s, Ice Lake provided some sound rationale. It may not have as many cores as AMD EPYC, but for performance-demanding applications like AI and HPC, Ice Lake can fit the bill quite nicely. And the additional security and encryption features are well thought-out and high performance. Overall, I came away impressed with Intel’s broader spectrum of technology advantages, including memory, networking, and FPGAs.
Intel still has a lot of work to do on the manufacturing front to catch up with TSMC, who has pledged to invest some $100B (thats billion with a B) in next generation fabs versus Intel’s recent $20B commitment. And the CPU leader will have to consider how its “tiled” architecture approach will impact its CPU roadmap. But if you thought AMD has dealt Intel any sort of a death blow with EPYC 3, you might want to think again.
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fb55a3ae59a26db647547d140d27fd92 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2021/04/07/the-graphcore-data-center-architecture/ | The Graphcore Data Center Architecture | The Graphcore Data Center Architecture
The Graphcore disaggregated accelerator could be a game changer.
I have recently finished a research paper looking into the data center architecture for deploying the Graphcore IPU-Machine, which is a network-attached accelerator for highly-parallel workloads. Lets look into what I found, but if you want to see the in-depth report, the paper is freely available on my website here.
The second-generation Intelligence Processing Unit comes in a one-rack-unit (1U) building block, the IPU-M2000, with four IPU accelerators. As we will see, this platform enables a high level of scaling, a large amount of memory for ever-increasing model sizes, and a flexible configuration of CPU servers, storage, and networking. The architecture’s fabric supports low-latency communications between IPUs within a node, within a rack, and across a data center containing hundreds or even thousands of accelerators to handle exponentially increasing AI model complexity. This platform supports a comprehensive software stack to develop and optimize workloads using open-source frameworks and Graphcore-developed tools.
The IPU-Machine Layout
The IPU-Machine consists of four IPUs, a gateway chip, up to 450GB of DRAM, and network connections, along with dual power supplies and an innovative, self-contained liquid cooling system. The idea is simple: interconnect a series of IPU-Machines and dynamically connect them to servers in whatever server/IPU ratio makes sense.
The IPU-M2000 creates a computing fabric, directly connecting IPU-Machines into PODs, and ... [+] interconnecting these PODS over Ethernet cabling, along with Ethernet Host-link connectivity to servers and PCIe to storage. Graphcore
Networking the IPU-Machine
The IPU-M2000 enables communications networking for a scalable fabric of IPU-Machines, storage, and servers. The networking is comprised of two 100Gb Ethernet links to a host server(s), four 512Gb/s IPU-Fabric links (2.8 Tb/s) that interconnect up to 64 IPUs (an IPU-POD64), two 100Gb Ethernet for inter-POD networking, and a "Sync-Link" to initiate the bulk synchronous parallel (BSP) model.
The fabric is designed from the ground-up for AI, using an efficient, low-level point-to-point protocol that is "compiled in," reducing the overhead of traditional ethernet packets between racks (PODs). The two inter-POD links run this same protocol across racks over Ethernet physical layers. The fabric enables collectives and all-reduce operations that are managed and pre-determined at compile time.
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IPU-POD Reference Designs
Graphcore realizes that selecting, configuring, and testing a customer data center architecture for the IPU could cost customers precious time and money. Consequently, the team has pre-configured POD reference designs that can easily be acquired and installed with the knowledge and comfort that Graphcore has thoroughly vetted the complete system. The IPU-POD building blocks start small at 4 IPUs (one IPU-Machine), which then simply scales to 8, 16, 32, and 64 IPU clusters with pre-configured, direct-attached networking and a single server. Once one grows to or beyond an IPU-Pod64 design, the flexible number of servers and storage reside in a separate server and storage rack.
The IPU-POD64 offers a rack of IPU Machines, a server, and a Top of Rack Networking switch. Graphcore
Compiled-in networking with the Graphcore Communications Library creates a 16 Peta-Flop compute pool without any internal switches or network management. This approach enables each IPU-M2000 in a rack to address any other IPU in the POD system as a neighbor, offering seamless scaling when performing large group collective functions (All-gather, All-reduce, Scatter).We find this approach to be simple, elegant, and likely very efficient at scale. We hope to see benchmarks soon that would validate the architectural advantages.
The Benefits of Host Disaggregation
The key benefits of this approach are:
1. Optimized performance for models that require more servers than, say, two CPUs for 4 or 8 accelerators,
2. Lower costs for models that require fewer CPU's by avoiding over-provisioning,
3. A flexible data center infrastructure that can handle both,
4. Servers can reside in utility racks for optimal rack power utilization and serviceability.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The simplicity and elegance of the Graphcore building-block approach are impressive. One can start with a single IPU-Machine, then build up to 16, 32, and 64 PODs as needed. We hope to learn soon how well this architecture supports models running at scale. The realized performance will depend on the Poplar Software stack, especially the compiler’s ability to take advantage of the fabric we have described.
We recommend that any organization that demands AI or other appropriate parallel computing capacities at a significant scale explore this unique approach.
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bf5ab58df9bb254a065aac792546fc92 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlkaufman/2018/05/31/revisiting-the-automatic-millionaire-with-bestselling-author-david-bach/?sh=5cda2f4128f5 | Revisiting 'The Automatic Millionaire' With Bestselling Author David Bach | Revisiting 'The Automatic Millionaire' With Bestselling Author David Bach
David Bach Photo courtesy of David Bach
David Bach, a former financial advisor for Morgan Stanley and co-founder of AE Wealth Management, has built an empire teaching everyday people how to take control of and improve their financial lives. He has become one of the most recognizable personal finance personalities in the media, appearing regularly on national television and radio shows, while writing nine New York Times bestselling books that have sold millions of copies.
Bach has recently updated and rereleased two of his most successful books, Smart Couples Finish Rich (originally published in 2001 and updated in 2018) and The Automatic Millionaire (first published in 2004 and updated in 2016). His first book, Smart Women Finish Rich, is due to be rereleased in September.
In part one of this exclusive interview series, I spoke with him about how investing has changed since the books were first released and how he has been able to successfully get through to people who would normally be resistant to learning about investing.
Karl Kaufman: What have you learned about changes in investment patterns since you've started and since The Automatic Millionaire was first published more than a decade ago?
David Bach: Exchange traded funds didn't even exist when I started 25 years ago. Today we have robo-advisors and financial apps to track where your money goes. Taxes have changed and the different types of retirement accounts that are available have changed.
However, I'm still teaching, almost verbatim, the exact same principles I was teaching twenty five years ago. When you look at what people worry about when it comes to their money and the fundamental roadblocks to doing well financially, they haven't really changed. What's the biggest thing that people worry about when it comes to money? The number one concern is, "Am I going to be OK?"
The biggest thing that's changed is that people live longer. When I came into the business, a lot of the financial planning software in the 1990s didn't even go out to age 100. I don't think it went out to 90. Nobody was doing financial planning for 95 or 100, because people didn't live that long. If you're a guy and you lived to be in your mid-70s, that was pretty good.
The problem that people face today is that retirement is longer than it's ever been and they're financially unprepared for that. The cost of healthcare has skyrocketed, which was not a core issue for retirees twenty years ago.
Now, people worry about "How am I going to afford healthcare when I retire? How am I going to pay for long-term care? How am I going to make sure I have enough money to last for 20-30 years in retirement?"
So, people are living longer, health care costs are a big issue, pension plans are going away and there's concern over whether social security will last. You would think that people must be tripling down on their retirement and saving more. But people don't save more than they were saving twenty years ago.
There are always people, though, like those in The Automatic Millionaire who are saving their money. Since Automatic Millionaire came out, the number of millionaires has doubled. We have over 10 million people in America today worth a million dollars or more. Fidelity has over 152,000 people in their 401(k) plan today that have saved a million dollars.
There are millions of people who have become automatic millionaires through saving money systematically over decades. That's what I've always preached: that wealth is not built in days, it's built over decades.
Kaufman: Many people spend hours clipping coupons or finding the best price online but they're not willing to spend the time to set themselves up financially for the rest of their lives. How do you go about breaking through the resistances people have to getting started with investing or dealing with their finances?
Bach: Most people will spend more time planning their vacation this year than they will spend planning their retirement over their entire lifetime. Smart Couples Finish Rich is a full blown A-Z financial planning guide. It's what I did for my clients at Morgan Stanley that I put into a book to help everyone.
It's the most successful book for couples and money that's ever been written, but you have to be seriously committed to read that whole book. People kept asking me for something simpler. Like, just tell me the one thing I need to do when it comes to my personal finances.
Well, the one thing you need to do is to pay yourself first, one hour of your income each day and you have to save money automatically.
I kept making it simpler and simpler to the point where I realized, "oh, that's the book I need to write next!" Most people won't read a full-blown financial planning book, but they will hopefully read a book like The Automatic Millionaire that can be finished in less than 90 minutes and gets right to the core of what you need to know.
That's why that book became my most popular and sold almost two million copies worldwide. I think it's because I took the complicated aspects of financial planning and chunked it down to a handful of things you need to do to be financially secure for life.
The reality is if you take what's written in The Automatic Millionaire, and that's all you do with your financial life, you're pretty much set. You pay yourself first for one hour a day of your income and you will be saving four times what the average American saves.
If you save money automatically in a boring diversified portfolio, you will do just fine. You will get a great rate of return and you can have the compound interest miracle work for you. It's going to take you decades, but if you start when you're young, it's not that hard to make a lot of money.
Kaufman: In The Automatic Millionaire you talk about the McIntyre's, an unassuming couple that surprises you with their secret to accumulating millions of dollars. Have you caught up with them? Do you know what they're up to now?
Bach: You know, I've been doing this for over 20 years and you're the first person to ever ask me that question. I used to teach a four week retirement planning course. That couple came to my seminar and then came to my office later to discuss financial planning.
The McIntyre's were unusual because they were young. The story I tell in the book is how they came in on a Tuesday because he wanted to retire that Friday. I couldn't figure out how he was going to retire because he told me that he was in his early 50's and made a little over $50,000 that year.
I was expecting it to be a horrible meeting. He didn't arrive with a briefcase, he brought a wrinkled Safeway grocery bag, and all their financial documents were in this bag.
I said to him, "What makes you think you can afford to retire?"
His wife looked at me and said "What makes you think he can't?"
I said, "I don't know, what've you got? You told me your average income and you're 52. Usually people can't retire that young on a large income. Have you inherited anything?"
And they laughed and said, "No, we haven't inherited anything."
Then they started taking everything out of their shopping bag. I had my little yellow pad and I started writing down what their assets were. After adding it all up, they had nearly $2 million! They started saving money automatically at a very young age, paid off the mortgages on their house and a rental income property and were now millionaires.
I just remembered putting my pen down, looking at them and saying "I know you came in here today to interview me to be your financial advisor, but I really want to interview you on how you did this on such an ordinary income."
They walked me through everything. I was making three times what they were making and I was barely saving anything. I was a "big hat, no cattle" guy and I left the office after that appointment completely depressed. I went home and said, "I want to be like these people. I don't want to be an advisor who doesn't walk the talk. Most financial advisors are broke."
I wrote in my journal for hours about how I would change my life the next day to be like the McIntyre's and that's what I did. I maxed out my 401(k) plan, signed up for my stock purchasing program and automated all aspects of my financial life. That changed the entire direction of my life.
The gift of being a financial advisor with nine years of doing this with real clients was that I had all these real stories. Today I have so many of these stories from readers. That's what made my ability to communicate all this stuff fun and interesting. It was real, it wasn't made up. I wasn't some person who researched it on the internet and then wrote about it. I actually experienced it.
This is what real people do with their money in the real world, good and bad. That has given me a unique perspective when I teach, because I know what works and what doesn't work.
The story in The Automatic Millionaire is the American Dream personified. The Automatic Millionaire couple are the classic "millionaires next door."
In part two of this exclusive interview series, we will cover:
the psychological barriers standing in the way of financial success Bach's role models and inspirations how he was able to "Finish Rich" and why every woman needs to get involved with managing finances in a relationship.
Coming soon...
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54bc16ff899f300536d24da37b48cea6 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlkaufman/2018/07/30/the-end-is-near-for-moviepass/ | The End Is Near For MoviePass | The End Is Near For MoviePass
(Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for MoviePass)
Helios and Matheson Analytics, the holding company for the popular MoviePass subscription service, is in danger of being delisted from the NASDAQ after shares fell 60% today to close at $0.80. This follows desperate moves by the company to stay afloat last week by undergoing a 1-for-250 reverse split and borrowing an emergency $5 million on Thursday after it ran out of money to pay for user's tickets.
Many MoviePass customers found themselves out of luck last Thursday after the company ran out of money and couldn't pay for their tickets. Even after the loan, subscribers were unable to buy tickets for last weekend's box office champ "Mission Impossible: Fallout."
MoviePass first launched in 2011 but didn't capture the public's attention until last year, when Helios and Matheson bought a majority stake and introduced a new pricing model: for less than $10 per month, subscribers could see one movie a day, every day of the month.
Just like that, MoviePass's subscribers jumped from 20,000 to over a million. As a Big Data company, Helios and Matheson Analytics collects data about its subscribers. Although it doesn't sell it to third parties for marketing purposes, it knows based on subscriber's browsing data and moviegoing habits what their preferences are and what actions they wind up taking afterward.
“We can tell if you look at Spiderman and look at Wonder Woman and Mission: Impossible," says Ted Farnsworth, CEO of Helios and Matheson. "We can tell you exactly what movie you went to out of all three trailers."
The problem is that MoviePass pays theaters full price for each ticket its subscribers go to see. This business model was unsustainable, and it looks like the end is rapidly approaching.
Although MoviePass in its current format appears doomed, it will leave behind a lasting legacy as a disruptive force in the movie theater business model, as theater chains have started to implement their own competing services.
AMC recently countered with its own monthly subscription service, charging $19.95 per month and limiting subscribers to three movies per week. However, AMC subscribers were offered additional perks, including the ability to see movies in any format and purchasing tickets in advance.
Investors who bought the stock have been in for a rough ride, seeing their initial investment nearly vanish in the last few months (not to mention the ignominy of a reorganization fee that some brokers charge when a stock undergoes a reverse split).
Helio and Matheson stock must close above $1 for 10 straight days and have a market cap of $50 million in order to avoid being delisted from NASDAQ. Subscribers and stockholders are jumping ship and the stock continues its freefall. After the reverse split last Wednesday, the stock traded at $21.25. In less than a week, it was back down below $1.
With all the negativity surrounding the company, it would need to have a true underdog comeback in order for shareholders and subscribers to have any kind of hope for a Hollywood ending.
Disclosures: None
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a629473f272f56c203d6da480388be61 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlkaufman/2018/08/30/happy-birthday-warren-buffett-here-are-30-of-his-best-quotes/?utm_campaign=Investors%20Therapy%20&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter | Happy Birthday, Warren Buffett! Here Are 30 Of His Best Quotes | Happy Birthday, Warren Buffett! Here Are 30 Of His Best Quotes
Warren Buffett (Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images
Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor, was born during the Great Depression on August 30th, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska.
In honor of the eminently quotable "Oracle of Omaha's" 88th birthday, here's a list of 30 of his greatest quotes. Some challenge conventional wisdom, many are humorous and all of them will provide insight into the mind of a truly unique individual.
On business:
"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield."
"If you are in a poker game and after 20 minutes you don’t know who the patsy is, then you’re the patsy."
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
"You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."
"Can you really explain to a fish what it’s like to walk on land? One day on land is worth a thousand years of talking about it, and one day running a business has exactly the same kind of value."
On investing:
"Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No.1."
"Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing."
"Nobody buys a farm based on whether they think it's going to rain next year. They buy it because they think it's a good investment over 10 or 20 years."
"Never invest in a business you can’t understand."
"The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd."
“Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; they tell you nothing about the future.”
"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."
"Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they're doing."
"Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
“Our favorite holding period is forever.”
"I've seen more people fail because of liquor and leverage -- leverage being borrowed money. You really don't need leverage in this world much. If you're smart, you're going to make a lot of money without borrowing."
"Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."
On being rich:
“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”
"If past history was all that is needed to play the game of money, the richest people would be librarians."
"The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money."
On success:
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”
"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction."
"It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results."
"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks."
"I measure success by how many people love me."
On life:
“The most important investment you can make is in yourself.”
"Only when you combine sound intellect with emotional discipline do you get rational behavior."
“Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.”
"Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing."
"Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you who you’ll turn out to be.”
Happy birthday, Warren.
Disclosure: The author owns shares in Berkshire Hathaway .
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3936346819a5a61b4baa0058f868fc0e | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlkaufman/2020/01/24/here-comes-tomorrow-peter-diamandis--steven-kotler-discuss-the-future-of-technology/?sh=40b5d6393576 | Here Comes Tomorrow: Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler Discuss The Future Of Technology | Here Comes Tomorrow: Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler Discuss The Future Of Technology
Steven Kotler (L) & Peter Diamandis Courtesy of Steven Kotler & Peter Diamandis
Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler are optimistic about our future.
Diamandis, founder of the XPRIZE and named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune, and Kotler, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and founder of the Flow Research Collective, are the bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold. The third book in what they call the “exponential mindset trilogy,” The Future Is Faster Than You Think, will be released later this month.
In their previous books, Diamandis and Kotler discussed how individual technologies, developing at exponential rates, can help alleviate some of the world’s greatest problems, like resource scarcity and diseases. In The Future Is Faster Than You Think, they write about how the convergence of these individual technologies will accelerate the speed of disruption within twelve of the biggest industries, including finance, retail, healthcare and education.
For instance, though flying cars were dreamed up over a century ago, our technology has yet to catch up with our vision. The convergence of autonomous cars, electric batteries, artificial intelligence and 5G will soon turn that dream into a reality.
I had the opportunity to interview Diamandis and Kotler and ask them about the companies best poised to capitalize on these convergences, which industries are in danger and why you may soon be able to talk with an AI version of your loved ones.
This Q&A was edited for content and clarity.
Karl Kaufman: Why are converging exponentials so exciting?
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Steven Kotler: Individual exponential technologies are beginning to converge and stack on top of each other. They're increasing in speed and power and the scale of disruption is increasing.
With individual exponentials, you'll see products and services disrupted and markets being eaten away. Once you get to converging exponentials, entire markets get obliterated and they start going after institutions, literally accelerating our acceleration. They're feeding the rate of technological innovation in the world, which is then increasing our acceleration further.
In this book we ask, “what's the future look like? What happens over the next ten years as the scale of disruption goes up?” We go industry by industry through the 12 biggest industries in the world and plot: what's here, what’s coming, where's it going to be and what will the next ten years look like?
Over the next ten years, we're going to see roughly 100 years of technological change. Think back to what it was like from 1920 to right now. We're going to experience that much change in the next ten years!
It's a staggering opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs. On the flipside, for established organizations and legacy companies, it’s very troubling. There's a lot to keep up with. This obviously matters for CEOs of those companies, their employees and those who are investing in those companies.
Kaufman: Which companies are poised to gain the most from technological convergences?
Peter Diamandis: The three elements are: they are founder-led, they have an experimental mindset and they’re data-driven. These are the companies that are likely to dominate in the decade ahead.
Kotler: I'm cautious about trying to pick winners since the names are going to change. In the time it took to write the book, which was about a year, there were probably a dozen companies that we pointed to as the market leaders in their industry. A year later, a bunch of these companies were gone or were replaced as market leaders by other companies.
Where the opportunity is really going to lie is not inside any particular industry. What we’re seeing are mashup industries. Entertainment and healthcare are starting to come together. Ten years from now, will you be playing a video game, or will you be playing a video game that improves cognition?
Whenever we see a technology go exponential, we see, essentially, an Internet-sized opportunity tucked inside. And we never see them coming.
Those same opportunities exist inside all of these exponentials. Many of them — AI, nanotechnology, material science, blockchain — we really don't even know what the possibilities are. We know they're important and are going to get used, but we have no idea what opportunity is going to be inside.
Kaufman: Which companies and industries are in danger?
Diamandis: I think it's the companies that are very invested in large scale assets. The ones that are public companies, because they are focused on quarterly returns and are not founder-led, or they’re in old industries, like the Kodaks of the world.
They have to have a longer view and know what business they're really in and not where the profit center is. Microsoft is no longer making its profit from the disk operating system. Every single company's primary core business will eventually go to zero — how do they know they’re on the edge?
There are 110 automotive brands out there, maybe more, and we're going to see a massive die off in the number of automotive brands in the next decade. When you get in an Uber or Lyft, do you care what brand it is?
If it's a Toyota, a Honda, a Mercedes or Lexus, as long as it's clean and it’s the kind of service I want, I don't care what brand picks me up. We're heading towards an autonomous car as a service economy, so there will be a small number of brands that dominate that world.
Kaufman: So where does Tesla fit in? They’re data-driven and experimental, but they’re a public company that has to report quarterly earnings.
Diamandis: Tesla is a data-driven company with a charismatic CEO and I'm sure most of his headaches are from the fact that he's dealing with short sellers and being a public company.
Kotler: Tesla is strong because they’re very well positioned for the autonomous car market and for where the transportation industry seems to be going. But I'm less comfortable pointing exactly at a company like Tesla than I am at a sector and saying that what's happening in transportation over the next three to five years is a complete transformative shift in the entire industry.
Kaufman: You wrote in the book that crowdfunding is the most disruptive force in finance. How has it disrupted the VC world?
Diamandis: I don't know that it's taken anything away, I think it's just adding an abundance of capital. There’s the ability of the crowd to get access to more and more capital, which means more people are experimenting and that is a good thing.
The more capital there is, the more people are trying big ideas. When there's a limited amount of capital, people become risk averse because they want to be careful where they put their money. When there's a massive amount of capital chasing deals, people are willing to take bigger and bigger bets.
There's also a massive market coming that few people are talking about.
In 2007, we had 3.8 billion people connected digitally online, half of the world. By 2024 or 2025, we're going to have 8 billion people connected online. These consumers are all going to want their products digitally. Their healthcare, their education, their retail, their banking, their insurance, is all digitally on their phone, perhaps on the blockchain. Four billion people times $10 a day is trillions of dollars per year of new economic upside.
Kaufman: There’s a lot written in the book about AI and VR, and Lifekind, one of your companies, is currently creating an AI version of you. What are some of the most exciting applications of those technologies?
Diamandis: They're training up the Peter persona AI voice with an image version soon to follow, but this is something that will become available to everybody eventually. It's the ability to create a digital twin of yourself that looks like you, sounds like you and responds to input like you would.
Kaufman What about people who are deceased?
Diamandis: One of the exciting ideas for education is, if I want to learn about Martin Luther King, I can go into a virtual reality world from the ‘60s and meet him. The VR emulation of Martin Luther King will be an AI that drives what he says and what he looks like, based on everything he's ever said and written.
There's no single historian that will know more than this AI knows. My ability to learn about him becomes experiential versus just reading or watching TV shows.
It's going to transform education and how we entertain ourselves. I think we will be recording our loved ones in a way that we can emulate them later.
Kaufman: My son was born just a few months ago, and this book has given me a lot of hope for his future. What would you say to someone worried about massive problems such as climate change or cyberterrorism?
Kotler: We have massive leverage with technology; what we need is massive cooperation. When people realize that there are solutions to these problems, they find ways to come together to actually solve those problems.
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cf8eda1fd89003af2016900fc614c064 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2011/06/21/emergent-strategy-demands-emergent-learning/ | Mintzberg's Better Way to Do Corporate Strategy | Mintzberg's Better Way to Do Corporate Strategy
By KARL MOORE and PHIL LENIR
A few months ago I devoted my column to a discussion about the differences between Michael Porter’s concepts of “deliberate strategy” versus Henry Mintzberg’s “emergent strategy.” As much as I had relied on Porter to guide my own career at IBM, and at Oxford and LBS, my new conclusion is that the world is no longer dependable, consistent, or predictable enough for leaders to rely only on deliberate strategic planning in advance. Strategic flexibility is now a requirement and that suggests, as I wrote, that “Mintzberg’s emergent strategy is on the upswing.” What does this mean practically for C-Suite executives who “do strategy”?
Since then my friend and former student Phil LeNir and I’ve been doing some further thinking about this juxtaposition, Porter vs. Mintzberg, and its implications for organizations. Since we are seeing much less of a bunch of senior executives heading off to posh resorts to talk about Porter’s 5 Forces and come up with the game plan for the next 2, 3, or 5 years, how then does strategy get accomplished?
What’s clear to us is that emergent strategy needs a completely different modus operandi, one that has the entire organization playing a role. Managers at all levels, and perhaps even employees, must feed into the strategic conversations, imparting their knowledge about what they are experiencing with customers or suppliers and what trends they are picking up on. Emergent strategy is therefore much more exploratory, dynamic, and organically home grown.
This puts a burden on companies to become “learning” organizations. We know we’ve been hearing this term for at least a decade, but emergent learning to bolster emergent strategy finally makes more sense than ever before. If reality is constantly changing, the company cannot stop analyzing, assessing, and planning to keep up—or get ahead of—those changes. We have to admit, Henry seems to have seen this coming even years ago when he wrote, “The real challenge in crafting strategy lies in detecting the subtle discontinuities that may undermine a business in the future. And for that, there is no technique, no program, just a sharp mind in touch with the situation.”
The way we need to interpret this today is that organizations need lots of sharp minds—and not just at the C-suite level. Middle managers—the people who command the front lines of the workforce and have their feet on the ground where the action happens—have to be leaders who are constantly talking, learning, and innovating. I know Henry agrees with this 100 percent, as he has made the role of middle managers one of the major premises of his teaching.
We are at a point where the pace of change is reconfiguring the very essence of organizational person. We need great CEOs and leaders of course, but basically, it is time to admit that for many organizations the hierarchical, (Kyle Hill and I talked about this two weeks ago) top-down chain of command, authoritarian organization is a formula of the past—just like the idea that the company strategy can be solidly fixed years in advance.
For some people, this is exciting, albeit for others, it is undoubtedly frightening. But we need to get used to the idea that in an emergent world, the organizations that will fare the best most likely are going to be those that learn how to learn better, that put effort into creating not chains of command but chains of learning, by which we mean structures to support everyone learning, especially middle managers. These are the people who need to be constantly improving their skills, tackling new subjects, challenging themselves with new knowledge, and mastering new ways to think and manage.
We are not suggesting that companies spend oodles of money sending middle managers away on learning junkets or to management training programs. The type of learning we are talking about can be done on the job, as part and parcel of their usual activities, through social or collaborative “learning events” like webinars, knowledge exchange workshops, and short topical courses that have relevance in the moment.
It’s “just-in-time learning” – where groups of middle managers realize they have a need to learn something and so they agree to meet up to tackle a topic, learn some new context, share their own knowledge and experiences, and then take their learning right back to their jobs where they apply it immediately. Their successes then cross horizontally to other managers in other divisions, and perhaps they also trickle up the ladder where senior executives buy into them and convert them into a wider strategic view. This is how emergent learning becomes emergent strategy.
Harvard’s Michael Beer has argued that some of the most powerful change ideas in an organization comes from managers working on real business problems which cut across functions, jointly solving the problem. Executives should then scale up some of these innovations and spread across the organization, thus leading to real, emergent change.
Our sense is that this is precisely the style of learning and strategizing that Millennials love, this PostModern generation that don’t want to be led or managed, but “worked with.” But the driving force of emergent learning is not due to a generational gap. Even without the Millennials around, it’s what organizations need to do because this is a whole new world in which being able to think and act fast is the key to strategic survival.
Phil Lenir is the President of CoachingOurselves, a firm he founded with Henry Mintzberg which uses an approach to 'just-in-time' learning for management teams based on discussion and reflection guided by management topic booklets written by Goldsmith, Kotler, Mintzberg, Schein, Semler, Ulrich, Moore and many more."
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faa1a9b10fd737516ec94c0963c73ba2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2011/10/12/reflections-on-steve-jobs-and-apple-what-sports-teaches-us-about-the-challenges-of-consecutive-wins/ | Reflections on Steve Jobs and Apple: What Sports Teaches Us About the Challenges of Consecutive Wins | Reflections on Steve Jobs and Apple: What Sports Teaches Us About the Challenges of Consecutive Wins
Karl Moore and Devin Bigoness
This past week, Steve Jobs passed away and we, like everyone, stand in awe of his genius and leadership. The world will greatly miss his brilliance and constant innovative spirit. But even before his passing, the billion-dollar question preoccupying analysts is whether Apple could sustain their record of excellence and their current dominant market position for much longer. As it were, this past week is also when Apple announced the new iPhone 4S to rather lukewarm reviews. Did Apple miss a beat? Is it indicative that a champion is losing its luster?
This conundrum is well known to business leaders. Ask any company CEO how difficult it is to sustain excellence over years or decades, or any leading product engineer about the challenges of consecutive successful product launches. Karl worked with the two engineers at Motorola who invented the bestselling Razor cell phone, and as we know, the company found it hard to ever hit that level of success again. In fact, some have argued that this success slowed Motorola’s pace in introducing a follow-on winner. Certainly this is a question to which an individual manager or executive required to sustain excellence on a quarter-by-quarter or year-to-year basis can relate.
Why is winning over and over again considerably more difficult than winning once? To use an analogy, we can find many answers to this challenge in the sports world. Think about it. In the NBA, NFL, MLB, and other professional sports leagues, winning the end of season championship is the ultimate prize. This accomplishment, available to only one team per season, is a testament to successful teamwork and many hours of hard work. However, top athletes always affirm that winning a consecutive title is substantially more difficult the second time around. Many teams peak in winning one year, only to fall apart the next season due to both individual and team dynamics. It is an exceptional feat for a team to win back-to-back titles.
Below are some of the “derailers” as to why teams and organizations fail to achieve sustained excellence:
As a Winner, You Become the Main Target – This NFL season, the Green Bay Packers are the defending Super Bowl champion. You can’t doubt that their opponents will circle the day they are to play against Green Bay, pinpointing it as the key game of the season in order try and knock off last year’s champion. They will use this game as a benchmark of how good they really are. Each Sunday during the 2011 season, Green Bay will more than likely face an opponent’s best game and hardest effort in a quest to dethrone the champion.
Apple is one of the prime candidates for this potential derailer. They are not only competing with the Android and other smart phones but also against their own history. As an organization they will need to live up to the expectations they have of themselves and the market has of them based on their history. Leading technology companies like Apple face the trouble of massive imitation. When a product is as successful as the iPhone or the iPad, there are sure to be companies copying the technology and trying to innovate off of their platform which can make sustained success more difficult for Apple.
Key Players Demand Greater Rewards – During a team’s drive to win an elusive championship, top players often make individual sacrifices in order to reach the team’s goal. They begin playing for the greater good of the team. However, after a championship, many key individuals want to be “extra” rewarded for their efforts. This can cause disruptive divisions and rivalries on the team, or in some cases cause a player to go to a different team for more money and recognition. In the extreme case, when the thrill of the championship is over, a key player’s desire for individual recognition and compensation can even cause the team to break apart.
In business, we see this derailer come up when executives feel they should be rewarded with more money, promotions or advancement. Following a new product or a successful business campaign, executives who made personal sacrifices may demand an increase in pay or a promotion, which can lead to friction in the team if they have unrewarded employees. There may also be other executives who feel jealous of the recognition and rewards some leaders have received and so may question the organizational structure. In the worst cases, an organization may experience key executive departures to other organizations that lure them away with offers of better compensation and titles.
Players Don’t Push as Hard to Win – In 2010 many of the Green Bay Packers’ players pushed themselves as never before in order to win the Super Bowl. Some had “career years” and gave 110 percent in practice, in the weight room and during the games. However this increased intensity can sometimes be tempered with success. The player decides not to get up at 5 a.m. for the extra morning workout as he did last year. It is the easier choice after a win to not work quite as hard and to let up on the effort.
This derailer can also present itself in business when executives start to feel overly comfortable and satisfied with their performance. They may say that we grew 20 percent last year, so why should we push ourselves too hard this year to grow 25 percent? Some may suffer either directly or indirectly from burnout after working so hard. Companies that have pushed their leaders so hard one year will need to be able to motivate their staff to excellence again this time around.
Three Recommendations
The question for you as a leader is how do you sustain a high level of excellence after a business “championship” – whether it is a record year in profits or a successful product launch? Below are some suggestions for you as a manager to sustain momentum and avoid this dip in performance:
1. Recognize Achievement But Then Move On – As a leader you need to take time to celebrate the successes of your team and the individual effort required to achieve them. However following a short period of celebration and relaxation, you need to regroup and focus on what comes next, knowing that the hill towards success is now going to be steeper. One championship winning college basketball coach at the first day of practice the year after his team’s championship season took a newspaper that highlighted the team’s win and ripped it up in front of the team. He did this to reinforce a visual recognition that they were starting over and it was a new year.
Similarly, your job as a leader is to keep one foot in the present and one foot in the future of the organization. In Apple’s case, for instance, Tim Cook, the new CEO will need to celebrate the organization’s achievements but quickly move on to the challenges ahead. As a leader you need to set the tone for your team and drive them to focus on sustaining excellence. You can do this by setting even loftier targets that capitalize on this year’s success, and by building consensus within your team around what new goals they are willing to aim for in light of their recent win.
2. Learn from the Win – Many coaches and players will tell you that it is more important to learn from a win than a loss. After all, no championship or achievement is perfect. There can always be room for improvement, even on a “career” year. Most sports coaches have in-depth sessions during the off-season after a championship run, where they break down the film of the games with the individual players to highlight areas for improvement. As a leader it is important for you to work with your team to drive process improvements, no matter if last year was a success or not. You always need to find ways to motivate your team to work on areas for improvement, especially if you have had some changes on the team since the achievement.
3. Motivate Everyone to Raise Their Game – As the Green Bay Packers are finding out this year, the second time is tougher than the first time. Competitors come at you with increased effort trying to dethrone you. In business, following a record year, competitors become more aggressive and intent on knocking you off.
Your role as a leader is to get your team and organization to raise their game to meet the threats. You need to be innovative and focused on creating the environment to sustain excellence in your team. Senior executives need to understand the risks that are present from existing competition, but great leaders must also be able to imagine new threats not yet on the main stage. This may mean using new metrics for success, finding new ways to motivate your team and create more energy to keep the wins coming.
It is a career defining achievement for a team to win the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup or the NBA Championship. It is an even more historic achievement for teams like the Chicago Bulls in the 1990’s or the Los Angeles Lakers of the 2000’s to win multiple consecutive championships. Similarly, in business, it is a fantastic achievement to have a record profit year after year or to introduce several market leading products. Apple became such a champion when they introduced such consecutive winning products as the iPod, iPhone and then the iPad.
However companies like Apple have to be careful not to fall victim to their own success. Great leaders and organizations must find ways to motivate their teams to sustain that level of excellence and raise their games to form a dynasty. A few companies do it –Disney, McKinsey, Apple, IBM, Microsoft—and these are the firms that I tell my MBA students to keep an eye for the rest of their careers, the ultimate compliment for a B-School professor.
Devin is a Project Director at Duke Corporate Education in London. Devin and his family are in the process this week of relocating from London to New York. They have been in London for close to 4 years and are looking forward to their new adventures in New York with their newborn son, Cullen.
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e57aad6af9d830512c25e9e2366a11a1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2012/05/31/strategy-without-execution-is-hallucination/ | 'Strategy Without Execution Is Hallucination!' | 'Strategy Without Execution Is Hallucination!'
All too often when we teach strategy to MBAs, 95% of the time is spent on the theory of strategy, while at best 5% is spent on execution. While in the real world, for the majority of people it is the exact opposite. 5%, maybe 10%, is spent on strategy, while 95% is focused on executing our strategy.
But stop for a moment and ask yourself: Which is more difficult? Implementing your strategy or your executing that strategy? It is without a doubt that your immediate response, at least for most, was “Execution!” While there are many books that discuss the importance of creating and implementing a strategic plan in order to be successful, there are few out there that truly nail it on the head on how to execute it. Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling in their new book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, have successfully done just that. They argue that by increasing the importance of execution, one will be able to produce extraordinary results.
Organizations today are in a constant state of adaption; they are seeking new ways to achieve strategic organizational change and by focusing their efforts on execution rather than strategy is one of those ways. However, the authors argue that the problem that many executives face is: “Why is execution so difficult?” Often, it is because we, as leaders in our organizations, have been taught for so many years how to think strategically. We are not knowledgeable in the area of execution; therefore, making it difficult for us to implement. That’s where the beauty of “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” lies. This book gets straight to the point by offering 4 direct disciplines for companies to follow in order to improve their execution success.
Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important - The more you fill your plate, the less you will actually accomplish. Rather than focusing your efforts on the small things, take one big heaping and direct all of your attention and efforts towards that. McChesney, Covey and Huling call this their WIG: a wildly important goal to make it clear to them that this is the goal that matters most. This discipline requires you as a leader to go against a natural principle, but once your collective energy is focused on a challenge, there is little you won’t be able to accomplish.
Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures - If you take many actions, it is certain that only a few from the bunch are going to have a greater impact. Focus in on these particular actions; they are the ones you want to identify in order to reach your goal. No matter what strategy you pursue, McChesney, Covey and Huling say that there will always be two kinds of measures: lag and lead. Lag measures are “the tracking measurements of the WIG” and they are the ones you usually spend the most time on. Lead measures are “the measures of the most high-impact things your team must do to reach the goal”. I co-teach a CEO Insights class on the MBA at McGill. Last year I co-taught it with Dick Evans, ex-CEO of Alcan, he asked students to come up with the key metrics for a set of industries. To be honest I doubted the idea until we tried it, Dick was right, each industry has some key metrics you need to key an eye on.
Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard - In order to really get your employees engaged in what they are doing, get them to keep score. “The highest level of performance always comes from people who are emotionally engaged and the highest level of engagement comes from knowing the score”, says McChesney, Covey and Huling. A little competition has never hurt anyone’s performance.
Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability - This discipline is where execution really takes place. The three prior disciplines have set the stage, but until you apply this fourth discipline, your team isn’t really doing anything. This discipline focuses in on the fact that “unless we consistently hold each other accountable, the goal naturally disintegrates in the whirlwind”. Make you team have a purpose and know that if things don’t get done, it’s on them. Maintain this accountability through regular meetings or get-togethers so that everyone on the team knows their place and responsibility.
Think of “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” as your bible. Rather than the 10 commandments to follow, you only have 4 and one might argue that they are even easier to follow. It is evident that these disciplines are ones that we have known all along, but rarely pay attention to. The authors argue, and I agree, that by focusing our energy on these four simple disciplines can transform you from being a strategy-based leader to an execution-based leader to truly see results within your organization.
Mike Roach the CEO of CGI, a 31, 000 person IT firm, tells our MBA students that, “Strategy without execution is hallucination!” He’s right.
This was written with Rebecca Black, a great soon to be McGill grad, who is moving to Calgary after next week's graduation.
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86b883741962045036799d308666be3c | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2012/06/27/euro-2012-what-it-takes-to-win-emotional-intelligence/ | Euro 2012 - What It Takes To Win | Euro 2012 - What It Takes To Win
The Euro 2012 tournament is coming to an end with 4 strong semifinalists: Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy. No surprises here. But we think what really sets apart the top teams is their ability to manage their emotions.
When we look carefully into the reasons behind their success, it is easy and appropriate to attribute it to the talent factor and physical fitness, yet many of the teams have these. We believe that there is often an important hidden factor that contributes to a team’s strong performance. This is the team’s emotional intelligence (generally known as the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups) which often come from real maturity and learning from your experience in the world of football/soccer.
This was written with Ismail Albaidhani and Austin Anderson
We believe that the semifinalists were able to win against rival teams by being able to apply strong emotional intelligence techniques. A good example is Italy’s recent win against England on penalty kicks. While Italy was behind with one missed penalty kick, the team was able to turn things around through its most experienced player Andrea Pirlo, who did so audaciously chipping a kick past England’s keeper from the penalty spot. This brought the confidence back to the Italian squad, and shook the confidence of the English team, resulting in two consecutive missed penalties from England. The new confidence imbued with faith in themselves and the Italian team went on to score crucial penalties and qualify to play against Germany in the semifinals.
The same inclination was witnessed when the German team played Greece in the 1st quarter final, and while the Greek team was very eager to win against Germany, the German team controlled the game through the intelligent use of balanced emotions combined with the physical fitness/talent. This can be exemplified by the mental strength of the German team to bounce right back after conceding the equalizing goal and take full control of the game. Greece appeared to have lost all hope after Germany went up 2-1.
On a club level, the top tier clubs can claim to have the best players from around the world, yet Barcelona’s dominance in the past few years distinguishes the club from the rest. The difference between the Catalan club and the rest of the teams can be attributed to the manager’s ability to manage. He has the rare quality of being able to motivate his players to unite and work towards a single objective. Tactics certainly play a part in their winning formula, but Pep Guardiola’s knack for being able to control his players’ emotions in a positive manner should be seen as critical.
A major soccer match, especially at the international level of a Euro or World Cup tournament often ends up being an emotional roller coaster. It is not always the case that the team who scores first wins, but rather the team that can successfully handle the emotional turmoil of giving up a goal, relinquishing a lead, or trying to hold on to a lead. Mental toughness can be loosely defined as the ability to play with a normal or greater amount of talent and proficiency under adverse conditions and in pressure situations. Emotional Intelligence goes beyond this, as players on these international sides must manage their own emotions as well as being able to identify, assess, and work with the emotions of their teammates and the team as a whole, all while being under the weight of an entire nation’s hopes and expectations. The semifinalists have all displayed tremendous ability in this category, while teams like Russia and England with arguably just as talented sides fell apart when put into difficult circumstances.
In reflecting back over the games of the Euro 2012 that we have witnessed thus far, the winning formula for a consistent performance is a combination of talent, in-game fitness and intelligence and most importantly controlled and effective use of emotions.
We believe that business leaders must also understand and embrace this same winning formula. To be an effective manager and build a successful corporate team executives cannot simply put the most talented people in the room or try to develop the most efficient business processes. Difficult economic times add extra stress to the work environment and put pressure on a company and all of its employees in much the same way as being down by a goal adds pressure to a team in a Euro match. This means that emotions are likely playing a greater role in the workplace now more than ever in recent years. When Karl was working at IBM in the 80s and 90s, when emotion reared its' "ugly head" in a meeting we would take a coffee break. Emotions were not usually part of the formula; it was about the facts and having a mean spread sheet. Today we have matured. Thanks to Postmodern thought emotions are seen now as almost as important as analysis, in some cases as more important.
Companies that push emotions out of their corporate culture, claiming that they do not belong in business, will more than likely find it difficult to emerge successfully during these crisis and high-stress moments.
Effective managers do not flee from emotions or ignore them. To get the best performance out of your team emotional intelligence is required. This means mental toughness from the individual and a sincere effort to identify and assess the emotional responses of employees and team members to assist those who are struggling and to play off each others’ strengths and weaknesses. Emotional Intelligence not only works to bring a team together as a more functional and effective unit, but also takes advantage of an often overlooked component to team leadership that will cause organizations deficient in it to crumble. The semifinalists in the Euro 2012 Tournament understand this, and the effective business manager understands how vital it is to a successful leadership strategy.
Ismail Albaidhani is Head of Global Partnership at the International Air Transport Association in Montréal. Austin Anderson is a recent McGill BCom graduate and was captain of the this year's McGill varsity football team.
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6963e849986728fcb44677c4d9dc9287 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2013/05/01/lean-in-two-lessons-men-can-learn-from-sheryl-mainly-lean-out/ | Lean In: Two Lessons Men Can Learn from Sheryl - Mainly, Lean Out | Lean In: Two Lessons Men Can Learn from Sheryl - Mainly, Lean Out
It seems everyone is reading Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In - many, like ourselves, are men. What big takeaways are there for men in Lean In? Two come to mind and they can be summarized as one, Lean Out and one, Lean In. Let us explain.
Sandberg’s book, Lean In, is getting enormous attention, as it should. We suspect it will, if it has not already, become, ironically, seminal business reading. What has surprised us is how many men are reading it. Actually, it shouldn’t be a surprise – after all, half the world is women, and women are an increasingly important part of the work force. We wanted to share two key takeaways for men.
This was written with Shaun Collins.
Sandberg, in her characteristic style as a Chief Operating Officer, is beginning to put in place structures to improve the workplace for women: “I marched in – or more like waddled in – to see Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin” to request “pregnancy parking”. Despite her best efforts, some consider that Sandberg does not pay due attention to the structures necessary for change. Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton professor who exited the workplace, finding the “juggle” too difficult, criticised Sandberg for neglecting current institutions in her proposals. Yet the criticisms Sandberg has received are in fact indicative of her performing the other half of her job as COO of a tech company: fostering innovation. By inspiring and “enraging” members of both sexes, she is cultivating gender communication so that change and improvement will come about. Sandberg says, “We need emotion, anger, debate. If my book can get that going, that is good! What is worse is stagnation, which no one is talking about.”
When thinking about the two-way communication and the lessons men can learn from Sandberg’s book, it is clear that there are areas where there remains vast scope for improvement. Two thoughts spring to mind for male and current leaders: (i) ‘Lean-In’ to their home-life; (ii) ‘lean-out’ on risky career decisions.
The first thought, which the evidence corroborates, is that men and future male leaders need to be more supportive of their spouses at home. A 2007 study of well-educated professional women who had left the workforce found 60% cited their husbands as a critical factor in their decision. They noted a lack of participation in child care, domestic tasks and the expectation that wives cut back on employment as the reasons for quitting. In 2009, it was found that in only 9% of dual-earner marriages is housework shared evenly.
At a senior level, money can help solve a considerable part of this problem by outsourcing virtually all the house work and much of the child care. Most of us, however, are not at these exalted levels of income. Though, in a two income family, many can at least pay for a cleaning person for a few hours a week, which can make a huge difference. And many prefer to provide as much child care as they can, given their work constraints – many people, not all, think that there is no one like mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc…
Male leaders in particular have a crucial role to play if the imbalance in domestic responsibilities is to change. Part of the limited involvement of men so far is that it is a scary prospect. Men, just like women, face real financial consequences from taking leave to spend more time at home or to look after sick children. Only 4 in 100 full time parents are fathers and they note that it is an isolating experience. Gloria Steinem observed, “It’s not about biology, but about consciousness”. Only those men who are at the top can lead the way in changing this. As Sandberg has been criticised for advising women to ‘Lean In’ in the context of her uniquely fortunate circumstances, male leaders need to be the first to, and embrace any criticism for, ‘Leaning In’ to their home lives. Karl, as a father with teenage children wished he had spent more time with his kids when they were young. He encourages young men, if they chose to become fathers, to “man up”, step up to the plate and make being a father a priority.
Our second thought, that men take too many risks and should ‘Lean Out’ on career decisions, is rather different than Sandberg’s message to women. She comments that “women need to be more open to taking risks in their careers” as “being risk averse can result in stagnation”. But really, our thoughts are two sides of the same coin. Sandberg believes that women need to “overcorrect” to “find the middle ground” from their current risk averse position. We argue that men need to “overcorrect” from their excessive risk taking towards a more calculated neutral position.
Karl recently ran into a neighbour who was wrestling with whether she should take a promotion and whether she was up to the new role. He could not help reflect after the conversation that in all his years in various different positions he had at IBM and Hitachi and later at 3 Universities, that he never once, that he can recall, suffered from pangs of self doubt, whether he was up to a new position. In retrospect, this was immature. Men, can learn from women, and have the good sense to actually question our ability to do a position we are thinking about. Do we have relevant experience or are we “biting off more than we can chew”? is a highly germane question which should be asked. Here we should, Lean Back and question ourselves rather than let our typical male hubris rule.
Research in the last decade leads us to believe that men need to “overcorrect” from their excessive risk taking towards a more calculated neutral position. Our arguments are summarised by one set of findings. The authors give individuals a series of mathematical problems and a choice of reward mechanism between piece-rate payments for each solution or a competitive winner-takes-all scenario. The findings indicate that high performing women harm themselves by not choosing the winner-takes-all scenario (and being too risk averse) whilst low-performing men lose out by doing the opposite. This appears to be a function of our hard wiring and hormones.
We all remember the crash. In the aftermath, women are being hired to improve risk practices including Terri Dial of Citigroup and Barbara Desoer of Bank of America. (See this Forbes article http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/economy-female-executives-forbes-woman-leadership-finance.html).
Future male leaders must adjust to taking fewer, more calculated career risks. Purely from an economics perspective, it will increase your chances of being hired and promoted if you can demonstrate risk management abilities at a personal and professional level. Indirectly, if men continue to take excessive career risks, it pressures women into accepting the more secure career and thus falling into the trap of limited risk taking that Sandberg observed.
In an earlier Rethinking Leadership blog Karl spoke to Cambridge’s John Coates about how Wall Street and the City could use more women.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2012/12/21/neuroscience-explains-why-wall-street-needs-more-women/
In answering what men could do more to help advance women’s leadership, HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter answered, “The Laundry”. Sandberg as the Founder of the Lean In movement has successfully reinvigorated gender communication. It is up to the next generation of male leaders to pay more attention to pitching in more at home and to rethink their attitudes to risk.
Shaun Collins is a visiting undergraduate student to McGill University, and a student of Karl’s Strategy class. Shaun is majoring in Economics and Business at Trinity College Dublin and became interested in Sandberg’s work in his leadership role for the Trinity SMF, an Irish student run investment fund.
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2b7eab36cdbebf3e9f88a47fd72303db | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2013/09/06/making-innovation-simply-part-of-your-firm-imbedding-innovation-into-the-dna-of-your-workplace/ | Making Innovation Simply Part of Your Firm - Embedding Innovation Into The DNA Of Your Workplace | Making Innovation Simply Part of Your Firm - Embedding Innovation Into The DNA Of Your Workplace
According to every company I talk to, innovation is one of the keys to success moving forward. Without exception.... let me know if you can think of an exception. In most great businesses today, the executives need their people to bring outstanding, new ideas to life. However, the key question remains: how? A countless number of researchers and executives have developed their own methods of establishing innovation in the workplace; but is it about having idea-jams and giving lectures to your employees every few months, or rather integrating it as part of daily work flow?
Given today's competitive landscape, I am arguing that it must be part of our corporate DNA not just one time events. Not only is this what I am arguing, but it is was executives are telling me. This year, I have taught groups of about 50 executives in Moscow, southern Brazil and from China; everyone is looking for great innovation in their business.
In Paddy Miller and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg's book Innovation as Usual, they suggest that innovation should not be something that occurs only every so often on "Brainstorm island", those off-site retreats complete with workshops and lectures that rarely result in much of anything.
Instead, they present ways to get the workplace to a state of "innovation as usual", where innovation is carefully integrated into the work environment. In effect, embedding creativity in the DNA of the workplace. How do you do this? Miller and Wedell-Wedellsborg recommend leaders become 'innovation architects', whose primary job is not to innovate, but to design, tweak and engineer social and organizational space in order to help their employees adopt appropriate innovation behaviours naturally.
They argue that the organizational environment in which we work is the biggest influence on our degree of innovativeness. The core model of their book focuses on these behaviors, which they call the "5 + 1 Keystone Behaviors"; Focus, Connect, Tweak, Select, Stealthstorm, and Persist.
This was written with Sienna Zampino
Focus
Before anything else, managers must limit and direct the search for innovation. Though this idea may seem obvious, some managers tell their employees to go outside the box, but fail to tell them where outside the box they should go. It is crucial to make it clear to both the leadership and the employees what is considered a "good result". Innovation efforts won't have much impact if the leadership and the employees do not have a shared notion of what specific outcome they are striving for.
While the objective clarifies where they'd like to end up, the limit of the search clarifies how to get there. It establishes the time constraints, areas that should be avoided, such as ethical grey areas, how much risk is acceptable, etc. Relating to this comes the shift in search space; managers need to establish if there are any new, unexplored areas of business their people should explore.
When asked to innovate, employees are presented with so many choices; if the proper Focus is not established; they won't know where to start or what to aim for and will likely end up not starting at all and focusing their efforts on something more concrete such as business as usual.
Connect
New ideas have an increased chance of developing when people are consistently and systematically exposed to external input. According to the authors, a break-through doesn't occur in one person's mind, but in the space between two people's. The manager's job, as an innovation architect, is to create an infrastructure of spaces, places and connections, enabling their people to encounter various original ideas in different contexts.
The book suggests three ways to build creative spaces into the weave of the workplace; connecting their people to the world of the customer, to their colleagues and to new, unrelated worlds. In order to identify the unmet need of the customer, employees need to be in direct, personal, prolonged contact with the customer.
Now, it is easier to connect employees with other employees than with the outside world.
So, connecting employees with others from different departments offers fresh perspectives on problem solving and developing ideas. Managers can encourage their people to do things as simple as having lunch with a stranger once a week to encourage this connection. Likewise, a piece of input from the world outside the walls of the business can allow employees to think differently of their own product. Through social media or even having weekly 2 minute meetings where employees present a new trending idea can help keep their minds stay fresh.
These days, we increasingly value diversity, cutting across both silos and slabs (the hierarchical levels of the organization) in order bring together perspectives from all functions and from all ages of the firm. Valuing diversity is one of the core values of the Postmodern Generation (people under 35) who, in North America and Western Europe, have grown up in much more multicultural societies than I did.
Tweak
When coming up with a new idea and we're hit with an "Aha" moment, we believe it to be a stroke of genius. This is an illusion. Miller and Wedell-Wedellsborg believe the first version of any idea will be flawed. Successful innovators are not found, but developed, just as ideas are developed. However, tweaking is not solely the process of perfecting the quality of the idea, but re-evaluating the core problem at hand and finding alternative ways of looking at it. Good innovators are not solution finders, but expert problem finders.
While encouraging their people to re-evaluate the problem, managers are also encouraged to force quick, miniature collisions with reality by having frequent and early tests and presentations of the developing idea.
This fits with Henry Mintzberg’s idea that more and more of today’s strategies are a result of emergent strategy as opposed to Michael Porter’s more deliberate strategy. So rather than trying to spend months trying to analyze a problem to death and develop through pure rational thought, we are trying to get people to frugally test ideas; in effect hitting singles repeatedly rather than going for the big, impressive home run. For more on this please click on the blog entry in the side bar.
People tend to hate showing or testing something that isn't ready; but tweaking early on prevents from making costly mistakes later. The act of giving and receiving feedback should be a frequent one, so that employees don't see it as a rare, high-stake , high-stress event.
Select
As ideas come pouring in, the need to judge and filter becomes increasingly important. The authors present four strategies for managers to help their gatekeepers do so; manage the decision environment (is the overall process and setting appropriate for the task? are the gatekeepers writing off too many/few ideas?); determine who the best judges are (getting the right mix of people with several different biases, perhaps allowing groups to decide instead of a managers); review the evaluation criteria (do the criteria fit the overall aim of the business?) and calibrate the process regularly (monitoring both the criteria and the gatekeepers themselves).
Stealthstorm
Organizational politics are often the killer of new ideas within an organization. The authors compare it to a strong wind; if ignored, it will blow you severely off course; but if you harness its power, it can propel you towards the finish line. The term stealthstorm, invented by the authors, is "the multitude of behaviors that are involved in navigating organizational politics".
One of the aspects of stealthstorming is connecting your people to power brokers; once you manage to get a senior executive on your side, believing in your new idea and the people behind it, all political matters will start to become easier. If an innovator has a big brother or sister, this is as helpful in the corporate world as it is in the school year.
Another is to help people create a story around their idea; buying into an idea is equally an emotional choice and a social choice. Having a simple narrative of their idea may be the biggest convincing tool. Although, however emotionally on board they may be, the idea should still show some form of progress relatively early. Managers should therefore have their innovators aim to deliver quick wins, no matter how big the long-term potential of the idea.
Persist
Now it's great to be able to successfully innovate, but what's just as important is to keep doing it. There are two drivers that managers can use as leverage to get their people to persist. One is to create the conditions allowing for self-motivation to take place; allowing their people to look for ideas in areas they are passionate about, and within that, extract ones that will have value to the organization. If the passion is there, they are a lot more likely to persist.
Managers should also consider extrinsic rewards; if employees know that even if they help launch a billion dollar innovation project they won't get promoted, they will stick to safer ways of getting promoted, such as business as usual. If they see that innovators past have been rewarded, even when they fail, they might embrace the idea of innovation as usual.
Innovation is about action. Paddy Miller and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg's book encourages managers to be innovation architects; shaping and creating the space and the opportunity around their employees so that their behavior is naturally innovation oriented, so much so that going to work is no longer business as usual, but innovation as usual.
Sienna Zampino is a student at Dawson College, in Westmount, Quebec and is one of my outstanding research assistants.
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48fad192c744d02fe11f5ef653ac4c46 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2013/09/20/what-business-can-learn-from-ngos-with-john-wood-from-room-to-read/ | What Business Can Learn From NGOs - With John Wood From Room To Read | What Business Can Learn From NGOs - With John Wood From Room To Read
John Wood is truly an inspiring leader; he gave up a fast track career at Microsoft to found NGO Room to Read. I had the pleasure of interviewing him recently. Two things jumped out at me in our conversation: How business needs to have more passion and more authentic, inspiring leadership.
Our interview follows below, if you prefer to watch the video click on:
John Wood From Room To Read
KARL MOORE – John Wood was on the fast track to being an executive at Microsoft but he gave it up at a relatively young age in order to form an NGO Room to Read which was focused on helping children do better in life through literacy and gender equality. I am delighted to have John here in Montreal today.
Good morning, John.
JOHN WOOD – Good morning.
KM – When you look at it, you went from the world of big business, very successful and very driven, to the world of the NGO. What skills could you take from a Microsoft, highly successful, to the world of NGO’s? What are the things you could carry over?
JW – I think one of the key things we can take from the business world is the idea of thinking about scale. If a business sees unmet need, it scales – it sees it as an opportunity. I think that in the non-profit world we need to be thinking bigger about that. The non-profit world, traditionally, sometimes supplies very small and temporary Band-Aids to solutions and I think from my perspective at Room to Read I have always had a BHAG (a Big Hairy Audacious Goal) to say I want to reach 10 million children across the developing world and if we are going to do this then let’s do it in a big way. I’ve always believed that bold goals attract bold people.
If you look at the statements that Bill and Steve made at Microsoft, a computer on every desk and in every home, 20 years ago that was considered to be a crazy goal. Now, we have pretty much arrived there. If you look at the way that large companies set goals, whether it be Google or Facebook, I think that the charity sector can do the same thing.
People told me it was hubristic that I thought we would reach 10 million children by the year 2020, given that we were starting from scratch. Well, the good news for us is that we are going to actually reach 10 million children by the year 2015 across 10 countries in the developing world. So I think bold thinking from the business sector, also leadership – being able to go out and inspire people to say, “We can do this. We can make a big impact on the world.” Sometimes I think charities are told that they should think small and really I think the NGO world should be thinking big.
KM – We are always hearing business lecturing government and NGO’s about how they should be more business like. Let’s flip that on it’s head for once and say, “What can business learn from NGO’s? What are the skills of NGO’s that are transferrable back to business?”
JW – I think one of the great things that the NGO world has that the business world can learn from is very simple – it is passion. If you look at somebody like myself, leading Room to Read, I have a passion for the children and the communities we serve, we all have passion for our investors and showing them a good return, we have passion for the mission and the idea of changing the world through the power of education.
But if you go to a lot of businesses, we both know it when we see it – you get on, let’s say American Airlines and, oh my gosh, there is no passion there from anybody. Nobody really cares about serving you or taking care of you as a customer and I think a lot of businesses really lack passion.
I think a second thing business can learn is really authentic leadership. The business world today really has a lot of fake leadership. I am not saying there are not a lot of great leaders in the business world but there are also a lot of people who are just kind of going through ticking the box day-to-day and they are not inspiring leaders.
I think, in the charitable world, you really do have a lot of fantastic leaders – you have Scott Harrison at Charity Water, Charles Best at Donor’s Choose, Wendy Kopp at Teach For America, just some fantastic leaders who are very authentic and people want to follow them. I will give you an example of this at Room to Read, we have volunteer chapters at over 57 cities around the world with over 10,000 volunteers involved in them. These are busy people who have day jobs and families and who volunteer their time to raise money for Room to Read so we can help more kids in more places.
Why do they do that? Well, because I think they really believe in the leadership of Room to Read and say, “Ok, those guys know what they are doing. They are passionate, they are on their game – I want to get involved with them.” You know, you can never picture people volunteering for a for-profit company.
No one is going to call Exxon and say, “Hey, I want to volunteer for you guys, I am inspired by your mission.” Well, if you look at the NGO world there are literally millions of people saying, “I love what those guys do, I want to get involved, and I want to help make a difference.”
End of interview.
Afterthought
When I talk to students here at McGill, the theme of finding something they are passionate about comes up much more today than it did 10 years ago. The Postmodern Generation wants to work at something that they really care about and feel will make a difference in the world. For those who are going onto work in NGOs, this is not a problem, but in the business world, it is a greater challenge. How do you make selling soap or software training or lipstick have greater meaning? I think it can be done.
In our CEO Insights class, we have two CEOs come to talk with MBAs every week. Javier San Juan, the CEO of L’Oreal Canada, does a pretty convincing job of showing how selling beauty products can have meaning and communicates his real sense of excitement and passion for L’Oreal and what they do, but this is no mean feat.
Authentic Leadership is another thing that the Postmoderns are looking for in those who seek to lead them. When I was a manager at IBM twenty years ago, we were largely plug and play managers. You could take me out and replace me with another manager and it didn’t matter too much. We were largely interchanged and didn’t have much in the way of uniqueness or individuality. Now, this may be overstating it, but not by much. Today, it is different. Young people want a leader who is not a jerk, but allows some of their personality and individuality to show in their leadership – we call that authenticity.
For more on Room to Read please go to their website: http://www.roomtoread.org/
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73a48cfee93930bbfc04c2364ba0f280 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2014/09/16/making-space-for-introverts/ | Making Space For Introverts | Making Space For Introverts
James Sun is an introverted Seattle entrepreneur. He and Ben Liu, his also socially-introverted business partner, have created a social networking app for their fellow introverts. Anomo’s primary focus is creating a social media space where normally shy or privacy-minded introverts feel comfortable speaking their minds - minds normally undervalued, or at least sometimes subdued, in the business world. We spoke with James about creating this space on his app and in his company. We think it helps us extroverts better understand how to work more effectively and appreciatively with introverts.
But what is the basic difference between introverts and extroverts? Many people can relate with and at times act like both ends of the spectrum, but most of us tend to have dominant style. So what determines where we are on the continuum?
This was written with Simon Hudson.
James says, “The classic question that people already know about is: ‘Do you gain energy from being around people, or does it expend energy from you?’” It is from this basis that we see the tendencies of the two types derive.
Extroverts will tend to surround themselves with people and do a lot of their thinking out loud, including others and their ideas in the thought process. As an extrovert I tend to go into colleague’s offices and bounce many ideas off the wall, some are dumb others are interesting and creative. Conversely, introverts do a lot of their thinking in solitude and have therefore gone much farther down a line of thinking without any external validation. They tend to come to you with fully formed, well thought out ideas – not a bad thing!
By the time they put their ideas forward, they have done a lot more thinking uncontaminated by others’ ideas, the downside is that they face a greater risk of having their ideas rejected, as their logic may have fallen short along the way but they have not tested each of those links with others. Both, approaches have strengths and weaknesses.
Extroverts tend to be very good in contributing to a discussion and moving ideas forward in a group. The downside is that they are more susceptible to group think, and miss potential pitfalls the group too enthusiastically marches off in one direction.
On the other hand, an introvert’s ideas, having skipped on getting the approval of others in the course of the idea’s development, can often provide some fresh insight into thinking entrenched in a wrong-sighted path.
“We’ve learned the value of being an introvert but at the same time you have to learn to communicate and express your ideas. We relish in the fact that our app is about people expressing their opinions, whoever they are, with no judgment. So in our company, in the same way, people should express their opinion regardless of hierarchy or who you are. You should always express what you’re thinking.”
“The biggest challenge is whether new people believe that they won’t be judged from the beginning….We’re trying to breakdown corporate cultures and just say ‘express whatever is on your mind, just let it go, post it’.”
So, are we making an environment where an introvert would feel comfortable sharing ideas they may feel unsure of? Anomo’s three philosophies give some good ideas for how to walk the talk.
Philosophy #1: No Pictures
Anomo’s number one philosophy is to scrap the use of pictures, replacing them with avatars and pseudonyms.
We judge by appearances because it is easy, even though it can deeply bias our understanding of someone’s ideas. A perception that one will be judged for their superficial appearance – clothing, job title, and attractiveness – can add to an introvert’s reluctance to speak up.
Anonymity strips us of all these exteriors and tends to democratizes ideas. Brainstorming chat rooms might be opened, with no way to identify contributors. If a particular idea gets popular, it can bring whoever submitted it out of their shell to elaborate confidently, having already received approval from the crowd.
As well, stripping the organization of its hierarchy in designated “Vegas session rooms”, where what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, could be appropriate for refreshing thinking with co-workers from different areas and levels of the company. Though, without anonymity, some mutual understanding needs to be built in order to allay any biases, which leads to Philosophy #2.
Philosophy #2: Icebreaker games
“Introverts by nature have a hard time reaching out to people. So, we don’t want to be the first ones to talk to people. In fact, when someone talks to us and asks us an open ended question like ‘Tell me about yourself,’ we get very nervous, we don’t know what to say. We like things that are a little more direct.”
Anomo helps to connect users through group icebreaker games. These games invite several users to play at the same time, asking multiple choice questions and connecting those with the most compatible sets of answers.
This process helps to create common ground, and the users gradually reveal themselves, creating a space for more open-ended conversation. Creating situations for introverts to reveal themselves to their colleagues can be a critical first step often missed with new hires.
Questions do not always need to be unambiguous like age or favorite movie; a prompt specific to an introvert’s area of expertise can lead to a deluge of shrewd information. But knowing what question to ask requires knowing your introverts.
Philosophy #3: Allow people to reveal things about who they are over time
Give people the freedom to share only once comfortable. Introverts want to feel in control. Pushing them too hard into revealing themselves will only get them to retreat further into silence.
This third philosophy is the art of managing introverts, maintaining a feel for where someone is getting pushed too far out of their comfort zone.
“That is the underlying philosophy of my life, plus the Anomo users, as well as the workers at our company, and what I share when I go and speak at an organization. When people feel safe, they will share some of the most remarkable things, if they don’t feel safe, you are not going to get the best out of them.”
This philosophy is greatly helped by the first two, anonymity being the fastest way to get these hidden ideas out in the open.
Anonymity requires a great deal of flexibility in a company’s rules for staying politically correct, but likely that is overdue for companies that have some of their rules deriving from cultural norms decades old.
Furthermore, context can be created to outline the situations where free thinking is welcomed - without opening up the entire office into a forum for everyone’s ideas not relevant to the business’s daily activities.
“I have held onto watching and listening. I think introverts are better listeners and they are better observers. I think that is a very good trait to have whether you are a friend or an employee or an executive or anything. I think it is good to listen more than you talk. I like asking questions because I like to listen and learn and observe.”
Simon Hudson is a recent McGill grad who is an Co-Producer on my radio show, The CEO Series, heard on CJAD in Montreal. Simon also does research and writes for several innovation shops in Montreal including CloudRaker Digital Innovations Group.
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91dbd0d0f0acc9f63b8ff4054a33b4e4 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2015/06/15/five-click-leadership-how-introverts-can-get-ahead/ | Five-Click Leadership: How Introverts Can Get Ahead | Five-Click Leadership: How Introverts Can Get Ahead
This post was co-written by Jon Victor.
The CEO of a major multinational came to class and told us that as an introverted leader, he had to put his “game face” on whenever he left his floor. If you want to be the CEO of a big company, he said, you need to act like an extrovert at times. To do this, he shared one of his techniques, which he called “Five-Click Leadership.”
When he was a senior executive in the running to be the CEO in the not too distant future, his firm arranged for a leadership coach to help him. The coach introduced him to the technique: at least five times during the day, he was to approach coworkers and engage them in a friendly interaction, something a bit contrary to his natural disposition. He logged these encounters on a clicker he carried around with him, hence the name “Five-Click”. Introverts are somewhat less apt to just talk to people when they get in an elevator, but he was encouraged to do so — nothing profound, just a "good morning" and a comment on the weather.
These small interactions contain very little substance but are helpful for a senior leader to do. If Karl gets in the elevator with the Principal (President) of our university and she ignores him, his human nature may tell him that she doesn’t like him or that he's done something wrong. He may even start polishing up his C.V. Realizing this, the CEO's leadership coach encouraged him to have these simple social interactions more frequently in order to prepare him for people's expectations of how a CEO “should” act. In fact, this is true for most leaders: people tend to expect those in power to act a certain way — like an extrovert.
That being said, research has shown that introverted qualities are just as valuable in leadership. Some of the strongest leaders are introverts. It’s natural for employees and outsiders to assume that expressive, vocal, charismatic individuals would make the best leaders — this has been the assumption for years. The CEO naturally decided, when the opportunity came for him to run for CEO, that he needed to work on his extroversion. While that does deserve merit, introverts also have qualities extroverts need to work on.
In an earlier blog post, Karl argued that after studying introverts in the C-suite, he has concluded that extroverts must also put on their “game faces” and act like introverts at times in order to be effective leaders. Granted, not everyone wants to be a senior leader — fair enough. We are writing to those introverts who wish to be better leaders and rise up to more senior leadership positions; you don’t need to be an extrovert to be the most effective leader.
Introverts have great strengths. One of Karl's current research projects on leadership involves interviewing the CEOs of bigger firms about introverts in their C-suite and asking them about the considerable strengths that introverts bring to the table. Based on this research, we have come to believe that introverts are typically better listeners; they wait for others to express their ideas before they jump in with theirs; they don’t need to be at the centre of every conversation; and when they present their ideas, they tend come out more fully formed and well-thought-out. Many business executives value this approach as a way to ensure that the ideas of all team members are being given due consideration, so that there is no valuable insight going overlooked. Employees will also appreciate being valued more and will see you as a better manager.
Two ways in which Karl has tried to be more like an introverted leader is by listening more closely and backing off more often in conversations to allow people who work for him to be at the centre of things. Listening closely seems to be a theme that has come up frequently in his research over the past few years. Introverts prefer to listen and will naturally be silent in a conversation in which the other person is speaking more, which means that their potentially valuable thoughts will go unvoiced. By acting more like an introvert, Karl gives those around him more space to teach him.
Still, just as Karl, an extrovert, has to put his “game face” on in his work life, many introverts aspiring for senior roles within their companies would benefit from incorporating characteristics of extroverts into their leadership styles. A very practical way of doing this is using the Five-Click technique. Click away!
Jon Victor is a rising sophomore at Yale University. He is working with me this summer as a research assistant for my upcoming book Quiet Leaders: Introverts in the Executive Suite. You can follow him on Twitter at @jon_victor.
Also on Forbes:
Gallery: The 10 Best Jobs For Introverts 10 images View gallery
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93d1fc3144be50dd41d4721d8db7bc0b | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2016/04/25/4-telltale-signs-youre-a-workplace-ambivert/?linkId=23847356 | 4 Telltale Signs You're A Workplace Ambivert | 4 Telltale Signs You're A Workplace Ambivert
This post was co-written with Stephanie Ambrose, a senior at McGill University and an ambivert.
Are you an introvert or extrovert? Not so fast, there is a third category. Consider your office mates.
Photo: Pexels
There's Ellen. She makes daily rounds to your coworkers’ offices, chatting up a storm while the sound of her laughter fills the hallway. She’s the morning shot of espresso we all need without the bitter aftertaste.
There's Ian. Nothing against the guy, but you barely see him. He’s content to spend the majority of the workday in his office. Although he doesn’t often voice his opinion, when he does it’s easily the most enlightening comment of the meeting.
Gallery: Five Networking Strategies Even The Shy Can Use 5 images View gallery
Then there’s you. With the exception of your lunch plate – usually piled high with the cafeteria’s starch of the day – you consider yourself a pretty balanced person. Most likely, you relate to both Ellen, the sociable extrovert, and Ian, the thoughtful introvert.
So that leaves you where? The answer is smack in the middle of the introverted-extroverted spectrum. Say hello to your new ambivert identity.
Carl Jung is responsible for popularizing the concepts of introversion and extroversion in the early 1920s. The ambivert, however, made its debut much later. Consequently, this personality type is not well understood by the public.
If there was an Ambivert.com, the following would surely be included in the FAQ section:
How many of us are there?
Rest assured, this isn’t a Roswell episode. According to Adam Grant, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, roughly two-thirds of people are ambiverts. The remaining one-third are either strong introverts or strong extroverts.
What are ambiverts best at?
In one word: balance. Imagine your very extroverted co-worker is meeting with an introverted Spanish client. Unfortunately, he’s floundering. Calling the client a “true horse” instead of a “true gentleman” probably isn’t helpful. You jump in, and five minutes later the client is secured. Note to self: exchange semesters in Spain have a surprisingly high return on investment.
Similar to someone who is bilingual, ambiverts have the ability to connect with a wider range of people. Their “chameleon skin” enables them to effortlessly transition between being social or being solitary, speaking up or listening carefully.
Why am I only hearing about ambiverts now?
Fair question. Because the world is chaotic, humans are inclined to cleanly categorize. The ambivert introduces ambiguity by shattering the illusion that you must conform to either the introvert or extrovert category. Accepting the introverted-extroverted spectrum for what it is – a wide range of unique personality combinations – is liberating.
So, if I’m an ambivert, I’m basically a shapeshifter?
Likely, your true superhuman ability is self-deception.
Think you might be an ambivert but still unsure? Check out these 4 telltale signs:
1. Although you enjoyed the office holiday party, at the end of the night all you really wanted to do was go home. You’re like a light switch. When on, you’re often the life of the party. Thanks to your natural intuition, you find it easy to connect with others, a quality which helps you navigate complex social landscapes. Without warning, however, you can suddenly crave peace and quiet. That 45-minute, passion-filled conversation about Justin Trudeau as the new young face of Canadian politics? Yeah, not happening again. When your “light switch” turns off, it’s difficult to reverse. This unpredictability makes it tricky for ambiverts to strike the right balance between time alone and time with others.
2. You’ve always had a knack for sales. True or false? Extroverts are the most productive salespeople. In a 2013 research paper in Psychological Science, Adam Grant of The Wharton School deconstructs the traditional belief that extroverts have a natural advantage in sales. Over a three-month study, Grant discovered that ambiverts produced 32% more revenue than extroverts. It seems that at every turn extroverts are rewarded for their outgoing nature – why would sales be any different? The answer is that ambivert salespeople excel at finding the appropriate balance between selling and serving. Grant sums it up nicely: “The ambivert advantage stems from the tendency to be assertive and enthusiastic enough to persuade and close, but at the same time, listening carefully to customers and avoiding the appearance of being overly confident or excited.”
3. It takes courage for you to be assertive, but when you are you typically rock it. Delegation, motivation, consistency – all leadership issues in the workplace. But which is most problematic? Apparently, none of the above. In a 2007 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, by Daniel Ames, a Columbia Business School professor, and Francis Flynne, a Stanford Business School professor, the most commonly reported weakness of leaders was degree of assertiveness. Ames and Flynne argue that there are two approaches to speaking up for, defending, and pursuing your interests. The first is average assertiveness – the chronic display of moderate assertiveness – and the second is situationally appropriate assertiveness – assertiveness which is adjusted based on the situation’s demands. Results of the study showed that the latter was a better predictor of perceived manager effectiveness. In other words, the level of assertiveness that is adaptive in one situation may not be fitting in the next. Ambiverts can count on their natural intuition to “know when to speak up and when to shut up, when to inspect and when to respond, when to push and when to hold back,” says best-selling author Daniel Pink.
4. Your high school yearbook superlative was “Most Outgoing,” but you’re not above visiting the bathroom to avoid a coworker. Sure, you may have a stereotypically extroverted façade. But your extroverted self is just that: only a single layer of your personality. It's fair to say that some co-workers – or certain days – can push that layer far back, to be replaced by a more “introverted” layer. This constant rearranging of layers may cause different people to view you differently. While friends would scoff at the suggestion that you’re reserved and quiet, co-workers would be more apt to endorse this statement.
Think of a layer cake – if you neglect the red velvet layer, the confection inevitably falls short. Similarly, by choosing to constantly fight your “introverted” or “extroverted” tendencies, you undersell just how awesome you are.
When you consciously decide to embrace and nourish all of your “layers,” something magical happens. The position on the introverted-extroverted spectrum strictly reserved for you? You start to own it.
Ambiverts be warned: You’re the jack-of-all trades, but master of none. Understand your strengths, however – namely adaptability and balance – and there’s a good chance you’ll be headed for that next promotion. So, what are you waiting for? Do yourself a favor and unleash your inner ambivert. The world will thank you.
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23ff26692602e93d98894f8eceb29bee | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2018/01/30/why-being-uncomfortable-can-be-a-great-thing/ | Why Being Uncomfortable Can Be A Great Thing | Why Being Uncomfortable Can Be A Great Thing
Shutterstock
We would rather be comfortable than uncomfortable, but which is more apt to lead to great success?
We’d like you to imagine that you’re a fourteen-year-old girl that wakes up one morning to find out that she’s lost her eyesight. One gut-wrenching surgery after another, it is reconfirmed that you will never be able to look at yourself or anyone else ever again. You will never be able to read, write or fulfill your dreams of being a teacher. You sink into the darkness thinking, “Why me? Is fate punishing me because I had yelled at grandma one too many times?”
Next imagine you are a world renowned NBA player; a rising star who came from less than humble beginnings and succeeded due to an incredible work ethic, only to be told in the moment of your prime that you will need to change your shooting hand from left to right. It is a big deal for NBA players to even reposition their grip on the ball by inches, therefore this monumental change asked by your team’s management negates your natural instinct for the game and threatens your success to the very core.
How do the last two characters make you feel? Uncomfortable?
On the other hand, let’s try to visualize it by putting ourselves in the shoes of two characters, the first being an Olympic skier. I’d like you imagine that your body is moving at an electrifying speed down the world’s toughest terrain. You rise to perform a smooth, successful backflip. Victory is around the corner; you smell it and thrust yourself closer, continuing to defy gravity. Before you know it, you’re at the finish line feeling an overpowering sense of incredulous joy, as victory is finally yours, just as you knew it. You’re complete.
You are now a U.S. General that has disrupted an organizational structure as rigid as that of the army, where miscommunication in the chain of command can lead to the death of millions. Due to your insights, the suicide bombings in Iraq in 2006-2007 decreased from 160 to 5. You’ve been nationally accredited to successfully counteracting terrorism by the U.S. media, celebrated and hailed as a hero within the country.
How does being either of these two characters make you feel? Good?
What if we told you that the four real-life character sketches above, amongst eight others whose stories are also portrayed in Amanda Lang’s groundbreaking book, are equally successful in their own rights? Our brief recounts above are only opposite halves of the complete experience each faced at different stages in their respective quests to success, comprising equally of both valor and vanquish.
The Beauty of Discomfort by Amanda Lang is a book that not only explains why discomfort is inevitable in the process of attaining success – something that is now now on its’ way to becoming conventional wisdom as modern day society increasingly celebrates ‘self-made’ entrepreneurs and ‘rags to riches’ stories – the book goes on to detail and exemplify the methods of dealing with discomfort, pain, ambiguity, fear and unending frustration when one is belly deep into these demons. This is very helpful and goes beyond just recognizing the way many fail before they succeed.
Discomfort has many faces, where the feeling can either be self-induced to test one’s own limits, caused by words or actions of others, or be a natural consequence, one that neither you nor anybody else can control. Therefore, the strategies to deal with such discomfort vary as well. Coping mechanisms illuminated in this book include; change management, resilience, mindfulness and most importantly, the choice of embracing, redefining or flat-out denying discomfort.
Let us elaborate on a couple of the above, reframing the feeling of discomfort as a positive signal can make it our ally instead of our enemy and choosing to shut out negative pangs can make it more bearable. Manufacturing a sense of control over discomfort, or quantifying it – even if only in our minds – can minimize its effect dramatically. Trying to reinvent ourselves, if the situation demands, may seem like the hardest form of change in the world, however, if done in response to acute discomfort, it can seem like the easiest feat, as proven by the stories of characters in this book.
The Beauty of Discomfort holds a wealth of wisdom. Reading it, you will find an accumulation of relevant research pertaining to psychology and neurology, accounts by world class academics and anecdotes from individuals whose journeys will not only take you through the very deepest of emotions including empathy, sympathy, fear, anger, awe and inspiration, they will also make you reflect on your own life and decisions, as they did when we read the book experience.
We have always been a believer that mental strength is far more important than mere talent or ability, and this book explains why. Amanda draws parallels drawn between competitive sport and business, the book holds key phrases such as, “sometimes the support an athlete needs isn’t training at all” which we believe are applicable to any reader who knows that performance has everything to do with sustenance, perseverance, and the pain that comes with change.
A key point she makes, at least in our minds, is the point that mindfulness is the key component to resolving discomfort. Both of us meditate, we can testify based on personal experience of the value of mediation and we were delighted when Amanda Lang brought forth Andy Puddicombe, founder of Headspace, a popular meditation app dubbed as ‘the gym for the mind’ and told his story in one of the chapters.
For those who don’t know Amanda, she is one of Canada’s top business journalists, one of things she is best known for was the even keeled way she co-hosted a 5 day a week show with Shark Tanks’ Kevin O’Leary, where they went to head-to-head on many business issues.
If this reading experience were a metaphor, we’d term ‘discomfort’ as the key, ‘performance’ as the door, and ‘The Beauty of Discomfort by Amanda Lang’ as the manual to getting to the other side. All in all, we felt lucky to have read this book and recommend it to anybody on a quest to success, which is pretty much everyone we know.
This book review was written with Tanya Sardana, a recent McGill grad who I had the pleasure of teaching and is now breaking into the media world in Toronto. She has not only read the book, but lives up to it!
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f8e26c9829f0510ec8cf1d4854b93200 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2020/06/19/restaurant-owners-worldwide-struggle-to-strike-balance-between-safety-and-revenue/ | Restaurant Owners Worldwide Struggle To Strike Balance Between Safety And Revenue | Restaurant Owners Worldwide Struggle To Strike Balance Between Safety And Revenue
Staff at restaurants in most countries are required to wear masks to limit the spread of the ... [+] coronavirus. AFP via Getty Images
Marie Labrosse a master’s student in English Literature at McGill University contributed to this story.
Dennis Stevens, owner of Nostos in Mexico City, Lenny Lighter, general manager of Moishes, and Antonio Park, owner of Park, both in Montreal have all had to shut down their restaurant to customers since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Each of the restauranteurs has responded to the pressures of the pandemic in their own way.
With their restaurant closed and without a delivery or takeout option available as of yet, Moishes has mainly been reliant on its retail branch for revenue. Although the demand in supermarkets for Moishes’ meats or its famous coleslaw has been high, its retail business cannot make up for the losses incurred by the restaurant’s closure.
Park, on the other hand mobilized members of his staff to resume activities at the restaurant as soon as he could. After two weeks of confinement with his family in Montreal, he knew that he could not idly wait for the pandemic to pass him by.
“I cooked for two weeks at home and it was fine, but I knew that it wasn’t enough. I had to do something more,” Park recollects.
Park delivers a lunch and an evening menu of sushi and other Japanese and Korean dishes, similar to what used to be on offer at his restaurant pre-pandemic. Each day the restaurant sees a healthy flow of orders come in; however, the delivery model cannot match the revenues that Park is accustomed to. The restaurant has reduced the selling point of its food and is spending less on staffing, but it continues to order fish from Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Mexico, which costs approximately 30 per cent more than it used to before the onset of the pandemic.
“I could lower the quality and do the same thing and make money, but I don’t want to do that,” Park explained. “I want to maintain the same quality because the restaurant is known for the quality of its fish.”
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Like Park, Stevens has also been prioritizing his produce’s quality throughout the pandemic. Since the start of the shutdown, he has stopped purchasing Canadian salmon and lobster, but he still flies in fresh fish from the coast of Mexico every day. While the cost of cargo has not had an impact on his restaurant’s finances, the choice of fish is more limited.
Stevens has stepped up his service to ensure that clients remain satisfied despite the changed circumstances. Customers still get to choose their fish as they would at Nostos, but in the days of social distancing they do so via message. The dishes arrive on Nostos’ dishware, which clients can return or have picked up to retrieve their deposit. Customers who order the salt-crusted fish, receive a video instructing them on how to open their own fish at home.
In Montreal, restaurants will be permitted to reopen on Monday, June 22. However, Park and Lighter will not be able to offer the same dining experience as they once did under the latest public health directives. Staff will be required to wear visors, menus will hang on the walls, and customers will have to be seated 2 metres apart. Lighter notes that decreasing restaurants’ capacity without finding a compromise on other expenses like rent will harm restaurants and their owners.
“The margins in this business are very thin by nature,” Lighter said. “To have the same expenses as before the pandemic but only operating at 50 per cent capacity will be extremely difficult.”
Park expects that he will have to continue to offer takeout and delivery services to mitigate the financial toll of reduced capacity.
In Mexico City, restaurants re-opened on June 15. Stevens has been hard at work in concert with local government to imagine what the post-pandemic restaurant will look like. His proposal recommends outdoor-dining only and a two metre distance between the backs of chairs. While Nostos has a large outdoor space, Stevens has recommended to his mayor that other local restaurants be granted a temporary permit to use the sidewalk or the street to be able to welcome more customers. Nostos has thermal cameras to detect fevers and all of their waiters and staff wear masks. Stevens has also vowed to offer free masks to all of his customers, which they are required to wear whenever they leave their table.
“We want to provide as many barriers as possible so that the virus can’t be transmitted in restaurants,” Stevens said.
As restaurants around the world begin to re-open, Stevens’ words will ring true for every owner trying to protect their business and their customers.
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f814e882d2b679ab2e8853616813a9f8 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2020/10/09/it-creates-flexibility-how-val-desjardins-reinvented-digital-fitness-amid-a-pandemic/?sh=20495bb072e0 | ‘It Creates Flexibility’: How Val Desjardins Reinvented Digital Fitness Amid A Pandemic | ‘It Creates Flexibility’: How Val Desjardins Reinvented Digital Fitness Amid A Pandemic
Val Desjardins uses her holistic training method to train celebrities like Jennifer Anniston as well ... [+] as local Montrealers. Melika Dez
Marie Labrosse, a master’s student in English at McGill University contributed to this story.
Val Desjardins, celebrity trainer, LGBTQ advocate, and entrepreneur was one of the first fitness providers in Montreal to close her studio on March 13, 2020. With 250 customers circulating daily through 20,000 square feet, the studio owner did not feel that she could guarantee the safety of her clients and staff.
“People come to me because they trust me to take care of their health and wellness,” Desjardins remarked. “The irony of the threat of a viral pandemic was too much.”
Initially, she did not see the closure as a long-term decision, expecting it to only last a few weeks. As it became clear that those weeks would stretch into multiple months, she started sharing free live fitness content on Instagram to tide over antsy customers in isolation. She immediately noticed the benefit of the offering for both herself and her followers. By consistently posting twice a week, Desjardins saw the online following for her live videos grow from 100 to 400 people.
“By showing up every week, we made it possible for people who for geographic or socioeconomic reasons couldn’t train with me or the team at our studio,” she explained. “Suddenly we were there for them, we were connecting with them.”
From there, her digital offering continued to grow organically. In time, viewers started offering Desjardins money to thank her for her investment in their well-being. She appreciated the show of support, but she wanted to know with certainty how many users would transition to a monetized experience. She created a mailing list to gauge interest and received over 300 answers expressing support for the project.
“I needed an action to prove that this was really a need and then I would be happy to invest the money and create it,” she said. “And that’s what happened.”
Within 24 hours of launching her Pump Digital Studio, 100 people had subscribed. Today, she has twice the number of customers tuning into her fitness classes live and asynchronously throughout the week. The offering, which costs C$100 per month, provides users access to a standalone digital platform onto which Desjardins uploads nearly 25 hours of content per month. Three other trainers with whom she collaborates offer different styles of classes, including strength training and barre. On top of the physical conditioning that Desjardins provides, her programming also emphasises the importance of emotional well-being. Remote classes with her and her team offer a personal connection that helps to motivate attendees to work out even while at home.
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Desjardins and her team give a fixed number of live classes that are filed into the content library alongside other pre-recorded videos. Her goal is to accumulate hundreds of hours of videos so diverse that they can become her clients’ go-to for all of their fitness needs from 10-minute stretching session to 45-minute high-intensity interval workouts. Putting her background in videography and event planning to use, Desjardins has created a product that stands apart from the typical Zoom fitness classes in both quality and sustainability.
“In the past I wasn’t interested in going digital,” she said. “Now, I see the power and the convenience of it, especially during this time. It creates flexibility.”
Desjardins’ personal commitment to her clientele has also fueled the success of her digital studio. She strives to be authentic and trustworthy in every client interaction—even if that interaction might be happening asynchronously on someone’s mobile in their living room.
“I show that I’m walking the walk and that we’re all in this together,” she said. “People need that collective experience and trust. And as with the physical studios before, as long as you’re consistently delivering a good and honest product, there’s room for everyone.”
To be able to provide that consistency, Desjardins has had to readjust her perspective on work and life. Digitization and teaching in a new format require an increased level of attention, language precision, and overall fitness expertise. To deliver high calibre training, she has learnt to put her personal needs first.
“It’s important for me to take care of myself and prioritize my well-being so that I can lead and serve properly during the pandemic because people need support more than ever before,” Desjardins reflected. “That old way of hustling and forgetting about yourself to put financial gain and client and team needs above your own doesn’t work anymore.”
Even though her classes and training are constantly available through the Pump Digital Studio, she still insists on the importance of recovery. By focussing on building an original platform that is sustainable for her business and for herself, Desjardins practices the holistic well-being that she preaches in business and in fitness.
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7b27db340a31c84e87bc8ce127099f0a | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2021/02/26/emerge-commerce-founder-and-ceo-on-the-niche-e-commerce-growth-opportunity/ | EMERGE Commerce Founder And CEO On The Niche E-Commerce Growth Opportunity | EMERGE Commerce Founder And CEO On The Niche E-Commerce Growth Opportunity
Ghassan Halazon, founder and CEO of EMERGE Commerce. Courtesy of EMERGE
Marie Labrosse, a master’s student in English Literature at McGill University contributed to this story.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumers’ relationship to the internet, potentially for good, according to experts. Prior to the global health crisis, e-commerce growth was slow but steady; few could have predicted how lucrative of an industry it would become in just a few months. Yet the Toronto-based consolidator of direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce brands, EMERGE Commerce was able to predict and prepare for the shifting tides of the industry years before the pandemic began.
EMERGE acquires and operates D2C e-commerce businesses based in North America, leveraging the benefits of scale that are unavailable to any individual brand on its own. EMERGE prides itself on its founder-friendly approach, enabling entrepreneurs to race ahead with their ambitious vision, but receive the expertise necessary to elevate their business to the next level.
“Our thesis is centered on acquiring already profitable e-commerce brands with loyal customer bases and partnering with founders long-term to continue delivering an exceptional customer experience. We believe our portfolio companies are well positioned to ride the phenomenal growth of the e-commerce sector at large,” Ghassan Halazon, founder and CEO of EMERGE told me. I first got to know Ghassan when he was an undergrad student here at McGill and a group of us went to spend a day with Warren Buffett in Omaha back in 2006. He was an impressive person then, even more so today!
There is an undeniable financial advantage to acquiring bootstrap start-ups instead of venture-backed businesses. That doesn’t mean that EMERGE isn’t seeking growth.
“Every e-commerce business we acquire, or vertical we enter, we want to see that $100 million opportunity, which combined under one portfolio, we believe is a multi-billion-dollar opportunity,” Halazon said.
A serial e-commerce entrepreneur himself and former investment banker, Halazon founded EMERGE to offer an alternative to the traditional e-commerce model that sees businesses raise seemingly limitless amounts of capital and attempt to chase growth at any cost. He suggests that this model only truly works for tech juggernauts like Amazon and Uber, while small and medium-sized companies lose out in this growth-first scenario when the market turns and they can longer access capital to fund their accumulating losses.
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“My experience running a venture-backed company earlier in my career led me to realize that revenue for the sake of revenue isn’t going to get you anywhere if you’re not the global market leader,” Halazon said. “I knew that there had to be a more cost-efficient way to scale e-commerce without the pressure of a venture-backed environment to scale or die.”
Identifying scrappy businesses and partnering with what he refers to as ‘rockstar founders’ who can benefit from EMERGE’s support to continue to scale is at the heart of the company’s acquisition strategy. Halazon points out that scaling up to the 100-million-dollar opportunity that the acquirer looks for takes skills and resources that not all founders have at their disposal. That is where EMERGE steps in, powering the existing team’s efforts with a wide array of tools and value-add initiatives.
The founders and start-ups on the other end of these acquisitions gain more than just financial support. Halazon views the primary benefits of EMERGE’s approach as two-fold: the newly acquired companies benefit from shared services as well as growth acceleration. By joining the EMERGE network, acquired start-ups gain access to group-wide analytics, customer service tools, fraud prevention, shared marketing, and more. They are also able to increase their traffic by cross-promoting offerings across EMERGE’s 2-million-member network for a fraction of the cost compared to the budgets required under paid marketing campaigns on Facebook and Google. Portfolio companies also tap into the company’s dedicated Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A”) team, available to assist in acquiring competitors.
The philosophy behind EMERGE clearly works. Since its launch in 2016, EMERGE has acquired five companies and is one of the fastest growing e-commerce businesses in Canada. The group’s 3-year revenue growth rate of 2,203% earned it prominent spots on both the Globe and Mail’s list of top-growing companies and the Startup 50 list put together by Canadian Business. After a reverse takeover of the public capital pool company Aumento, EMERGE began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the ticker symbol TSXV: ECOM on December 14, 2020. A little over two months later, share price has increased by 93% since the IPO, and EMERGE has a market capitalization of $129 million.
Only a few weeks following the public listing, the group closed its fifth and largest deal to date when it acquired the Canadian market leader in premium meat subscriptions, truLOCAL, itself featured as the 14th fastest growing company on the Globe and Mail’s list of top-growing Canadian businesses.
“The e-commerce sector is a vast multi-trillion-dollar market,” Halazon said. “We are carefully choosing to acquire into niches that we believe are underserved, fast growing, and very sticky. We were especially drawn to truLOCAL’s monthly recurring membership model and favorable unit economics.”
The pandemic has only accelerated EMERGE’s early success. Since the onset of Covid-19, e-commerce has expanded and shifted from luxury good transactions toward everyday necessities. TruLOCAL’s marketplace for locally sourced meats certainly fits that bill, connecting local farmers with health-conscious, digitally savvy customers. Another prominent EMERGE brand, UnderPar, a website that offers discounted tee times at popular golf courses across Canada and the United States has benefited from the sport’s increase in popularity as a result of the stay at home protocols in place around the world.
In the year ahead, EMERGE is planning to complete two to three acquisitions, which shouldn’t prove too lofty of a challenge for their dedicated M&A team. The e-commerce group already has multiple signed letters of intent and a pipeline that runs tens of companies deep. The real question for observers of EMERGE’s success is which e-commerce category they will turn to next, after cornering groceries and golf.
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0fd1be974270631c623ed845c1307204 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2021/03/07/top-3-leadership-insights-from-50-ceos-across-industries/ | Top 3 Leadership Insights From 50 CEOs Across Industries Since The Start Of The Pandemic | Top 3 Leadership Insights From 50 CEOs Across Industries Since The Start Of The Pandemic
Across industries, CEOs have found that nurturing the right kind of talent to complement their own ... [+] skills is key to success. getty
Yuan Chu Zi Lao, an MBA student at McGill University, contributed to this story.
This last fall and winter we had over 50 CEOs visit the MBAs at McGill virtually in the midst of the ongoing global pandemic. It was a different set of conversations than in the past in our MBA CEO Insights class, yet there were some timeless insights. One of our outstanding MBA students, Yuan Chu Zi Lao, put down some her thoughts on the course and I added in my two cents. Here are our three key takeaways.
The invited leaders came from diverse backgrounds, whether from a cultural, social, or educational standpoint, which allowed for engaging conversations with the class. It was even more interesting to observe how, despite running different types of businesses, many of our guests shared similar lessons on leadership.
Leaders are often required to act like an extrovert or as an introvert depending on the situation. During the pandemic, particularly the early days, strategy was more emergent because there were too many unknown variables. In such times of crisis, introverts seem to have fared better as they are used to spending time listening to others and analyzing the situation. Introverted leaders’ ability and greater willingness to pay attention to what is happening throughout the organization allows them to fine-tune their plan and adapt quicker. Concurrently, extroverted traits, such as the ability to inspire a team and to push for action, are also useful during the pandemic. Being able to address each situation by seamlessly navigating from one style to another becomes a valuable skill. I recently had an article with Duke University’s Dialogue magazine titled We Are Ambiverts Now, which explores this advantageous ability.
Another fascinating observation that came out of the course is that many CEOs did not follow a straightforward path to the top, opting instead to take detours along the way. Whether they started as an accountant or as an Olympic athlete, these future executives acquired skillsets throughout their career that remained useful when they took on a role in the C-suite. Indeed, amassing more competencies along the way helped them become more well-rounded individuals and more successful leaders.
An important caveat is that, while exploring career paths is a good thing, successful leaders are still intentional about the choices they make. Several CEOs spoke about finding the sweet spot at the intersection of what they enjoy doing, what they do well, and what brings good to humanity. This advice resonated with MBA students, many of whom espouse altruistic values, care deeply about humanitarian causes, and are discovering their purpose in life.
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Another key takeaway is that some opportunities can and will arise simply because someone believes in you or has a favourable impression of you. One guest speaker summarized it well when he said that "at the end of the day, what you have is your good name.”
A good reputation starts with treating everyone with respect. However, simply being nice to someone may not be sufficient to turn them into an ambassador; you also must show genuine interest and connect with them on a deeper level. The goal is not to collect as many acquaintances as possible, but rather to form and maintain meaningful relationships. In fact, an interesting theory called Dunbar’s Number suggests that our cognitive capacity limits the quantity of relationships we can maintain to about 150.
Many of our guest speakers also shared the understanding that companies should become people-centred, as there would be no business without employees. They agreed that any organization should be concerned with attracting and retaining the right kind of talent to help it grow and succeed. The era of the charismatic CEO acting as a one-man-show is, for the most part, behind us. More and more, leaders are comfortable knowing that while they may be great at one thing, they may not be the best at everything else. They no longer strive to be the smartest person in the room and, instead, seek out great talent to surround and complement them.
While effective leaders should hone their ability to find talented individuals, empower them, and invest in their success, they also need to learn when to say goodbye. Different people are beneficial to a company at different stages of its development. Holding onto them for too long can prevent a company from scaling up to its full potential, and start-up lore is peppered with such cautionary tales.
A final takeaway from the course is that being flexible and adapting quickly is imperative for survival in an ever-changing environment. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many long-term projects had to be shelved to reallocate resources, both in terms of time and money, to immediate initiatives such a transitioning to work from home. Leaders are often asked to contrast long-term vision against short-term gains when making decisions for their organizations. A delicate balance is required to remain competitive.
As we reach the first anniversary of the COVID-19 virus reaching North America, we can’t deny that the business world will be forever changed. It will be exciting to meet next year’s cohort of CEO speakers as they share their war stories and explain how their vision and strategy have been shaped by the ongoing crisis.
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39401e309b3e4032daa30fb2d3e3d683 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2021/03/29/why-i-love-teaching-on-zoom/?sh=382e6a9e28b4&fbclid=IwAR2p020cU4Odd-4hTeFZiQvWMP_q8o74TQHUzwSrl_VeGmtDuw-kM2Kpk0w | Why I Love Teaching On Zoom | Why I Love Teaching On Zoom
Zoom has allowed us to bring the world to our classroom. getty
There are some real negatives to teaching on Zoom, but I have found there to be three great advantages to it as well.
The first benefit is the ability to host spectacular guests. In the past, we would occasionally have guests from Montreal or alumni who happened to be in the area come to class at McGill University, but they often came during school breaks and the timing wouldn’t work out. The difference this year has been astounding. Over the past few weeks in our advanced strategy undergraduate class, we have hosted a Cabinet minister from Guinea to discuss how strategic planning operates in the Cabinet, the political editor from The Economist about Brexit’s impact on business strategy, and the head of Tesla for the Eastern U.S. and all of South America. McGill has a global reputation, and this year we have been able to bring the world to our classroom thanks to Zoom. What has impressed me is how willing McGill alumni, even those I never taught, are to come to class — everyone I have asked has accepted the invitation. I taught at Oxford for five years and all of the Oxford alumni I invited to speak to our class also agreed, despite how few of them I actually taught. This just goes to show that people are very willing to help our students, and it is truly inspiring.
Second, listening to one person speak on Zoom for 90 minutes is simply too much. By necessity, I have found ways of making sure I am not the only one speaking. One method is having a student co-create virtually every class. Tomorrow, we will be discussing organizational culture. We have three guests joining us. Marijke was a student of mine as an undergrad back in the mid-90s. She worked for Microsoft for years and is now at Facebook. Mo, a former MBA student of mine, worked for his family business and now has over six years of experience at Google in the Silicon Valley Googleplex. Finally, Rich was a producer at NBC News, then a VP at Goldman Sachs, and is now at Blackrock. They are joining us from Toronto, the Valley, and New York. Given our speakers’ multifaceted work backgrounds, I almost always ask them to compare and contrast the corporate cultures they have experienced. Beyond the central question of corporate culture, we will briefly touch on what it is like to live in New York City and the Valley, which are places where thousands of McGill alumni have ended up. Hearing about life in these locations can also be intriguing to current students and open their minds to the possibility of living there. We will also talk about how undergrads can get a sense of an organizational culture in order to work for a business where they will fit in and where their career will prosper.
Since I have a student co-create each class, tomorrow’s session will be co-created by Lauren, who found three relevant articles that we shared with the other students ahead of time. Lauren will also most likely take the lead with asking our guests questions after my initial introductions with them. As part of the co-creation, I asked the students what topics and industries they thought had to evolve the most during COVID-19, and this helped to build out the list of content that we are covering in the course this year.
Finally, at 6 foot 3 inches, I somewhat tower over students when I teach in the classroom. I often take to sitting on a table to reduce the height difference. More fundamentally, I have found that Zoom has somewhat reduced the hierarchy in the classroom. Since everyone shows up in the same-sized square on the computer screen, it brings everyone onto equal ground. Students seem more free to ask questions on Zoom at times than in the classroom, where the dynamics are different. I have the students go into breakout rooms more often given the ease of doing so and the way in which it allows their voices to be heard. After a breakout room meeting, I ask them to share some of their key takeaways with the class and our guest speakers.
I can’t wait to get back to the classroom with the students; it is a joy and pleasure. In the meantime, Zoom is not so bad…
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58779c0a429944415a69757685252484 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlshmavonian/2013/11/13/thoughts-on-philanthropy-from-ancient-philosophers-maimonides-and-bob-hope/ | Thoughts On Philanthropy From Ancient Philosophers Maimonides and Bob Hope | Thoughts On Philanthropy From Ancient Philosophers Maimonides and Bob Hope
Jon Huntsman Sr. would be on our Forbes 400 list except for the fact that he's given away so much money. As a cancer survivor, he believes there's no time to waste:
You just work day and night if the cause in your heart is justified. You just go out and drive yourself to get the money. And you have fun doing it. It's a real rush. The people I particularly dislike are those who say 'I'm going to leave it in my will.' What they're really saying is 'If I could live forever, I wouldn't give any of it away.' "
Philosopher Maimonides may have originated the idea that teaching a man to fish is better than just giving him a fish:
There are eight rungs in charity. The highest is when you help a man to help himself."
Bond legend Bill Gross of Pimco said this in a recent newsletter:
Smoke that cigar, enjoy that Chateau Lafite 1989. But (mostly you guys) acknowledge your good fortune at having been born in the '40s, '50s or '60s, entering the male-dominated workforce 25 years later and having had the privilege of riding a credit wave and a credit boom for the past three decades. And now it's time to kick out and share some of your good fortune."
Curmudgeonly writer H.L. Mencken has this:
A large part of altruism, even when it is perfectly honest, is grounded upon the fact that it is uncomfortable to have unhappy people about one."
John F. Kennedy at his Inauguration:
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
Margaret Thatcher on the interaction of free markets and altruism:
No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions--he had money as well."
And, for you older readers, a Bob Hope joke (similar to the old one about the definition of chutzpah:
They asked Jack Benny if he would do something for the Actors' Orphanage--so he shot both his parents and moved in."
SOURCES: THE COLUMBIA DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS; THE INTERNATIONAL THESAURUS OF QUOTATIONS; THE LAST WORD ON MAKING MONEY; NYTIMES.COM; PIMCO.COM; A TREASURY OF JEWISH QUOTATIONS.
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e374d014579f7b5aeec401a48369f2a3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2017/05/29/the-crazy-swedish-wine-project-the-greek-the-german-and-the-italian/ | The Crazy Swedish Wine Project, The Greek, The German, And The Italian | The Crazy Swedish Wine Project, The Greek, The German, And The Italian
“An Italian, a German and a Greek sit in a wine bar and have tasted a few bottles. And one more glass of wine goes down. ‘Let’s do something crazy,’ says the Greek. ‘Let’s go to Tuscany and harvest some syrah grapes, put them on a truck, drive them 1200 miles to the north, to Sweden (!), and make Italian wine by the Baltic Sea’.”
It probably didn’t really happen quite like that, but it could perhaps have happened. But the truth is not very far away from wine bar the story.
Takis Soldatos, the Greek, lives in Sweden and has created one of Sweden’s most successful wine importing companies, Oenoforos, with over $100 million in sales at the monopoly.
The Italian is Mario Calzolari, a wine consultant based in Tuscany and very knowledgeable about the vineyards and wine regions in Italy.
The German is Gerd Stepp, a winemaker based in the UK consulting for large wine retailers as well as for wine producers, among others for Takis Soldatos.
Mario Calzolari, Takis Soldatos and Gerd Sepp in the vineyards in Cortona, copyright BKWine... [+] Photography BKWine Photography
The project is to harvest grapes in Tuscany, put them in a chilled container truck and transport them to Oenoforos’ winery in Simrishamn in southern Sweden and make wine there.
The grapes are syrah since Takis Soldatos doesn’t want to make any ordinary Tuscan wine, and also because the vineyard they found close to Cortona, had some very good syrah vines. “I chose this vineyard”, says Takis, “because syrah is not so typical for Tuscany. I don’t want to make a Tuscan style wine. I just need healthy organic grapes.”
Syrah grape bunch in Tuscany, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Takis is the entrepreneur who came up with the idea and put all of it together. Mario knew the region in detail and found the vineyard that they contracted to supply the grapes. Gerd is the one who will transform the grapes to wine and will supervise the vinification in Sweden.
Here’s a video interview with Takis Soldatos himself, explaining the whole project:
The grapes were harvested in mid-September last autumn. At the harvest they were put in shallow crates that were then stacked floor to ceiling in a refrigerated truck. It took three days to drive the lorry the 1864 kilometres (1200 miles) to Simrishamn in southern Sweden where Takis has built his “Swedish” winery, the Nordic Sea Winery.
The wine bar and the restaurant at the Nordic Sea Winery, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Would the grapes survive the 2000 km drive up to Sweden? “That’s a good question,” said Gerd Sepp, the winemaker. “It’s the first time we do it. But I’m sure they will. The techniques we use here to pick are similar to picking the very best table grapes [which are transported similar distances]”
Gerd Stepp explains more of the details on this video:
Actually, this is the first time this 5 million litre capacity winery, the Nordic Sea Winery, is actually used to ferment wine. Since its construction a few years back it has only been used to age, blend and package wine.
The original intention was to make a production facility as close as possible to the main (and almost only) customer, the Swedish monopoly. Oenoforos buys “raw” wines from for example Italy, France and South Africa and transport these wines to Sweden in containers (“flexitanks”). In Sweden the wines are then aged and assembled according to the local market’s taste and to the requirements of the monopoly buyer.
Harvested syrah with the three associates, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
But back to the Tuscany project. As soon as the truck filled with grapes arrived in Sweden a “normal” winemaking process begun. Sorting, destemming, crushing – all with shiny new equipment of course – and then fermentation. The fermentation is done in different kinds of tanks for experimental purposes, wooden vats and clay jars (a type of amphora). After fermentation it will age for a year or a year and a half in barrels. (Read more on the making of the Tuscan-Swedish wine here.)
Mari Calzolari, the Italian, explains more of the background to the project and why the grapes are source from this Tuscan region:
In the end it will be bottled in a special bottle and sold, but not at the Swedish monopoly. “I will sell the wine at an auction. It is a non-profit project so I will donate the money to some charity,” says Takis Soldatos.
In fact, this crazy project is part of a bigger scheme. Takis’ winery in Sweden is mainly an ageing and blending facility but he has also planted vines there.
Grapes loaded on the truck in Tuscany to be transported to Sweden, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
“It’s an extreme climate [in Sweden] so I don’t know if I ever will get some grapes there,” says Takis. “Maybe in a few years’ time, maybe never. But I can’t wait that long. In the mean time I will make wine from grapes from other countries. This year it is Italy, next year it can be France. The year after Spain, or Greece… Each year a different wine.”
As you can tell, Takis Soldatos is an impatient man.
When the wine is finished and bottled wine drinkers can come and taste it in the wine bar and restaurant that has been built, in the style of a gigantic wine vat, next to the winery. You can visit it already now.
And maybe after a few glasses of this or one of the other wines that Oenoforos makes here you will come up with some just as crazy idea to match this one.
—Per Karlsson
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337cbbc03daf1a33fb8fcdaafa2bacd7 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2018/06/08/the-most-popular-wine-grapes-in-the-us-chardonnay-and-cabernet-the-full-top-10-list/?sh=42201521fbfb | The 10 Most Popular Wine Grapes in the U.S. | The 10 Most Popular Wine Grapes in the U.S.
Reading statistics can be tricky. Total acreage of vines planted does not always correspond to the volume of wine produced. The reason? Some of the vines planted may be table grapes or grapes used for raisins or grape juice. The total vineyard surface in the US is a little over 1 million acres (approx. 440,000 hectares). However, all vines are not used for making wine.
The most grown grape in the United States is the Sultanina and this grape is either eaten or dried to raisins. There are 148,000 acres (60,000 hectares) of this grape, so 14% of the total surface of vines in the US. Moreover, there are 34,000 hectares of the Concord. This grape can be transformed into wine and occasionally is, mainly on the East coast, but nowadays it is more popular for jelly, juice and jam.
If we discard non-wine-making varieties from the statistics, we have roughly 800,000 acres (320,000 hectares) of vineyards for wine production in the United States.
The Chardonnay craze has not subsided. It the most planted variety with 106,000 acres (43,000 hectares). Though still a very popular grape it has been slightly declining in the past 10 years. In second place is another superstar, Cabernet Sauvignon with 101,300 acres (41,000 hectares). Plantings of Cabernet are stable and even growing a bit.
A Chardonnay grape bunch in Burgundy, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The capricious Burgundy grape Pinot Noir has seen a spectacular growth and is now in third place with 61,800 acres (25,000 hectares). In Oregon, it is the emblematic grape. The state is more or less synonymous with Pinot noir. The grape covers 60 % of the Oregon vineyards, which means approximately 18,300 acres (7,400 hectares) out of 33,500 acres in total.
Merlot with 51,900 acres (21,000 hectares) and Zinfandel with 47,000 acres (19,000 hectares) are both pretty stable whereas Syrah with 22,200 acres (9,000 hectares) is growing, just like in the rest of the world. Trendy Pinot Gris has increased at an enormous speed over the last 10 years and is now planted on 19,800 acres (8,000 hectares).
Top 10 wine grapes in the US
Chardonnay (w) 106,000 acres (43,000 ha) Cabernet Sauvignon (r) 101,300 acres (41,000 ha) Pinot Noir (r) 61,800 acres (25,000 ha) Merlot (r) 51,900 acres (21,000 ha) Zinfandel (r) 47,000 acres (19,000 ha) Syrah (r) 22,200 acres (9,000 ha) Pinot Gris (w) 19,800 acres (8,000 ha) French Colombard (w) 19,700 (8,000 ha) Sauvignon blanc (w) Rubired (crossing between Tinta Cão and Alicante Ganzin with pigmented juice)
California is, of course, by far the most important US wine region with 80-90% of the total US production.
Old vine Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, France, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The Top 10 white grapes in California
Chardonnay 93,400 acres (37,800 ha) French Colombard 18,900 acres (7,600 ha) Pinot Gris 16,800 acres (6,800 ha) Sauvignon Blanc 14,800 acres (6,000 ha) Chenin Blanc 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) Muscat of Alexandria 4,600 acres (1,800 ha) White Riesling 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) Muscat Blanc 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) Viognier 2,700 acres (1,100 ha) Gewurztraminer 1,600 acres (650 ha)
Bunches of ripe grapes, Cabernet Franc, Loire, France, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The Top 10 red grapes in California
Cabernet Sauvignon 91,800 acres (37,000 ha) Pinot Noir 45,300 acres (18,300 ha) Zinfandel 43,200 acres (17,500 ha) Merlot 39,800 acres (16,100 ha) Syrah 16,400 acres (6,600 ha) Rubired 11,500 acres (4,600 ha) Petite Sirah 11,400 acres (4,600 ha) Barbera 4,800 acres (1,950 ha) Ruby Cabernet (crossing between Cab Sauv and Carignan) 4,700 acres (1,900 ha) Grenache 4,400 acres (1,780 ha)
Looking for something else? Petit Verdot has seen a huge increase in recent years, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre are coming strong. Among the whites, some of our favourites - Vermentino, Verdelho, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc - can all be found albeit, so far, on small acreages.
(Statistics from OIV, Oregon Wine Board and California Wine Institute.)
—Britt Karlsson
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b72e459de2945f287542bedb6fc210da | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2021/01/23/spanish-priorat-earns-prestige-thanks-to-entrepreneurial-winemakers/?sh=58659afcd146 | Spanish Priorat Earns Prestige Thanks To Entrepreneurial Winemakers | Spanish Priorat Earns Prestige Thanks To Entrepreneurial Winemakers
I tasted the wine blind, just before dinner was served. I tasted dark berries and some spices; the wine was powerful, fresh and lively. My guess was a 2016, maybe from the Rhône Valley. It turned out to be a Priorat from Spain, vintage 1998. I wasn’t disheartened; more amazed that the wine felt so young.
Not all wine regions have the advantage of having been known and appreciated for centuries, such as Bordeaux and Burgundy. It may seem impossible that other wine regions could ever reach the same standing. But it happens. A good example is Priorat in Spanish Catalonia. (Priorat is the Catalan name. In Spanish – Castilian – it is called Priorato.)
Priorat has an excellent reputation in the international wine world today. It is the only Spanish wine region, apart from Rioja, to have the superior DOCa, Denominación de Origen Calificada, in Catalan DOQ (for qualificada). Some Priorat wines are extremely sought after, and the prices are high even though it varies a lot between producers.
Terraced vineyards on the mountains in Priorat, Catalonia, Spain, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Priorat managed to reach the top in just 30 years thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of a few producers. They did not create a new wine region. They changed something that already existed.
Priorat is tucked away in the Tarragona region’s mountains, about 100 kilometres southwest of Barcelona. The name comes from the monastery Priorat de Scala Dei (Ladder of God), built in the 12th century. The legend says that a shepherd boy saw an angel descending from a heavenly ladder right here. The monks began to grow wine. They made robust, dark and, it is said, rather austere wines.
Scala Dei village and monastery, Priorato, Catalonia, Spain, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
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The wine estate called Cellars de Scala Dei was founded in the 19th century and had some success internationally with its wines. But the wine louse (phylloxera)
at the end of the 19th century forced the owners to give up. It was not until 1973 that work on the estate was resumed. At that time there were only a few wine producers in Priorat. The wines did not attract much attention. But in the late 1980s, things started to happen in the small town of Gratallops, now a hub of sorts in Priorat.
A small group of enthusiastic growers with ambitions decided to show what you can do in Priorat. They knew there was potential here. Some of them had already been in Priorat for a few years. They decided to work together in a kind of cooperative way. The aim was to make high-quality wines. They would call their wines “Clos” Something, to distinguish them from the traditional Priorat wines.
Terraced vineyards on the hillside in Priorat, Catalonia, Spain, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
They restored old terraced vineyards, built by the monks many hundreds of years ago. They planted French grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and syrah. They blended them with old vine Garnacha and kept the yields down. Long and warm extraction and a large proportion of new oak gave additional concentration. The wines were rich and powerful, often with alcohol levels up to 15% and a hefty dose of tannins and vanilla.
These characteristics appealed to many wine consumers. After a few years, everyone in the wine business was talking about Priorat. Towards the end of the 1990s Priorat was world famous.
Among the pioneers were Álvaro Palacios, soon to be a celebrity, with Clos Dofi and Clos l’Ermita, Rene Barbier with Clos Mogador, Daphne Glorian with Clos Erasmus, José Luis Pérez with Clos Martinet and Carles Pastrana with Clos de l’Obac. They are all still around, although the cooperative ideas died out rather quickly and some of them dropped the “clos” (Clos Dofi is now Finca Dofi, Clos l’Ermita only l’Ermita, Clos Martinet is Mas Martinet).
Terraced vineyards on the hillside in Priorat, Catalonia, Spain, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Today, 109 wineries in Priorat make their own wine. There are also around 500 growers who mostly sell their grapes to cooperatives or to bigger estates. The total area is almost 5,000 acres (just over 2000 hectares).
The landscape is striking. The vines grow mainly on difficult-to-work slopes of grey and black slate, a soil called llicorella. The slopes are often steep; the gradient can reach 60%. Terraces have been built in places where the slopes are steepest, sometimes with no more than two rows of vines per terrace. It is expensive to produce wine here because of the difficulties to mechanize. The summers are hot, and the winters are cold. In January this year (2021), there was half a meter of snow.
Barranc dels Closos 1998 from Mas Igneus, Priorat, Catalonia, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The most cultivated grapes are Garnacha (Garnatxa in Catalan) and Carinyena (Carignan in France and Mazuelo elsewhere in Spain), Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot. The rare white Priorat wines are made from only 300 acres. The grapes are mainly Garnacha Blanca and Macabeu.
The wines are still powerful, compact and dense, but the amount of new oak is now lower. The wines age well, just like my 1998 above. The wine, by the way, was a Barranc dels Closos 1998 from the excellent producer Mas Igneus.
Some Priorat growers to look for: Gran Clos, Mas Igneus, Clos Figueras, Mas Doix, Celler Vall Lach, Buil et Giné, Mas d’en Gil, Clos i Terrasses (Daphne Glorian), Clos Mogador, Mas Martinet.
—Britt Karlsson
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e3f1c1995f19ce59eb3f0e5e0f31328f | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2021/02/24/small-wine--soul-challenging-the-big-port-wine-houses/ | Small ‘Wine & Soul’ Challenging The Big Port Wine Houses | Small ‘Wine & Soul’ Challenging The Big Port Wine Houses
The Douro Valley in Portugal has changed. 30 years ago, it was all about port wines, all about big houses with internationally famous names. But in the 1990s, things started to change; a new generation of winemakers appeared. They made not only port wine but also excellent red and white dry (unfortified) Douro wines. Soon these wines were considered some of the best, maybe the best, in Portugal.
In 2001, Sandra Tavares da Silva created the successful company Wine & Soul with her husband, Jorge Borges. “This was a good time to start”, she says, “there were a lot of new projects happening.”
One reason for all the activity was that new rules, introduced in 1986, when Portugal became a member of the EU, made it easier for small producers to produce and to export their port wines. Sandra and Jorge make port, but it was never their primary focus.
Sandra Tavares, co-owner and co-winemaker at Wine & Soul in the Douro Valley, Portugal, copyright ... [+] BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
“We wanted to show that the Douro Valley can produce top quality dry red wine”, says Sandra. “At the time, people only knew port wines.”
“We are both from wine families,” explains Sandra, “Jorge is a fifth-generation winemaker in the Douro, and I am the fourth generation, but from the south of Portugal, close to Lisbon.”
When they met and decided that they wanted to make wine together, they both worked as winemakers for other Douro producers (and they still are actually). “The idea was to just to make a wine together, to learn, we didn’t have the idea to make a company like this.
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The company has grown, step by step. They bought an old port lodge in the small village of Vale de Mendiz, a few kilometres from Pinhão, across the river. Their first vineyard was Pintas, 3.7 acres of old vines. Now, 20 years later, they make eight different wines and olive oil.
Vale de Mendiz, where you find Wine & Soul in the Douro Valley, Portugal, copyright BKWine ... [+] Photography BKWine Photography
“Pintas is a field blend, so it is a vineyard with an amazing diversity; around 40 different grape varieties grow together. We don’t know exactly how many; we are still identifying some of them,” says Sandra.
“We wanted to work with old vines, vines with long roots, for the balance. We also wanted south-west exposure to have a good ripening. We work traditionally with the grapes foot trodden in stone lagares although 2020 unfortunately we couldn’t [due to corona restrictions].”
Here’s a short video with the incredible landscape in the Douro Valley:
“Pintas has a very strong personality”, says Sandra. I agree; it has. Pintas 2017 is like an explosion of herbal and minty notes on the palate. But it is still very balanced, very fragrant, with black currants, liquorice, spices, a lovely texture and structure and vibrant acidity. A beautiful wine, drinking well now. (~115 USD approx. US retail price | Note: all prices have been updated in this text from previously prices at the winery to now approximate US retail prices).
Pintas is very successful but always made in minimal quantities, around 6,000 bottles, as the vineyard is only 3.7 acres. Sandra and Jorge wanted to add a wine in the same style as Pintas, but with bigger volume.
Wine & Soul Pintas, Quinta da Manoella VV and Pintas Character, from the Douro Valley, Portugal, ... [+] copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
So, Pintas Character was born, made with grapes from vineyards around the one giving Pintas. It is also a field blend; the vines are on average 50 years old, and it is also foot trodden in lagares. The wine spends 18 months in oak barrels. It is powerful but elegant with intense, concentrated fruit aromas. (~37 USD)
The portfolio has grown even more. Quinta da Manoella is an estate in the Pinhão Valley that belongs to Jorge’s family since 1838. Its 148 acres include 98 acres of cork oak forest and olive trees. From the Manoella vineyards, Jorge and Sandra make two reds and one white wine.
Quinta da Manoella VV is from a field blend of 120-year-old vines. VV stands for vinhas velhas, old vines in Portuguese. It is a superb wine with concentration, a dense texture and, as always in the wines from Wine & Soul, a refreshing acidity. (~115 USD)
Manoella Red 2018 is easy-drinking, easy to enjoy, light and fruity, with aromas of dark berries and liquorice. The grapes are 60 % Touriga Nacional, 25 % Touriga Franca, 10 % Tinta Roriz, 5 % Tinta Francisca. It is not a field blend, but the grapes ferment together. (~22 USD)
Wine & Soul Guru and Manoella, from the Douro Valley, Portugal, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The white Manoella Branco 2019 is also a field blend with 50-year-old vines, mainly local grapes such as Rabigato, Codega de Larinho and Viosinho. The soil is granite, whereas, in the Douro, it usually is schist for the red wines and the port wines. The alcohol is only 11,5 %, and it is very fresh and crisp, light and elegant with aromas of citrus, melon and white flowers. It has personality and is excellent value for money. (~22 USD)
Guru White 2019 is a more full-bodied white. The wine ferments in used French oak barrels and is aged for eight months in the barrels with some batonnage (stirring of the lees). It has a lovely, full-bodied texture, refreshing citrus aromas and some notes of honey. (~45 USD)
Port wine was not their focal point to start with. “But”, says Sandra, “it would be a pity not to produce port”. They make two, a 10-year-old tawny and a vintage port, both amazing wines.
The Pinhao village on the Douro River, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
As the demand for port wines has decreased, the interest among the growers to make dry unfortified wines have increased. The area has excellent conditions for producing high-quality dry wines. And I bet some growers are happy not to have to deal with the many rules surrounding the port wine production and the long ageing that many port wines require.
But thanks to dynamic growers such as Wine & Soul and others, the port wines are gaining new customers. “People that normally only buy our dry Douro wines become curious about our port wines after a while” says Sandra. So everybody wins in the end.
—Britt Karlsson
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31698325567129bca920e15e613c9a30 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2021/03/05/clos-de-los-siete-the-story-behind-the-successful-argentinean-brand-created-by-celebrity-consultant-michel-rolland/ | Clos De Los Siete, The Story Behind The Successful Argentinean Brand Created By Celebrity Consultant Michel Rolland | Clos De Los Siete, The Story Behind The Successful Argentinean Brand Created By Celebrity Consultant Michel Rolland
Michel Rolland, the world-famous French wine consultant, went to Argentina in 1988 to taste the wines. He was not overly enthusiastic. Nevertheless, he somehow got “caught”. And he helped change Argentinean wines and paved the way for their triumphs on the export markets some ten years later. Along the way, he bought land in Uco Valley in southern Mendoza. Now he turns out one million bottles a year of the successful brand Clos de los Siete. Here’s the story.
We “meet” Michel Rolland on zoom mid-February. He is still in France but is off to Argentina that very evening; his first trip to the country in a year.
Dramatic landscape in Mendoza with vineyards at the foot of the Andes, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Michel Rolland came to Argentina for the first time in 1988. A lot has changed since then. “When I arrived, the taste of the wines was not my taste”, he admits. “The Argentineans’ taste was not the world’s taste at the end of the 1980s. That was why they were not successful in the export market.”
But he saw the potential. He formed a partnership with a wine producer in Cafayate in the northwest of Argentina. He started consulting at a number of wineries in the country. Gradually the wines in the country changed and improved. Maybe not only thanks to Michel Rolland, but he had considerable influence.
What needed to change? “Almost everything”, he says, “except Malbec. We kept Malbec and planted a lot more of it. We had seen that Malbec was adapted to the climate and the situation close to the Andes.”
Malbec vines in a vineyards in Mendoza, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
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By the beginning of the 2000s, the export figures had increased dramatically. “20 years after, we are happy”, says Michel.
By 1996 he had started looking around for someplace to make his own wine in Argentina. He ended up in the Uco Valley, the southern part of Mendoza. At the time, Uco Valley was not as successful as it is today. Michel chose Uco Valley for many reasons.
“I like the soil, and it is an exceptional, beautiful area. Mendoza is at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, and Uco Valley is at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, so I think it is better. The temperature is less aggressive at this altitude. We were looking for around 300 acres of vineyards. But we discovered this property of 2100 acres.”
The wild landscape in the Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
Realizing it was too big, he looked for investors and invited friends from France. They ended up being seven families involved in the project. “I wanted to develop a brand on this land. We started the project Clos de los Siete.”
The concept is unusual. The seven families would independently make their own wines in their own wineries, and together they would make the wine labelled Clos de los Siete. Everyone would contribute wines to the brand, which Michel would then blend. “And the blend is always better than the individual wines”, he says modestly.
Today, four estates are giving wines to the Clos de los Siete brand: the family Parent in Bodegas y Vinedos Monteviejo, the family Cuvelier at Cuvelier los Andes (also owners of Château Léoville-Poyferré in Bordeaux), the family Bonnie at Bodega Diamandes (also owners of Château Malartic-Lagravière in Bordeaux), and, of course, Bodega Rolland.
Michel Rolland, wine consultant from Bordeaux, on Zoom, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
The first vintage of Clos de los Siete was 2002. Michel explains: “To make 100% malbec, that was not a great idea. Even now, I don’t think it is a good idea. I believe a blend is better. We decided to have 50% Malbec, the king of the region, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Syrah.”
They began from scratch and planted these proportions. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot have been added since. Clos de los Siete is always around 50 % Malbec, and the other varieties can change slightly.
Oaky wines may be unfashionable today. But Michel stresses the importance of oak. “Wine needs oak”, he says firmly. But he only uses 20% new oak.
Another essential aspect for Michel is the fact that Clos de los Siete is an estate wine. “We don’t buy grapes. We make one million bottles of an estate wine. It is not so common to produce so much wine with your own grapes”.
Aerial view of the landscape in the Uco Valley, with vineyards and the Andes, copyright BKWine ... [+] Photography BKWine Photography
The idea of Clos de los Siete is to make an approachable wine to drink young at a reasonable price. It retails for 20 USD. The USA is the biggest export market and takes 30 % of the total production.
It is not a wine you need to keep for years and years. “However, some years turn out that way”, Michel points out. “The newly released 2017 vintage has more concentration and tannins. 2017 was an interesting vintage, a special year with excellent quality and a slightly lower yield than normal.”
Although the climate is mostly warm and dry, there are vintage variations and climatic hazards in Mendoza. One problem is the hail, the reason why you see so many nets on the vines in Mendoza.
“When we were looking where to plant, we thought about the hail. We asked older people living in the area; they said this place up to [the town of] Vista Flores, there is rarely any hail. That was certainly part of our decision to choose this region. In fact, we planted in 1999, we are in 2021, and we have had hail storms two times.”
One was in 2011, and after that, some of the families started using hail nets, but mainly on plots devoted to their ultra-premium and icon wines. Michel didn’t, however. He says he can support one hailstorm every ten years. “2011 was a great vintage, one of the best we ever did. But we only made half of the regular production, 450 000 bottles.”
When you choose a location for a vineyard in Mendoza, the first thing you ask yourself is, does it have access to water? Without water for irrigation, you will not make wine in Mendoza. The water comes from the Andes, and everywhere you see small canals that lead the water to the various vineyards.
Clos de los Siete by Michel Rolland, Argentina 2017, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography
With the irrigation water, the wine producers control the vigor and the yield. “The water regime is important”, says Michel. “Malbec needs more water than Cabernet Franc. When it is too vigorous, it is not so interesting. So, we slow down the irrigation, whereas with Malbec if you don’t give it enough water, it will not turn out well. In other parts of the world, it is not so easy.”
Michel Rolland is still the president, he is still tasting and still making decisions, but the new generation, among them Michel’s daughter, is the hands-on people today. “The new generation is managing, they are already 40-50, but still, that is a perfect situation. They still accept me to taste; maybe they will fire me, we’ll see.” He doesn’t seem overly worried, though.
My tasting comments:
Clos des los Siete 2017
Fruity, with lots of dark berries, combined with soft and smooth tannins, a little bit of oak and cedarwood in the background. Easy drinking, yes, but with structure.
Clos des los Siete 2015
Fresh and nicely structured, some tannins, tobacco aromas, discreet oak. Mature aromas emerging.
Clos de los Siete 2011
Quite full-bodied body and plenty of tasty dark berries and ripe fruit. Soft and pleasant tannins.
US retail price for a current vintage is around 20 USD.
—Britt Karlsson
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1b0539bbcc6e90385b50d655ecc7347d | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsun/2017/12/18/how-to-create-a-culture-of-gratitude-in-the-workplace/ | How To Create A Culture Of Gratitude In The Workplace | How To Create A Culture Of Gratitude In The Workplace
With the holidays in full swing, it’s easy to think of reasons you’re grateful. But what happens when the lights come down, the Christmas trees sit discarded on the side of the road, and the New Year’s resolutions diets begin? Suddenly, it’s not so easy anymore. Instead, you’ve got an office full of employees with post-vacation blues.
Here at Lucid, we’ve tried to foster gratitude in the workplace, regardless of the time of year. And not just one-off displays of gratitude here and there but an ongoing culture. According to UC Davis psychology professor and author Robert Emmons, gratitude is a basic human requirement—and since we spend most of our waking hours at the office, giving and receiving thanks at work becomes pretty important. And don’t forget the science-backed benefits of gratitude—it increases productivity, job satisfaction, and physical and mental health.
Here’s a quick look at what I’ve learned along Lucid’s journey to a culture of gratitude—and hopefully other executive teams can use our journey as an example to help shape their own cultures.
1. Lead by example: A culture of gratitude starts from the top. If leadership takes the time to recognize the modest acts that can so easily go unnoticed throughout the company, it encourages others to do the same. People might feel uncomfortable calling out the sometimes seemingly insignificant things people do. But it’s a snowball effect—the more you express gratitude, the more natural and almost subconscious it becomes.
2. Make it specific: Try to avoid blanket expressions of gratitude—say thank you for something specific. Here at Lucid, we are big fans of diagrams. This year, we created a company-wide gratitude flowchart as a gift for employees. It contains a personal note of gratitude for every single employee from their manager. Each note contains specifics on what that employee contributes to Lucid. Calling out the specifics means so much more.
This holiday, each employee received a copy of our gratitude flowchart. Lucid
3. Do it daily: Gratitude needs to be authentic. If you stand up at the company meeting once a quarter and rattle off a scripted thank you, your employees will see right through that half-hearted attempt, and it’s not going to mean much. So instead make it a daily habit. Set a goal to thank someone for something specific each day. When you take the time to go out of your way to do so, people will know you are genuine, and you’ll see significant improvements to company morale.
4. Look for humility: “Teamwork Over Ego” is painted on a wall at our new building. Teamwork over ego is one of our core values, and it means our employees always acknowledge that the success they achieve is never something they accomplish alone. It comes down to humility, and that is a trait I look for when recruiting and hiring. We want our employees to consistently recognize and thank those who play a part in their achievements. Teamwork over ego is crucial to our culture here at Lucid and is something we have consciously fostered and are proud of.
We value teamwork over ego. Lucid
5. Give back: We try and provide ample opportunities for employees to give back in order to express gratitude for the privileges we enjoy as a company. Some of our employees give up their lunch breaks to participate in the Meals on Wheels program. Others are heavily involved in STEM initiatives, such as Code for Success. Each year we participate in the Silicon Slopes Startup Santa program.
In addition to these formal programs, we try to let employees come up with their own initiatives. When Hurricane Harvey hit, one of our employees put together a fundraiser for the families of employees who had been impacted. Lucid matched the donations, raising over $20K. A culture of gratitude helps people realize how truly fortunate they are and instills a desire to pay that forward.
6. Recognize the big and small: It’s easy to take note of new product features or the latest closed deals, but it’s much harder to pick out the employee who took on an extra project for a sick co-worker or the office manager who spent her weekend hand-cutting Halloween decorations to put up Monday morning. But all of the above should be recognized. Be aware that gratitude for the smaller actions often needs to be encouraged at the team level. We ask our managers to constantly be aware of how they can recognize the behind-the-scenes actions—one strategy we have found helpful is providing gift cards that managers can distribute to team members.
7. Have the conversation: You have to start somewhere, and sometimes that means just having the conversation at your organization to highlight that a shift in culture is needed. I give full credit to our People Operations team for getting the ball rolling at Lucid. They came to me and suggested that we thank people more for the big and small acts, and from there, we started developing ways to make this possible. The progress we have made towards our culture of gratitude is because of their decision to bring it to attention.
8. Provide avenues for gratitude: A culture of gratitude isn’t built in a day. But you can help it gain traction by making it easy for employees to express their thanks. They can be simple gestures—our office managers keep thank you cards available at the front desk for anyone to use (because a handwritten note means worlds more than an email). We send cards for birthdays, weddings, and other life events—demonstrating that you care about an employee’s personal life indicates your gratitude for them in the workplace.
Our People Ops team created a Slack channel called “Fist Bumps” where employees can publicly call out co-workers’ demonstrations of hard work, teamwork, etc., and once a month, we have a fist bump winner who receives a gift card. The channel encourages employees to pay attention to what goes on around them as they look for specific actions to recognize. Participation in the channel continues to grow.
At the larger level, we have our “Lucidite of the Quarter” program. Employees nominate individuals who they feel exhibit our core values, and executives pick one Lucidite per quarter to receive the traveling trophy and cash bonus at company update. When our office manager won, she received a standing ovation. I know it helped everyone realize just how much she does to keep the company running behind the scenes—all the early mornings, late nights, and weekends. The award helps employees to take a moment to stop and reflect on whom they are grateful for and why.
9. Don’t just recognize, but thank: Let people take ownership of projects, but don’t forget about the follow-up. And although it might seem obvious, don’t just recognize someone for what they accomplished—actually express gratitude for all the work they put into it.
10. Take time to reflect: Sometimes the key to being grateful is simply slowing down. Stop running around long enough to think about how you got to where you are. As soon as you do so, you’ll realize pretty quickly all the help you’ve had. It’s easy to lose sight of that when you get caught up in the day-to-day grind.
Get a jumpstart on your culture of gratitude now—while there’s still ample gingerbread, candy canes, and Mariah Carey to go around. That way, even after the holiday hype fades, you can keep it going, one thank you at a time.
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a006cf9150f7eee42665ae781bddfd09 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlulrich/2016/11/15/elevator-pitch-of-the-month-movewith/ | Elevator Pitch Of The Month: Movewith | Elevator Pitch Of The Month: Movewith
Each month, you'll hear from an exciting startup founder I interviewed on my radio show, Launch Pad. This month, I spoke with Holly Shelton, co-founder of Movewith.
Elevator Pitch: Movewith helps fitness instructors build personal brands and thriving careers both in the studio and beyond.
Listen to Shelton give her pitch here!
Shelton says: “When you look at a fitness instructor, typically they pull together a somewhat meager living teaching at 3+ studios and have very little control over what they teach, when they teach, and the relationship--and ownership of that relationship--with their students. What Movewith does is give them the tools to both grow and rally their communities every single time they teach and to create their own fitness offerings in the studio and beyond the studio. For the movers--this is what we call the end-users--this is a network for you to find and connect with the best fitness instructors in your city.”
The idea for Movewith originally came from Holly’s own desire to find great fitness instructors to keep her moving--then once she met the instructors, she started to understand how difficult it is for them to have a thriving career doing what they love. Movewith solves both of these problems, by giving instructors a central platform to get the word out about their classes, and students a place to find the classes they want, and a community that motivates them to keep exercising.
In this excerpt from Launch Pad, Holly explains this personal journey, as well as the good business sense that led her to, as Karl puts it, find “a technological opportunity to dramatically redistribute the value .”
Bonus: As a former Apple employee, Holly’s in a position to answer a question that’s been bothering me for years: does Apple really not talk to customers? You have to listen to find out.
Want even more? You can hear the full interview here.
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fdf63e027609e11539a3d1955339a17f | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/06/29/eurosummit-much-ado-about-something/ | Eurosummit: Much Ado About Something? | Eurosummit: Much Ado About Something?
The market reaction to today's Eurosummit (announcement here) has been positive. Stock markets are up and, more importantly, government bond yields have fallen for countries such as Ireland and Spain.
It's easy to be cynical and imagine that this will be followed by the now-familiar reversal after markets realize that the measures proposed at the summit fall short of what is required. Still, in this case, I think there are some reasons to think that genuinely positive steps are being taken.
Europe's politicians regularly get maligned on the grounds that "they just don't get it" and need to act faster. At this point, I'm pretty sure that all of Europe's senior politicians realize how serious the problems are. Producing a solution is incredibly hard, however, because the euro area faces a series of interlocking problems. Taken together, these problems will require politically controversial resolutions if the euro is to survive.
A Debt Problem: Everyone knows that the Euro area has a debt problem. Even my eight-year-old daughter asked me yesterday who was responsible for the "the debt crisis". What is less well known is that the Euro area as a whole has a smaller debt-GDP ratio than the US and other countries with low government bond yields. However, these countries also have access to their own central banks, which can purchase government bonds during a crisis and thus rule out default. The ECB is forbidden direct purchases of government bonds and its key decision-makers aren't too fond of their "Securities Market Program" of purchasing bonds on the secondary market because they view it as too close to breaking the spirit of the "no monetary financing" clause.
A Growth Problem: The debt burdens in Europe's periphery wouldn't look so bad if these economies were growing at a decent rate, so that budget deficits could fall without more austerity. However, the growth performance of the euro area as a whole has been terrible for a long time. Even before the crisis, I published some research bemoaning how the euro area had grown at a slower pace in each successive decade since the 1960s. And Europe's peripheral economies have a series of factors holding back growth. They lost competitiveness during the boom and are running current account deficits when they need to run surpluses if they are to pay down both public and private debt. They have no exchange rate to devalue and no room to boost domestic demand via fiscal policy. European policy-makers continually talk of "structural reforms" that will boost growth rates but the reality is they have little idea which of these reforms can boost growth or whether they can do so soon enough to actually help resolve the crisis.
A Banking Problem: Years of poor growth and can-kicking have meant that Europe's banking system is under-capitalised. With European politicians unwilling to inflict losses on bank creditors and private investors unwilling to invest in risky banks, each member state has had to take on the burden of recapitalizing its own banks. Those countries that have gone through the biggest boom-bust cycles (Ireland and Spain) have had their national sovereignty threatened by banking-related costs. As confidence that the debt-burdened economies can remain in the euro has begun to wane, peripheral banks are now also seeing large-scale withdrawals as people move their money to Germany to avoid it being re-denominated into a lower-value currency. At present, these withdrawals are being financed by loans from the Eurosystem of Central Banks but this problem has the potential to spin out of control.
These interlocking economic problems have created a cottage industry of think-tank reports and academic op-eds aimed at providing a coherent set of solutions. However, most of these roadmaps involve moving towards federal risk-sharing institutions and these ideas are usually politically unpopular.
Governments from countries with debt problems advocate for shared euro bonds, euro-wide deposit insurance and bank resolution funds. But they are not keen on sharing the joint responsibility for fiscal and banking matters that these types of shared solutions would require. Think tank reports call for automatic fiscal stabilizers to help out Euro area states in times of difficulty but Germany fears these will lead to permanent ongoing transfers. Academics often point out the need to loosen the mandate of the ECB to allow for a period of higher inflation to assist with reducing debt burdens and restoring growth in the periphery. But core European countries are wedded to the need for hard-money policies.
Ultimately, most of the great plans to save the euro run into the political reality that the European "man in the street" is not fond of the idea of a European federal state nor are there shared values about the importance of restoring growth relative to maintaining price stability.
Against that background, how do we assess today's summit announcement? Well, surprisingly good would be my take, particularly relative to many of the previous summits.
First and most important, the communique accepts that it is "imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns", which is a crucial recognition. Direct recapitalizations from the European Stabilization Mechanism will diffuse the risk associated with banking problems around the euro area. Progress in this area was crucial and the heads of government are to be commended for delivering.
Second, the statement suggests that the joint European funds, the EFSF and the new ESM, will direct their resources at purchasing Spanish and Italian government bonds. This moves us one step closer to the kind of "monetary backstop" that countries such as the US and UK have and which allows them to borrow at low rates.
Third, there is an increasing acceptance of the need for policies that stimulate growth. While the new measures discussed in the summit's conclusions (more capital for the European Investment Bank, project bonds, spending unused structural funds) are limited, they may be a sign the slow-moving juggernaut that is the European Council is finally moving on the right track.
Of course, one can level criticisms at the latest decisions. In particular, it is hard to see how the ESM will have sufficient resources to do everything that is being asked of it (recap banks, save Spain and Italy and who knows what else). But that leaves the issue of ESM resources to be settled at a future late-night nail-biter.
UK euro-skeptics have long-likened their decision not to join the euro as equivalent to a decision not to buy a ticket for the Titanic. The ship may still be heading for the iceberg but today may be the date when the captains started steering in the right direction.
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92e37425a2347f9b1552fa0a2d14b266 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/07/22/the-secret-tool-draghi-uses-to-run-europe/ | The Secret Tool Draghi Uses to Run Europe | The Secret Tool Draghi Uses to Run Europe
When the ECB eased off on its Italian bond purchases, yields rose to dangerously high levels and... [+] Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was forced to quit.
Everyone knows central banks are powerful. When I used to visit Alan Greenspan’s office back when I worked for the Fed, he had a sign that said “The buck starts here.” As powerful tools go, there’s nothing that quite beats the power to print money.
So it goes without saying that ECB President Mario Draghi is powerful. He decides how much money is printed in Europe and what the cost of borrowing that money will be. But dig deeper and you’ll find that the ECB exerts far more control over events in Europe than the Fed does in the US.
For example, the ECB played a key role in the downfall of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Since 2010, the ECB has had a program in which it can buy government bonds to help lower a country’s cost of funding. When Italy’s bond yields rose to dangerously high levels in August 2011, the ECB intervened to buy Italian bonds but also sent a letter to Berlusconi demanding budget cuts and far-reaching reforms. When Berlusconi failed to act with sufficient haste, the ECB eased off on its bond purchases, yields rose again to dangerously high levels and Berlusconi was forced to quit.
More obscure than the bond-buying program but far more powerful is the little-known “risk control framework”. Normally, the ECB is willing to provide loans to banks as long as they can pledge assets that are listed on its “eligible collateral list”. However, the risk control framework allows the ECB to deny credit to any bank or reject any assets as collateral should it see fit. Specifically:
the Eurosystem may suspend or exclude counterparties’ access to monetary policy instruments on the grounds of prudence
and
the Eurosystem may also reject assets, limit the use of assets or apply supplementary haircuts to assets submitted as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations by specific counterparties.
The ECB has used the risk-control framework to control events at a number of key junctures in the euro crisis.
Ireland: In late 2010, the Irish banks were under severe stress. With international depositors pulling their money out, the banks became heavily dependent on the ECB for funding. The Irish government has sufficient cash on hand to finance the country for about nine more months and was not seeking funds from the EU or IMF. The ECB, however, was unhappy with the banking situation and decided Ireland should apply for program funds to sort out the banks. So, after clearing their throats by revising the risk control framework with Ireland in mind, the framework was put to devastating use. Faced with ECB threats to withdraw funding and thus trigger a full-scale banking meltdown, Ireland quickly agreed to enter an EU-IMF program.
Spain: By late May of this year, it had become clear to all that Spain’s banks needed substantial recapitalization, starting with Bankia, a recently-created conglomerate of a number of cajas. The Spanish government decided that its preferred method for recapitalizing Bankia was to directly provide it with Spanish government bonds. This approach is perfectly legal and would have been approved by Spain’s banking regulators. However, the ECB didn’t like this approach and effectively vetoed it. What gave it such a power of veto? The risk control framework. ECB could simply threaten to refuse credit to Bankia thus triggering the type of crisis the recapitalization plans were attempting to avoid. Since Spain could not raise the sums involved, this decision effectively forced Spain to apply to the EU for aid with recapitalising its banks.
Leveraging the EFSF\ESM: Perhaps the most powerful suggestion for easing the sovereign debt crisis has been Daniel Gros and Thomas Meyer’s proposal to provide Europe’s bailout funds with a banking licence, thus allowing them to borrow from the ECB. This ESM bank could potentially purchase trillions of euros worth of government bonds and its existence would provide Italy and Spain with the kind of “bond buyer of last resort” that the Fed has provided for the US government and the Bank of England has provided for the UK government.
However, this plan currently stands little chance of getting off the ground because the ECB opposes it. Now you might argue that the EU can go ahead and give its bailout funds a banking licence anyway and indeed they could do just that. But, by now, you know the tool that Mister Draghi can use to undermine this plan: The risk control framework. The ECB can simply refuse to accept the ESM bank as an "eligible counterparty".
All told, the story of ECB’s serial use of its risk control framework raises pretty serious questions about whether it is has been a good idea for Europe to provide this much power to a single unaccountable institution.
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8a5d915c5093776ea5ff8efac9b44890 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/04/some-saturday-euro-crisis-readings/ | Some Saturday Euro Crisis Readings | Some Saturday Euro Crisis Readings
This week was dominated by Thursday’s ECB Governing Council meeting and Mario Draghi’s subsequent press conference. Financial markets initially hated Draghi’s comments. But by Friday, they seemed to have come around to FT Alphaville’s Joseph Cotterill’s view that it wasn’t so bad. A clear lesson for market participants: Read Joseph Cotterill!
For two balanced views on where things stand, see the Economist’s Charlemange: Draghi drags it out and Re-Define’s Sony Kapoor: The ECB gives a tiny glimmer of hope, not more!
My own views on the press conference were also mixed: Positive that some progress has been made on bond-buying but worried about the pace of this progress and disappointed by the continuing dismissals of the ESM bank licence proposal.
A more negative viewpoint on where we stand comes from a surprising source: Dan O’Brien of the Irish Times. Dan is a former European Commission official and a great supporter of the European project. However, he argues in his latest column that The death of the euro is more likely than its survival.
An important document that I came across this week is Forbearance, resolution and deposit insurance, a report by the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). Despite the group’s Orwellian-sounding name, the report is short and well-written. The committee features many of Europe’s leading academic specialists in the areas of banking and finance. This ESRB is chaired by Mario Draghi and it is possible that his recent change of policy on the question of bailing out senior bond holders may stem from the advice of this group.
Finally, Daniel Gros’s Why Eurobonds are Un-American digs a bit deeper into the comparison of Eurobond proposals with the sharing of US state debt organized by Alexander Hamilton. This often-cited historical precedent only goes so far.
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0b8b9a9ca7d4bbf3bc6a060877fb49c7 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/13/europes-needs-to-change-its-disastrous-policy-on-greece-heres-why-and-how/ | For Wrong-Headed Reasons, E.U. Leaders Are Leaning Toward A Greek Exit | For Wrong-Headed Reasons, E.U. Leaders Are Leaning Toward A Greek Exit
An old Greek drachma bill is seen on top of modern Euro note (Image credit: Getty Images Europe via... [+] @daylife)
It is becoming increasingly clear that Europe’s leaders are now planning for a Greek exit from the euro. The current policy approach towards Greece appears to be based on three ideas.
First is the idea that Greece’s politicians continually fail to deliver progress (the “false Greek promises” referred to here).
Second, is the idea that European taxpayers cannot be expected to keep funding huge deficits that allow the Greek government to continue with reckless spending (“Germany has reached the limits of what it can bear" and further assistance for Greece is “like pouring water into the desert”).
Third is the idea that a Greek exit will be manageable. Indeed many believe a Greek exit will be necessary for the euro to survive, with Bavarian finance minister Markus Söder saying out loud what many believe, that Greece "must become an example demonstrating that this euro zone also has teeth.”
For all their popularity, each of these ideas is incorrect and the policy they are leading towards risks an economic disaster.
Take the first, widely-held, idea that Greek politicians have failed to make progress. Here is the IMF’s latest report on Greece. Check out Table A1 on page 93. Greece’s primary deficit—the gap between non-interest spending and revenues—fell from 10.6 percent of GDP in 2009 to 2.4 percent in 2011, a decline of 8.2 percent of GDP. For comparison, the UK—currently going through a wide-ranging public debate on the effects of “austerity”—saw its primary deficit decline by only 1.8 percent of GDP over the same period.
The extent of public sector cuts are eye-popping: Spending on public sector wages is set to be down 23 percent this year relative to 2009; spending on social benefits is down 12 percent; capital spending is down 40 percent. Without doubt, the Greek economy has many flaws and its weak tax collection regime is justifiably notorious. But the fact remains that Greece’s politicians have imposed enormous austerity over the past few years and they and the Greek people deserve better than to be insulted in European newspapers every day of the week.
Let’s look at the second idea, that Europeans are being asked to sink money into a black hole to fund profligate Greeks. Greece still has a large budget deficit but its primary balance is coming close to zero. This means that Greece will be borrowing money over the next few years purely to pay the interest on its debts. Most of this debt is now owed to Euro area member states so these borrowings will simply be recycled back to the rest of the EU. Rather than pouring water into a desert, a better analogy is providing food aid to a country suffering famine and then insisting they export the food back again.
The third idea, that a “firewall” can be prepared that keeps Spain and Italy in the euro even after Greece leaves, seems based far more on hope than fact. As I wrote last week, ending the idea that the euro is a fixed and irrevocable union is likely to set off a chain reaction of events that may be very difficult to contain.
As for the idea that a Greek exit will see the euro’s rules enforced, can anyone honestly say they can’t see the current Greek scenario being repeated in Italy over the next few years, with German politicians becoming ever more angry and threatening an Italian exit? Once an “exit route” has been designed, people will expect it to be used again and this uncertainty may destroy the euro once and for all.
The truth is that Greece’s public debt—forecast to be 167 percent of GDP next year—is completely unsustainable. One way or another, European governments are not going to get back all the money they loaned to Greece over the past few years.
Europe’s leaders can react to this fact in either a constructive or a destructive fashion. A constructive response would see a large write-off of Greece’s debt to Euro area member states with much of the debt swapped for bonds whose payments are linked to future Greek GDP. With debt sustainability restored and the fear of euro exit lifted, the Greek economy could begin to grow again, free from the austerity and uncertainty that have caused a depression in which GDP has declined by about fifteen percent.
This debt restructuring could be augmented by a new financial assistance programme that would continue to incentivize reforms. Freed from the risk of euro exit, these reforms would have a greater chance of succeeding than in the current chaotic atmosphere.
As of now, many of Europe’s leaders appear to prefer the destructive route. In their steely determination to be see an unsustainable debt repaid, they are moving towards an option—a Greek exit—that will probably see even less money repaid than if they negotiated a reasonable debt restructuring and kept Greece in the euro. The stakes are simply too high now to allow a policy strategy based on resentment and misunderstanding to be pursued.
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1108002b98e00fc1f37185164db08cb6 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/17/the-ecbs-secret-letter-to-ireland-some-questions/ | The ECB's Secret Letter to Ireland: Some Questions | The ECB's Secret Letter to Ireland: Some Questions
By announcing it is only willing to purchase Spanish and Italian government bonds if these governments apply for funding from the EFSF bailout fund, the ECB is now exerting pressure on these countries to sign full bailout agreements. Officially, Mario Draghi’s position on how the ECB engages with governments (as explained at his June press conference) is
I do not view it as the ECB’s task to push governments into doing something. It is really their own decision as to whether they want to access the EFSF or not.
In reality, the record of the ECB’s role in Ireland’s bailout application (admittedly at the time under the leadership of Draghi’s predecessor) suggests it is an organization that is not at all averse to pushing governments into bailout funds. As the facts below illustrate, this record also doesn’t provide encouragement that the ECB will act in an open and transparent manner when doing so.
In the months leading up to Ireland’s bailout agreement, the ECB had become increasingly concerned about the amount of money it was loaning to Irish banks. In early November, it appears the ECB decided it needed to intervene.
On Friday November 12, 2010, Reuters reported that Ireland was in talks with the EU to receive emergency funding. The Irish government denied that any official talks were taking place. However, Brian Lenihan, Ireland’s Minister for Finance at the time, subsequently told a BBC documentary that, on this same day he received a letter from Jean-Claude Trichet advising him that Ireland should enter an EU-IMF program. Lehihan was adamant that “the major force of pressure for a bailout came from the ECB”.
The Irish Times has reported that
Dublin officials believed the letter to be forthright, with an implicit threat that support for Ireland’s banks was at risk.
Alan Ahearne, Lenihan’s economic adviser at the time, confirmed these reports to the Irish Independent:
"Yeah, the letter came in on the Friday from Trichet. The ECB were getting very hostile about the amount of money that it was having to lend to Ireland's banks. The ECB demanded something be done about it and it mentioned Ireland going into the bailout. They were keen to get Ireland into the programme." He added: "Lenihan rang Trichet that day, and they agreed officials would meet the following day in Brussels. When they met, the ECB put huge pressure on Ireland to go into the programme." Ahearne said Lenihan was now at the centre of international chaos and Ireland's future hung in the balance. "The following Tuesday, Lenihan went to the eurozone meeting …”
The Independent story does not state the date of arrival of Trichet’s letter but the reference to a Eurozone meeting on the following Tuesday confirms November 12 as the date.
Within weeks of the receipt of this letter, Ireland had entered an EU-IMF financial assistance programme. Given the key role the ECB letter of November 12 appears to have played in such an important event in Europe’s economic history, one might hope that this letter would now be in the public domain. However, the letter has not been released.
Last December, an Irish journalist, Gavin Sheridan requested that the ECB provide him with “any and all communications from the ECB addressed to the Irish finance minister (or his direct office) in the month of November 2010”.
The ECB responded by supplying one letter dated November 18 (a technical communication relating to payments systems) but refused to supply another letter that dated November 19 (one week after the Reuters story and one day after Central Bank of Ireland Governor Patrick Honohan conceded that a bailout deal was likely).
The ECB’s justifications for not releasing the letter included the following paragraph:
The second letter, dated 19 November 2010, is a strictly confidential communication between the ECB President and the Irish Minister of Finance and concerns measures addressing the extraordinarily severe and difficult situation of the Irish financial sector and their repercussions on the integrity of the euro area monetary policy and the stability of the Irish financial sector.
The content of the letter was alluded to as follows:
The ECB must be in a position to convey pertinent and candid messages to European and national authorities in the manner judged to be the most effective to serve the public interest as regards the fulfilment of its mandate. If required and in the best interest of the public also effective informal and confidential communication must be possible and should not be undermined by the prospect of publicity. In this case, the confidential communication was aimed at discussing measures conducive to protecting the effectiveness and integrity of the ECB’s monetary policy and fostering an environment that ultimately contribute to restoring confidence among investors in the overall solvency and sustainability of the Irish financial sector and markets, which, in turn, is of overriding importance for the smooth conduct of monetary policy.
These communications raise a number of questions:
Did the ECB communicate with Brian Lenihan on November 12, 2010? If so, why was this letter not referred to in response to Mr. Sheridan’s request? Did the ECB threaten to withdraw funding from Irish banks unless Ireland entered an EU-IMF program, either in a letter dated November 12 or in meetings the following weekend? What are the contents of the November 19 letter and why is this letter considered so sensitive given that it was clear to all after Governor Honohan’s remarks on November 18 that a bailout deal was being concluded?
I believe the Irish and wider European public deserve a better explanation of the events of November 2010 from the ECB. The public release of all communications from Mr. Trichet to Minister Lenihan should be part of this explanation.
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f9a74209196f30c622bcf84383916e39 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/28/ecb-secret-letter-to-ireland-to-be-released/ | ECB Secret Letter to Ireland To Be Released? | ECB Secret Letter to Ireland To Be Released?
Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
Proof perhaps that sometimes even a humble blog post can have some impact, it appears that we have had some movement on the question of the ECB's secret letter to Ireland, which I wrote about here recently.
After this post and some follow-up by my colleague, Colm McCarthy, the question of the release of the letter was widely discussed in Ireland last week. Over the weekend, Michael Noonan, Ireland's Minister for Finance, indicated that the letter might possibility be released. Mr. Noonan is a wily character and his initial response was cautious. He stated that he favored the release of the letter and supported providing it to an upcoming banking inquiry but that he "has no authority to order the release".
By yesterday, Noonan had climbed most of the way off the fence, telling media that "it would be appropriate for me to overrule the independence of those that decide on freedom of information."
This appears to set Mr. Noonan on a collision course with the ECB in relation to the release of this letter and the outcome could be interesting. A satisfactory resolution of this tension would be for Mario Draghi to also agree that it is now appropriate for the letter to be released.
In relation to the actual events of November 2010, Noonan confirms the crucial role played by the letter from the ECB. The Sunday Independent reported
Mr Noonan said that he had seen the "very direct" letter which left Mr Lenihan with "little or no option" but to admit defeat and lead Ireland into the €85bn troika programme.
However, these reports do nothing to help solve the mystery of why Brian Lenihan and his officials reported the arrival of a letter on November 12, 2010 while the letter being debated for release was dated apparently November 19. Are these two letters the same thing? If so, why was the letter post-dated? If they are not the same letter, then why has the existence of the November 12 letter not been acknowledged by the ECB and the Irish Department of Finance?
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9b62729a625f51087bebed14923cf950 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/28/greece-we-need-to-stop-confusing-default-with-exit/ | Greece: We Need to Stop Confusing Default with Exit | Greece: We Need to Stop Confusing Default with Exit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras shake hands after a... [+] press conference on August 24, 2012 at the Chancellery in Berlin. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
Events in Greece appear to be hurtling towards some sort of denouement. EU and IMF officials are returning to Greece next week amid a continuing drum-beat from European politicians effectively calling for a Greek exit from the euro. The report the officials deliver, likely in early October, may prove decisive for Greece’s future.
A disturbing aspect of ongoing discussions about Greece is the continuing confusion of the question of debt sustainability with the question of Greece’s presence in the euro. To give an example, consider this article by Luke Baker and Deepa Babington from Reuters. It is a detailed and thoughtful piece and provides a great summary of where things currently stand. However, its bottom line is the following:
If Greece's debts are assessed to be unsustainable, it is not clear that the IMF will be willing to take part in any further support for Athens. That would leave the euro zone alone to carry to can with limited bailout resources, while also fretting about Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy. Logic might suggest Greece must go but this crisis has shown politics trumps maths and economics.
I think this analysis has things backward. Greece’s debts are unsustainable. But the appropriate response to this situation is to write-off much of this debt, not to pile on even more debts from bailout resources or to demand a Greek exit from the euro.
The Greek situation has already shown that an orderly default can take place while a country remains a member of the euro. Also, as I’ve pointed out before, Greece is moving close to a primary surplus, so once its debt is written down to sustainable levels, it can return to market funding, perhaps after a short period of official assistance.
On the other hand, forcing a Greek exit would likely produce a much larger default on the debts that Greece owes the rest of the Eurozone than an orderly restructuring within the Euro.
And for all the palaver from European officials about a Greek exit being manageable, this exit would (at a minimum) trigger a new intensification of the crisis.
The idea that there is an economic logic of self-interest for Eurozone nations to kick Greece out of the euro is wrong. The economics for the rest of the Eurozone strongly favours preventing a Greek exit. That also means it favours a deal that will prevent Greek politicians from unilaterally choosing to leave the euro.
The truth is that the politics of resentment and confusion are currently trumping logic and economics. One can only hope there is still time for Europe’s politicians to understand the full extent of the economic and political failure that a Greek exit would represent.
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f2bfe5f2ab067d53c5528ae211ee567c | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/08/29/self-awareness-fail-de-jour-senator-corker-thinks-bernanke-needs-more-humility/ | Should Bernanke Focus Only on Inflation? | Should Bernanke Focus Only on Inflation?
Today’s Financial Times carries an article critical of Ben Bernanke from Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. Titled “Bernanke should show some humility” it criticises the Bernanke Fed for its lack of a single mandate to control inflation.
The strange thing about Senator Corker’s focus on the absence of a single mandate as an important problem is that Ben Bernanke’s inflation record as Fed chair has been impeccable: Inflation has averaged 2.4 percent per year under Bernanke (compared with 3.1 percent under his much-lauded predecessor, Alan Greenspan) and has fallen sharply in recent months.
Of course, those who had followed Mr. Bernanke’s career wouldn’t be too surprised by this record. In his academic career, he favoured the idea of central banks setting strict inflation targets. And, much to the chagrin of critics such as Paul Krugman, he has shown an unwillingness to temporarily raise the Fed’s inflation target in the pursuit of alternative policies to combat the long economic slump.
Senator Corker says, however, that the US can do better by copying European examples:
The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bundesbank, to name but a few examples, all have single mandates
In fact, they do not. Leaving aside for a moment the fact that the Bundesbank can’t have a different inflation mandate than the ECB because Germany has the euro as its currency, it simply is not the case that the ECB has a single mandate. It’s statute commits it to price stability as its “primary goal” but also requires it to support the general economic policies of the EU provided it does not endanger this goal. Indeed, in practice, the ECB has engaged in many of the “alternative” monetary policies that the Bernanke Fed has been criticised for as well as some the Fed didn’t attempt.
The Bank of England also does not have a single mandate. Rather it has two core purposes: Monetary stability and financial stability. In relation to monetary policy, its remit is to maintain price stability and, subject to this, to support UK government’s policies on growth and employment. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King takes this latter element seriously. In his most recent letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer he wrote
The best contribution that monetary policy can make to high and stable levels of growth and employment is to respond flexibly and transparently to bring inflation back to target.
Senator Corker reckons the financial crisis has strengthened the case for a single mandate for central banks focused on inflation. The truth is the opposite. Inflation targeting spread around the world rapidly during the 1990s and 2000s, partly due to the influence of the academic work of Mr. Bernanke and his co-authors. The result was the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Narrowly-focused central banks allowed severe financial imbalances to arise and failed to act to curb them on the grounds that, well, inflation was low so they were achieving their goals.
Official portrait of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Senator criticizes Mr. Bernanke for “his comfort with managing long-term interest rates.” Because most private sector lending to businesses and households takes place over the horizons of years rather than weeks, it would be extremely strange if Mr. Bernanke didn’t concern himself with long-term rates, just as every other central banker does. This is a bit like criticizing a racing driver for using the steering wheel.
Bernanke’s lack of humility apparently stems from “his unwillingness to stand up and say that there are limits to what monetary policy can achieve.” Given that the US economy has failed to respond with more than sluggish growth despite enormous amounts of monetary stimulus, I suspect Ben Bernanke is only painfully aware that monetary policy is not a magic bullet to heal an economy’s ills.
Still, while the Senator’s priority is for Bernanke to “stop punishing savers” I suspect most U.S. citizens would probably take some comfort from the fact that Ben Bernanke is willing to factor in the plight of the 12.8 million unemployed Americans when he makes his decisions.
As for Senator Corker, I suspect it’s a vain hope that perhaps he might follow his own recommendation and consider "a greater sense of humility" next time he speaks out about monetary policy.
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7f75daf73278f3a46997fb07f9fe4c2a | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/09/25/germany-to-spain-and-ireland-drop-dead/ | Germany to Spain and Ireland: Drop Dead | Germany to Spain and Ireland: Drop Dead
June's meeting of the Euro area's leaders was one of the rare summits that produced a concrete breakthrough that was welcomed by most observers as a genuine step forward. The summit statement began with the bold sentence
We affirm that it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.
And then asserted that
When an effective single supervisory mechanism is established, involving the ECB, for banks in the euro area the ESM could, following a regular decision, have the possibility to recapitalize banks directly.
This decision was widely viewed as crucially important for Spain's economic future. With the risk of significant banking recapitalization costs weighing heavily on the market's assessment of Spanish debt sustainability, the announcement was seen as a crucial step by Spain's Eurozone partners towards sharing the risks associated with its banking sector.
Today, in a joint statement, the finance ministers of Germany, Netherlands and Finland have effectively asserted that, despite the bold words of the statement they agreed to in June, Spain will remain caught in a the vicious banking-sovereign circle. The statement articulates some "principles" for how ESM should operate. Two of the principles are particularly important. The first:
the ESM can take direct responsibility of problems that occur under the new supervision, but legacy assets should be under the responsibility of national authorities
In other words "if it happened under your watch, it's your problem". Given that by definition all of the banking problems that are afflicting Europe today occurred under national supervision, this statement effectively tells Spain to drop dead.
The second:
direct bank recapitalisation by the ESM should take place based on an approach that adheres to the basic order of first using private capital, then national public capital and only as a last resort the ESM.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble (L) and the head of the European Financial Stability... [+] Facility, Klaus Regling. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
This approach suggests that ESM can only invest in banks as a last resort when national public capital cannot be used. In other words, countries need to be effectively bankrupt and locked out of financial markets before ESM can be used. This new "principle" appears to enshrine the vicious circle as official policy rather than get rid of it.
This statement also has bad implications for Ireland. June's summit statement had included a commitment that
The Eurogroup will examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with the view of further improving the sustainability of the well-performing adjustment programme.
The Germany-Netherlands-Finland statement now rules out the ESM investing in the banks acquired by the Irish state, thus ruling out relief on half of the costs incurred by Irish taxpayers. This leaves a renegotiation of the infamous Anglo Irish promissory notes with the ECB as Ireland's only possible source of debt relief.
Why are Germany and their allies reversing their earlier willingness to share banking risks with the Eurozone partners? One possible explanation is the law of unintended consequences. Perhaps their attitude now is: "If Mario Draghi is willing to buy lots of Spanish debt, then why should we worry about Spain going bust next year? Let the ECB look after Spain." In the Eurozone, it appears that no good deed goes unpunished.
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95e907b55a0ae357a87822f0f2188173 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/10/31/should-ecb-supervise-all-banks-or-just-big-ones/ | Should ECB Supervise All Banks Or Just Big Ones? | Should ECB Supervise All Banks Or Just Big Ones?
Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister (CDU). (Photo credit: Wikipedia).
Following up on my earlier post on proposals for the ECB to supervise Euro area banks, another issue that remains unresolved is how many banks the “single supervisory mechanism” should oversee.
The European Commission’s proposed regulation clearly states that the ECB should supervise all euro area credit institutions. Still, there have been strong objections from Germany to this idea, with German Finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, proposing that the ECB should only supervise larger “systemically relevant” banks.
The argument for applying a common supervisory mechanism to only larger banks appears to be based on the idea that the problem being solved by the common supervisor is the systemic risks to financial stability posed by these banks. I think this view is misplaced. Large banks are not the only threat to financial stability. The European Commission have defended their proposal for extending common supervision to all banks on the grounds that “small banks can also cause problems.”
I think the correct argument for the single supervisor overseeing all banks is more subtle. It is that collections of small banks with similar characteristics can often act in the same way so that the sector as a whole can occasionally presents a threat. This has been a familiar story running from small bank failures during the Great Depression, the Savings and Loans debacle of the 1980s or the problems with Spanish cajas and German Landesbanks. Leaving banks below a certain threshold out of the common supervisory framework would be a serious mistake.
German objections to the ECB supervising all 6000 banks in the euro area have also focused on the practical implementation problems associated with the ECB taking over the supervision of so many banks all at once. I believe these practical implementation difficulties are overstated and that true reasons for German objections are more likely related to the unwillingness to have highly politicized small German banks come under European supervision.
An analogy with the common monetary policy is relevant. One could argue that taking over running monetary policy operations supplying liquidity to 6,000 different banks and involving the work of tens of thousands of central bank staff would lead to severe implementation problems and require a huge centralised staff. In practice, most of the day-to-day work of the Eurosystem is still done in the national central banks and the ECB itself operates as a form of centralised secretariat rather than a huge bureaucracy.
In the same way, even if the ECB becomes the official supervisor of all euro area banks, the majority of day-to-day supervisory tasks would remain with local supervisors, with the head office staff at the ECB designing common policies and taking the key decisions in relation to specific problem banks.
Working in tandem with an ESM that is able to use funds to recapitalize weak banks, this kind of common supervisor could be up and running sometime in 2013. The question is not whether the organizational issues can be sorted out but whether the political will exists to allow it to happen.
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9fe3e41e0a4d0fdc9f2377d047b82fbc | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/11/15/its-official-the-eurozone-is-in-recession/ | It's Official: The Eurozone is in Recession | It's Official: The Eurozone is in Recession
Eurostat announced today that Euro area GDP declined by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2012. This follows a 0.2 percent decline in the second quarter meaning the period fits the commonly-used rule of thumb that defines a recession as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.
Countries using the Euro de jure Countries and territories using the Euro de facto Countries in the... [+] EU not using the Euro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This rule of thumb is a pretty limited approach to defining recessions. For this reason, the generally-accepted "official" definitions of recessions in the US are those arrived at by the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Commitee.
This committee arrives at its decisions on when recessions begin and end by looking at wide range of indicators, not just GDP. You might be familiar with the dates the NBER committee has declared from their common-usage as "recessions bars" in popular charting websites such as the St. Louis Fed's FRED.
The Euro area equivalent of the NBER, the Centre for Economic Policy Research, also has a business cycle dating committee (full disclosure, I have recently joined this committee). Coincidentally with the Eurostat release, the CEPR committee has also today declared that the euro area is in recession. The press statement for this announcement can be found here and a background document with useful facts and figures can be found here.
Given the small size of the declines in GDP reported by Eurostat, you might question whether the CEPR committee’s recession call is a marginal one or whether it may be reversed after the data get revised. However, because the committee does not rely on the "two consecutive declines" rule, this is unlikely.
The committee has declared that, despite a flattening of GDP in the first quarter of 2012, the euro area has been in recession since the third quarter of 2011. With GDP in the third quarter 0.6 percent below its level of a year earlier, the magnitude of this recession is well below that of the “Great Recession” of 2009 but it is a recession all the same.
In relation to data revisions, a member of the committee, Domenico Giannone, has calculated based on the size of previous revisions that the probability that, after revision, GDP in 2012Q2 will be found to exceed GDP in 2011Q3 is about 5%. So this recession is unlikely to be revised out of existence.
Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, said today that he thought the European economy may be bottoming out. With fiscal contraction being applied all across Europe and little room left for monetary stimulus for the ECB, it’s hard to see Rehn’s optimism as anything other than doubling down on policies that are visibly failing.
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753b92c8275f1300206a0b49e7700bf9 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/11/19/all-you-wanted-to-know-about-target2-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ | All You Wanted to Know About TARGET2 But Were Afraid to Ask | All You Wanted to Know About TARGET2 But Were Afraid to Ask
One subject I haven’t discussed yet at this blog is the TARGET2 payments system. Once seen as a dull piece of financial plumbing, the system has gained a new-found celebrity status thanks to the contributions of leading German academic Hans-Werner Sinn, whose new German-language book is titled Die Target-Falle: Gefahren für unser Geld und unsere Kinder. Translated, this is The Target Trap: Dangers for our Money and our Children.
Hans-Werner Sinn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have previously written a couple of blog pieces (here and here) arguing that Germany’s children should sleep safe at night instead of worrying about TARGET2. However, this is a decidedly complex issue and some topics are best addressed at greater length than is possible in a blog post. For this reason, I have written a paper on this issue titled “TARGET2 and Central Bank Balance Sheets.” For those of you wondering whether to click through, here’s the abstract.
The Eurosystem’s TARGET2 payments system has featured heavily in academic and popular discussions in recent years. Much of this commentary had described the system as being responsible for a “secret bailout” of Europe’s periphery which has led to huge credit risks for the Bundesbank should the euro break up. This paper discusses the TARGET2 system, focusing in particular on how it impacts the balance sheets of the central banks that participate in the system. It concludes that the TARGET2 is largely innocent of the charges that have been levelled against it. Arguments that TARGET2 facilitated a bailout of the periphery or that the system is playing a key role in facilitating peripheral current account deficits turn out to be wide of the mark. Risks to Germany due to the loss of TARGET2-related revenues for the Bundesbank after a euro break-up turn out to relatively small because these revenues are limited and because there are potentially large gains from new seigniorage revenues in this scenario. Many criticisms involving TARGET2 turn out, on closer examination, to be criticisms of the ECB’s core principle of treating credit institutions across the euro area in an equal manner. Proposals that the ECB adopt procedures that discriminate between banks in different countries (or that restrict the operation of payments systems in certain countries) are likely to be incompatible with the continuation of the euro as a common currency.
I am planning to present this paper at a conference next year so constructive criticism is welcome (angry ranting less so.)
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f1528ecda3e85675ddf7647898f9890e | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/11/22/standoff-on-greece-driven-by-short-sighted-europolitics/ | Standoff on Greece Driven by Short-Sighted Europolitics | Standoff on Greece Driven by Short-Sighted Europolitics
As Greece comes ever-closer to running out of money, the Eurozone finance ministers and the IMF have now met for two weeks in a row and failed to agree a new deal to loan Greece any additional funds. Many of the headlines suggest that these negotiations relate to technical discussions about steps that Greece needs to take to reform its public finances. In truth, the discussions are really about the political requirement for Eurozone leaders to ignore reality.
In late 2009, a new Greek government came to office and admitted that the previous government had been “cooking the books” and its debt situation was worse than had been admitted. By early 2010, Greece’s deficit was being revised up from 3.7% of GDP to 12.5% while its debt-to-GDP ratio was sailing over 120%.
To financial markets and most outside observers, it was clear the Greek debt burden was unsustainable and that a default of some sort was inevitable. What did Europe’s leaders to? What they do best: Deny reality.
In January 2010, the Economics Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, said
"No Greece will not default. Please. In the euro area, the default does not exist,"
He also said there was no special plan for Greece. To admit a Greek default could happen was embarrassing for Europe and the so-called “no bailout clause” was interpreted as preventing the other EU countries from providing assistance.
By April 2010, Almunia’s replacement, Olli Rehn, admitted there was a plan to provide Greece with loans from the EU but still maintained “There will be no default.”
Thus began a period in which many of Greece’s private creditors were paid off in full using money provided by the Euro area member states and the IMF. Only by summer of 2011 did the Eurozone admit that a default on Greek debt was required but, by the time the default was implemented in early 2012, Greece now had a mountain of official sector debt.
As sovereign debt lawyer, Lee Buchheit pointed out in this fascinating interview with Felix Salmon, this year’s Greek debt restructuring was unique among debt defaults because it still left the country with a debt level that everyone knew could not be paid back. This is because politics dictated that EU leaders were unwilling to admit they wouldn't be getting paid back in full.
In the meantime, while Europe has fiddled and denied reality, the Greek economy, labouring under a completely unsustainable burden and a debilitating level of uncertainty, has imploded. The grim facts about Greece’s debt situation are known to all and laid out in detail in this leaked EU report. Greece’s economy is in an ongoing depression that has already lasted five years and its debt-GDP ratio is projected to reach a completely unsustainable 190 percent next year.
By that stage, about two-thirds of the Greece’s debt will be official debt owed to IMF and the Euro area member states, with the vast majority of it being owed to the latter. After years of budget cuts, Greece’s primary balance is scheduled to reach zero next year, meaning Greece will only have a budget deficit because of the interest payments on its unsustainable debt.
Up to now, the Euro area member state’s response has been to pretend that by 2020 Greece can reach a debt ratio of 120 percent and then further pretend that this will allow Greece to return to funding itself (highly unlikely for a country with Greece’s reputation for fiscal management). Unfortunately for the EU leaders, this arithmetic simply doesn’t add up and, faced with reports from the IMF and from their own officials showing such a target cannot be reached, the Eurozone leaders have a choice: Accept they won’t be paid back all their money or deny reality.
As always, they’ve chosen the latter, arguing the timetable for Greece’s return to a debt ratio of 120% of GDP should be pushed out to 2022. The one concrete proposal they are keen on—voluntary debt buy-backs from private investors who are sure they are going to be restructured again—is notoriously unpopular among economists. Commonly known as the “buyback boondoggle” this approach reduces the headline debt figure by wasting public money on providing private bondholders with a better payoff than they had been expected. It’s an approach that looks like it’s improving things while usually making them worse.
Politicians generally have a short time-horizon. Germany’s leaders, for instance, are looking towards next year’s election and don’t fancy admitting they chucked lots of taxpayers money into Greece and now it won’t be paid back. But that’s the reality.
Thankfully, the IMF are now refusing to play along with the EU’s Greek fantasy. They are insisting on sticking with the 2020 deadline for meeting the 120% target, which is effectively code for the Eurozone restructuring its loans to Greece.
I suspect Europe’s politicians are greatly underestimating their voters. People know the situation in Greece is unsustainable and I doubt if many people will be surprised that the Eurozone isn’t getting all its money back. But a program to end the austerity in Greece and restore that country to stability would have benefits for Europe that would go well beyond Greek borders. It’s time for Europe to do the right thing instead of picking the politically expedient option.
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2c4b69aa4df8b6a2048c562c3b49db81 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2012/12/12/feds-brave-steps-contrasts-with-ecbs-inertia/ | Fed's Brave Steps Contrast with ECB's Inertia | Fed's Brave Steps Contrast with ECB's Inertia
The Federal Reserve announced today that it had
"Lonesome Dove" Charles L. Evans (Photo credit: Cain and Todd Benson)
decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that this exceptionally low range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6-1/2 percent, inflation between one and two years ahead is projected to be no more than a half percentage point above the Committee’s 2 percent longer-run goal, and longer-term inflation expectations continue to be well anchored.
This decision to explicitly state the conditions under which it is going to keep rates at near zero is a triumph for Chicago Fed President Charlie Evans who has campaigned for this kind of approach for years.
Central banking is a notoriously conservative business and new initiatives are rarely welcomed. Evans deserves enormous credit for getting the Fed to adopt this new approach which should help to convince U.S. citizens and financial markets that the Fed is serious about getting the U.S. economy back in shape.
Watching these developments from across the Atlantic, it’s impossible not to feel an uneasy contrast between the Fed’s new approach and the complacent and inertial approach of the European Central Bank.
The U.S. economy is growing and while the unemployment rate is high at 7.7 percent, it is finally falling at a reasonably fast pace. Yet the Fed remains concerned about sluggish growth and the weak labor market and is committed to maintaining rates close to zero. Its senior officials are sending a strong message that they know the U.S. economy can do much better.
In contrast, the Euro area economy is officially in recession since the third quarter of last year and yet the ECB has failed to cut interest rates below 0.75 percent.
Unlike the Fed, which has engaged in a wide-ranging Quantitative Easing exercise aimed at reducing longer-term interest rates, the ECB has only ever engaged in bond purchases in the most grudging way possible and currently has no active bond purchase program.
Unlike the Fed, which sees inflation pressures as limited, the ECB has spent much of the crisis wringing its hands about a non-existent inflation threat. At his recent press conference, Mario Draghi seemed relieved that inflation was coming down from “elevated” levels: The truth is that inflation in the euro area never exceeded 3 percent during this period of supposedly elevated inflation.
And unlike the Fed, which is now explicitly saying it will tolerate some short-term slippage in its inflation target, the euro area’s citizens can be left in no doubt that the ECB will be quite willing to raise rates at the first sign of inflation even if the source is temporary increases in commodity prices.
Twice before in the current crisis, in 2008 and 2011, the ECB has embarked on rate-hiking cycles driven by the perception of inflation threats. Twice they have had to reverse course but there are few signs that lessons were learned from these mistakes.
Many will attribute the difference in the ECB and Fed’s behavior to differences in their legal mandates. The Fed has an explicit dual mandate to target both inflation and output while the ECB has price stability as its primary goal. But the differences here are smaller than people think.
Ben Bernanke has always been clear that he supports an explicit inflation target as the central anchor of Fed policy. And the ECB’s legal statute actually commits it to supporting the broader economic policies of the EU provided its actions don’t endanger price stability.
To my mind, there is no legal impediment preventing the ECB from making an announcement similar to today’s Fed statement, both in terms of a contingent commitment to low rates and a bond buying program. Rather than legal mandates, I think the difference may lie more in the personalities involved in making policy.
This raises the question: Who is willing to be the ECB’s Charlie Evans? Are any members of the ECB’s Governing Council willing to consider new and innovative approaches to monetary policy? Or are they happy with the status quo of the euro area drifting along in a seemingly endless slump?
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4c7efa6e5f470e59e0a14ab31496717c | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2013/02/11/euro-exit-scenarios/ | Euro Exit Scenarios | Euro Exit Scenarios
Euro Bills (Photo credit: Tax Credits)
On Friday, I spoke at an interesting workshop in London titled “How Costly Would a Euro Exit Be?” organised by Anil Kashyap of the Chicago Booth business school.
The slides from the talk I gave at the event are here in Powerpoint format and here in PDF format. Worth keeping in mind is that Anil specifically asked me to discuss the consequences of various types of exits. As such, the talk does its best to explain why and how various exit scenarios may occur. I do think these scenarios are all relevant, without having any one of them as my current baseline.
I conclude that a euro break-up would likely have very negative short- to medium-term consequences. One might hope that knowledge of this outcome might prevent it from happening. But, as I say in the talk, sometimes highly negative outcomes, such as wars, happen even when there are strong economic cases against them. I’ll provide some more thoughts on this subject later.
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679318d1cd1b81b6b061453ae3e2db3e | https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlwhelan/2013/02/11/irelands-promissory-note-deal/ | Ireland's Promissory Note Deal | Ireland's Promissory Note Deal
Ding dong the wicked bank is dead. Anglo Irish Bank is no more. Its successor, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is being liquidated. Unfortunately, its legacy of debt piled on the Irish public’s shoulders is not dead. Still, last Thursday’s announcement, which saw the infamous promissory notes replaced with a series of very long-term bonds, is a useful step in reducing the burden associated with the IBRC. Credit is due, in particular, to the Central Bank of Ireland Governor, Patrick Honohan, who oversaw new arrangements being put in place that secured the approval of the ECB Governing Council.
(Photo credit: infomatique
In this post, I discuss the new arrangement and put some numbers on its benefits. I also discuss some of the objections to the deal that have been raised in Ireland and conclude with a discussion of some of the legal issues considered by the ECB when approving the deal.
Some History
IBRC was created from merging two institutions that had borrowed extraordinary amounts of money under an Extraordinary Liquidity Assistance (ELA) program from the Central Bank of Ireland to pay off creditors. This money was created with the approval of the Governing Council of the ECB. The Irish government provided guarantees to the Central Bank of Ireland that these loans to the state-owned IBRC would be repaid. The repayments would see the money created by the original loans taken out of existence.
To allow the IBRC to repay its loans (and to provide collateral for those loans) the Irish government agreed in 2010 to provide it with so-called “promissory notes”. These notes provided the bank with payments of €3.1 billion per year over the next decade from the Irish government, approximately 2 percent of Irish GDP each year. In calculations I reported here before, I estimated that IBRC would have paid off its debts to the Central Bank by 2022. While the promissory notes had additional payments scheduled for years after 2022, these payments could have been cancelled and the bank liquidated.
Instead, the IBRC was liquidated last week. However, rather than the Central Bank of Ireland taking possession of the promissory notes, an agreement was reached to rip up the promissory notes and instead provide the Central Bank with €25 billion in new very long-dated bonds.
The New Bonds
As described here, the new bonds have maturities ranging from 27 years to 40 years with a weighted-average maturity of 34.5. So this means no repayment of principal on these bonds for 27 years. The bonds carry a variable interest rate that tracks six-month Euribor rates with an average additional margin of 263 basis points.
The impact of these interest payments on the cost of the transaction will change over time. At first, the bonds will belong to the Central Bank of Ireland. However, the Central Bank hands back its surplus income to the Irish Exchequer, so these interest payments can be considered a circular transaction in which interest is handed over to the Central Bank to eventually be handed back to the Irish government.
Crucially, however, the Central Bank of Ireland has agreed to dispose of the bonds over time by selling them to the private sector. This will gradually increase the amount of interest that is being paid out and not simply returned by the Central Bank. A presentation from the Department of Finance states:
The Central Bank of Ireland will sell the bonds but only where such a sale is not disruptive to financial stability. They have however undertaken that minimum of bonds will be sold in accordance with the following schedule: to end 2014 (€0.5bn), 2015-2018 (€0.5bn p.a.), 2019-2023 (€1bn p.a.), 2024 and after (€2bn p.a.)
If this minimum amount of sales is stuck to then it will take until 2032 for all the bonds to be in private hands. On Irish television on Sunday, however, Patrick Honohan said the bonds would be sold “as soon as possible” but also said he didn’t see pressure from the ECB being applied to force a quicker pace of sales than the minimum agreed last week.
The fact that the bonds need to be sold to the private sector (and at an uncertain pace) means that claims that the deal “pushes the cost out over 40 years at low interest rates” are not entirely correct.
If the Irish government was able to borrow large amounts of money now over 40 years at Euribor plus 263 basis points then they would have done so and used the money to retire the promissory notes and liquidate IBRC. At present, we can have no guarantee that the sales of these bonds will occur at par value. If private investors in the future are only willing to purchase these bonds at higher yields than the Euribor-plus-263bp coupons, then the Irish government (in the form of its Central Bank) will incur a loss on these sales. So while it turns out the new arrangements place a far lower burden on Irish taxpayers over the next few years, they don’t “kick the can” of refinancing the IBRC debt quite as far down the road as many have been assuming.
Some Calculations
Here is a spreadsheet that I’ve put together that allows for a comparison of the new arrangements involving €25 billion in new bonds with how this €25 billion would have been paid off under the previous promissory note structure. The calculations of the annual cost of the promissory notes are along the lines of those reported in my post from last November.
Importantly, the spreadsheet assumes that bond sales correspond to the minimum described above, so the estimated benefits will be lower if the bond sales are faster. It also assumes that the sales of private bonds will occur at par value and won’t add to the estimated costs. Future Euribor rates up to 2024 are estimated by deriving forward rates from the mid-swaps interest rates reported in Friday’s Financial Times and then held constant for subsequent years.
A summary of the calculations:
The promissory notes would have paid off the €25 billion in 10 years, meaning an average net cost of €2.5 billion over the next decade. This is lower than the annual €3.1 payment because some of the payments would have taken the form of interest payments to the Central Bank which could have been returned to the government.
In stark contrast, the total net payments under the new arrangements over the first decade are only €1.4 billion. While I project €11.2 billion in total interest payments through 2022, all but this €1.4 billion go to the Central Bank. In this sense, the new arrangements provide a very substantial relief over the next decade relative to the previous ones.
Slightly less positive is the fact that €6.5 billion in long-term bonds must be sold up to 2022. From the point of view of financial markets, these sales will be treated in pretty much the same way as new bond sales. They represent the Irish public sector incurring a new debt to the private sector. So the new arrangement leads to financing demands of €7.9 billion over the next decade (€1.4 billion to pay the interest and €6.5 billion in bond sales) relative to €25 billion required under the promissory notes.
After 2022, the new arrangements become more demanding. The decade 2023-2032 sees €9.6 billion in interest payments to the private sector and €18.5 billion in bond sales. The decade 2033-2042 sees €13.8 billion in interest payments and €4 billion in principal payments. Finally, 2043-2053 sees interest payments of €7.36 and €21 billion in principal payments.
There are a number of ways to think about the benefits of the new arrangements.
With the public debt ratio now over 122 percent and investors potentially concerned about the prospects of sovereign debt restructuring taking place if the debt ratio cannot be stabilized, the dramatic reduction in financing requirements over the next decade is helpful. It reduces the chances of a sovereign default triggered by inability to meet payment demands to the private sector.
More generally, delaying payments off into the future allows them to be dealt with at a time when inflation and economic growth have reduced the burden they impose. For example, the final two principal payments of a combined €10 billion will occur in 2051 and 2053. If made today, these payments would account for 6.25 percent of Irish GDP. However, if nominal GDP grows at 4 percent per annum over the next 40 years, these payments would be closer to 1 percent of the GDP at the time of the payment, making it far easier to simply roll this debt over.
One way to calculate the reduced burden due to delaying payments is to calculate the net present value (NPV) of the stream of payments. The spreadsheet uses a 6 percent per annum discount rate and calculates the NPV of the promissory note payments as 19.5 billion and the NPV of payments under the new bonds as €12.8 billion. This represents a 34.4 percent reduction in the NPV. While clearly some way short of a full write-off, last week’s deal still represents a clear improvement on the promissory notes.
Objections to the Deal
Some of the reaction to the deal in Ireland has been negative. Some have criticized the new arrangements because they don’t involve a full write-off of the IBRC’s debt. However, the European Treaty’s outlawing of “monetary financing” makes it clear that loans from central banks to state-owned banks can’t simply be written off and there was never any chance whatsoever that such a write-off could have emerged from negotiations with the ECB. Those with moral objections to the nature of this debt should consider whether the Irish authorities should have rejected a deal that reduced the burden of the debt because of the absence of an unattainable deal.
A second objection has been the idea that the deal simply “kicks the can down the road” or (more emotionally) “forces our children and grandchildren to pay off huge debts”. Well public debt rarely ever gets paid off. Instead it is rolled over as long as financial markets believe governments have the capacity to honor their debts. Unless economic growth and inflation come to an end (in which case the Irish people will have a lot more than IBRC debt to worry about) future generations of Irish taxpayers should be able to roll over these debts (Though before Ireland’s children all grow up and have children of their own, the country will face the challenge of selling large quantities of the new bonds next decade without generating losses).
A final objection that has been widely aired is that by replacing the promissory notes with new bonds, the Irish government has taken something that wasn’t sovereign debt and replaced it with sovereign debt that must be honoured in some way that the promissory notes didn’t have to be. I have no idea why people believe this. The promissory notes were debts issued by the Irish sovereign, hence they were sovereign debt. And they were counted as sovereign debt by Eurostat, the official arbiter of these matters in Europe.
It is possible that people have had in mind that the promissory notes could be cancelled if Ireland left the euro and so was no longer subject to the monetary financing prohibition. However, if a euro exit was to occur at some point in the next few years, there would be nothing preventing the Central Bank of Ireland from cancelling the new bonds or indicating it would roll them over forever and hand back all interest payments. In fact, because the transition to the bonds being held in private hands in the new arrangement is slower than the repayment of ELA under the old arrangement, the flexibility to cancel or default on these obligations in a crisis scenario is more significant than it was previously.
Monetary Financing?
A final question is whether the IBRC’s previous funding or the current arrangements constitute a violation of the European Treaty’s prohibition of monetary financing. This is probably worth a separate discussion of its own and I may return to it. For now, let’s take a look at the relevant section of the Treaty (Article 123)
1. Overdraft facilities or any other type of credit facility with the European Central Bank or with the central banks of the Member States (hereinafter referred to as ‘national central banks’) in favour of Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of Member States shall be prohibited, as shall the purchase directly from them by the European Central Bank or national central banks of debt instruments. 2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to publicly owned credit institutions which, in the context of the supply of reserves by central banks, shall be given the same treatment by national central banks and the European Central Bank as private credit institutions.
The promissory note arrangements could have been considered a violation of Article 123.2. While it was legal for the Eurosystem to loan money to the IBRC, it was questionable as to whether it was receiving the same treatment as other banks.
ELA loans are generally intended to be provided for a short period of time while emergency measures are taken to save or liquidate a bank. However, IBRC was going to take at least 10 more years to pay off its ELA loans. Furthermore, it was using a non-marketable instrument (the promissory notes) to provide collateral against these loans. IBRC did pay a risk premium on its ELA loans but the profits the Central Bank made from these premium payments were returned to the government.
All told, the IBRC arrangements could have been considered monetary financing. However, no legal case was ever taken against it. The ECB Governing Council could have shut down the ELA operation using its powers under Article 14 of the ECB statute. However, they consistently approved the operation and one could argue that if a ten-year repayment was legal, then a forty-year repayment could also have been legal. The Article itself isn’t exactly prescriptive on which loans terms are or are not legal.
Anyway, for one reason or another, it was decided to scrap the IBRC altogether and provide replacement bonds to the Central Bank of Ireland. Now the question is whether the new arrangements violate Article 123.1. This article forbids the direct purchase of government bonds by central banks in the Eurosystem.
The CBI has ended up with €25 billion of Irish government bonds, which would be exactly the outcome had they violated the Treaty and directly purchased the bonds. However, because the bonds ended up at the CBI indirectly because of the liquidation of IBRC, it can be argued that last week’s exercise was not monetary financing.
A separate question is whether the current arrangement constitutes a “type of credit facility”. Mario Draghi says that the Governing Council members “took note” of the last week’s events in Ireland. Their reluctance to do any more than take note suggests that the Governing Council members don’t believe the new arrangements are monetary financing.
It’s worth pointing out that the “indirect route” by which the Central Bank has ended up owning these bonds didn’t exactly involve an Act of God by which the Bank ended up holding them accidently. The official story is that IBRC was put into liquidation because a Reuters story reported the government was considering liquidating the bank and this rendered the bank unstable. The reality is the IBRC was liquidated because the Irish government preferred the new arrangements that emerged as a result.
On balance, I’m inclined to agree with Wolfgang Munchau that the current arrangements are monetary financing in spirit if not necessarily according to the letter of the law. And like Munchau, I have no great problem with this. A weakening of unnecessary monetary purity may be required if the euro is to be saved.
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fa0712c5442b7ce141116ef7945161f2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/22/with-low-prices-hyundai-builds-market-share.html | With Low Prices, Hyundai Builds Market Share | With Low Prices, Hyundai Builds Market Share
It was not exactly a planned strategy, but the recession, particularly in the United States, has been very good for Hyundai, the South Korean automaker.
After years of struggling to prove to consumers than it was more than a second-tier brand, Hyundai Motor America and its affiliate, Kia Motor America, accounted for 8 percent of the new-vehicle market in the United States in August, more than Chrysler’s 7.4 percent. The company sold more than 60,000 vehicles last month as buyers rushed to take advantage of the government’s cash-for-clunkers program before its end.
2009 Hyundai GenesisSource: hyundaiusa.com
The carmaker’s sales topped August 2008 by 47 percent — total industry sales were up only 1 percent.
“They have a tremendous amount of momentum right now, and I don’t see that stopping,” said Erich Merkle, an analyst who founded the Web site Autoconomy.com in Grand Rapids, Mich. “Hyundai is a competitive threat not just to the Big Three but for the first time to the Japanese automakers as well.”
Globally, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, which owns the Hyundai Motor Company and about 39 percent of Kia Motors, passed Honda last year and the Ford Motor Company this year. It became the fourth-largest automaker, behind Toyota , General Motors and Volkswagen (it is seventh in the United States). It was in 11th place worldwide less than a decade ago.
Hyundai and Kia both expect to sell more vehicles in the United States this year than they did in 2008, a claim that only one other automaker, Subaru, can make. Sales by all of Hyundai’s bigger competitors have fallen by more than 20 percent so far this year.
“There’s a great spot for a brand like ours, particularly in a recessionlike environment,” John Krafcik, the chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, said. “Consumers are beginning to question the value of a premium brand — is it worth an extra $5,000?”
Hyundai’s Exhibit A is the Genesis, a luxury sedan that was named North American car of the year at the Detroit auto show in January. Part of the appeal of the Genesis, in addition to a price tag that is thousands less than that of its chief rivals, may be that hardly anyone associates Hyundai with the word “luxury.”
Its lowest-priced model, the Accent, sells for just under $10,000 for the base package. The Genesis, its most expensive model, starts at $32,250 — by comparison, the Lexus ES 350 costs $34,470, and the Cadillac CTS costs $36,560.
Several dealers have said that they are selling the Genesis to business owners who, after laying off some employees, want to project an image that they, too, are cutting back.
“The current economic climate really places an emphasis on people spending their money wisely,” said George Glassman, a Hyundai and Kia dealer in suburban Detroit who sold Oldsmobiles until G.M. eliminated that brand in 2004.
“They’re appealing to people’s desires to spend reasonably and to get great value for your dollar,” Mr. Glassman said. “Twenty years ago, Hyundai was a reasonable alternative to purchasing a used car. Now they are attracting consumers from all ages and all walks of life.”
Mr. Glassman’s recent customers include Joe Randazzo, who had considered the Chevrolet Malibu sedan because his son works for G.M. Despite the family connection and his past preference for Cadillacs, Mr. Randazzo chose to buy a Hyundai Sonata.
“It’s a very good ride, and I really enjoy driving it,” said Mr. Randazzo, 79, who is retired from running a ceramic tile business. “I used to drive Cadillacs all the time. I don’t need to drive a heavy car like that anymore. No disrespect to G.M. or anybody, but my next car will be a Hyundai, too.”
Hyundai’s research indicates that 30 percent of consumers now consider the brand when shopping for a new vehicle, nearly triple the number who did about five years ago.
“They went from the perception of cheap to an excellent value,” said Mr. Merkle, the analyst. “I think that this will stick even after we come out of this environment, because people are becoming better acquainted with the product.”
Aggressive marketing is another reason Hyundai’s sales are surging. The automaker introduced a first-of-its-kind offer early this year that lets customers who find themselves without work return their car with no penalty for up to a year. It later expanded the offer to include up to three months of payment relief.
G.M. and Ford briefly offered similar programs after the Hyundai program helped increase sales.
Hyundai also jumped ahead of competitors this summer, by inviting customers to turn in old, inefficient vehicles under the cash-for-clunkers program three weeks before its official start.
“They’re really trying to use this recession as an opportunity to take market share, which they have,” Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis at Edmunds.com.
Hyundai and Kia are pushing for more. In November, Kia plans to open a new assembly plant in West Point, Ga., its first in the United States. (Hyundai has a plant in Alabama.)
Several new models are coming soon, including the compact Kia Forte this fall and revamped versions of the Hyundai Sonata and Tucson next year.
The company’s goal is to have the industry’s highest fuel economy by 2015; it is currently third, behind Toyota and Honda, even with no hybrid in its lineup.
“We may do that a couple of years earlier if you look at the trajectory we’re in,” said Mr. Krafcik.
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2b05604ff308014dd7ea82309e9d9d5d | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/22/your-first-move-for-wednesday-september-23rd.html | Here’s our Fast Money Final Trade. Our gang gives you tomorrow’s best trades, right now.
Tim Seymour suggests long Vale.
Guy Adami recommends longUnitedHealth on the dip.
Joe Terranova says look at Ford. "I think it probably bottomed around $7."
Pete Najarian says keep an eye on Smith International due to unusual options action. "That one looks awfully interesting!"
VIDEO0:0000:00Fast Money Final Trades
Click here to see other Final Trade posts.
______________________________________________________Got something to say? Send us an e-mail at fastmoney-web@cnbc.com and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap! Prefer to keep it between us? You can still send questions and comments to .
Trader disclosure: On Sept. 22nd, 2009, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Seymour And Seygem Asset Management Own (MTL); Seymour Owns (AAPL), (BAC), (VALE); Adami Owns (AGU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE), (BTU); Najarian Owns (C) Calls; Najarian Owns (JPM) And Is Short (JPM) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) And Is Short (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MSFT) And Is Short (MSFT) Calls; Najarian Owns (PALM) Calls; Najarian Owns (RNWK) And (RNWK) Calls; Najarian Owns (SII) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (WFC) Put Spread; Najarian Owns (YHOO) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (FCX) And Is Short (FCX) Call; Najarian Owns (CELG); Najarian Owns (CLX) Calls; Terranova Owns (WFT). (F); Terranova Owns (F) Calls And (F) Puts
For Joe TerranovaTerranova Works For (VRTS)Terranova Is Chief Market Strategist Of Virtus Investment Partners, Ltd.Terranova Is Co-Portfolio Manager Of The Virtus Diversifier PHOLIOVirtus Diversifier PHOLIO Owns (IGE)Virtus Diversifier PHOLIO Owns (DBC)Virtus Diversifier PHOLIO Owns (DBV)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (CAL)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (DLR)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (EXR)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (IGE)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (DBV)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (SKT)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (TNB)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (UA)Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (CLB)
For David GoldbergUBS Securities Has Received Compensation From (DHI), (PHM) In Past 12 Months(DHI), (PHM) Is Or In Past 12 Months Has Been An Investment Banking Client Of UBS Securities(DHI), (PHM) Is Or In Past 12 Months Has Been A Non-Investment Banking Client Of UBS Securities (Securities-Related Services)
CNBC.com with wires
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6ac58a792eef0a1bf5e85876ee97a7a9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/3-etf-plays-for-your-portfolio-strategist.html | 3 ETF Plays for Your Portfolio: Strategist | 3 ETF Plays for Your Portfolio: Strategist
How can investors use ETFs to benefit their portfolios? Tom Lydon, editor at ETFTrends.com told investors where they can look.
VIDEO0:0000:00Best ETF Picks
Use the 200-day moving average as a guide, Lydon told CNBC.
“The idea is following trends,” he said. “If you pick certain areas that you can identify trends with, you’d do very well … With ETFs and all the choices you have today, investors can easily identify when to buy when you go above the 200-day average and when to sell when you go below the 200-day average and avoid major pitfalls.”
Below are Lydon's three ETF plays in an environment where the dollar is weak, interest rates are low and gold and oil are in an inflationary state.
Lydon’s ETF Plays:
PwrShrs DB USD Bear
U.S. Oil Fund
SPDR Gold Trust
Track Gold, Oil and Other Commodities HereTrack the U.S. Dollar and Other Currencies Here
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Disclosure:
No immediate information was available for Lydon or his firm.
______________________________CNBC Slideshows:
The 10 Hottest Commodities of 2009
______________________________
Disclaimer
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abf38ffc8eedfbb46261b2770025d022 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/after-a-tornado-a-kansas-town-rebuilds-green.html | After a Tornado, a Kansas Town Rebuilds Green | After a Tornado, a Kansas Town Rebuilds Green
Even if it were the only one of its kind, Mike Estes’s brand-new, energy-efficient, wind-powered, water-conserving, environmentally sensitive John Deeredealership here would attract considerable attention in Kansas. This is a state that consistently ranks among the top 10 in oil and natural gas production, and routinely elects to Congress skeptics on matters of energy conservation and environmental regulation.
But in July, Mr. Estes’s 28,500-square-foot, $3 million BTI Greensburg dealership (BTI stands for Bucklin Tractor and Implement, the name of the original store, which has since expanded to four locations) earned the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certification, the highest designation, Six other buildings anticipate LEED certification.
plant in a hand
While many of the nation’s biggest cities do not have a single platinum development, BTI was not even the first building in Greensburg to receive it. That distinction goes to the 1,670-square-foot Arts Center at the center of town, designed, built and opened a year ago by graduate students of the University of Kansas School of Architecture. The center is powered by windmills and a bank of solar photovoltaic panels, and heated and cooled by a state-of-the-art geothermal system. It was the first LEED-platinum building in Kansas.
That such visionary development is occurring in this sun-washed, wind-whipped agricultural community of 900 residents can be attributed to a single event: a monstrous tornado in May 2007 that killed 11 people.
In the weeks after, as federal and state officials assessed the damage and estimated the cost of rebuilding, business and civic leaders gathered with residents to come up with a reconstruction plan. The most important goal, city leaders said in interviews, was to build a sense of economic dynamism that would generate new businesses and jobs and persuade Greensburg’s talented young people not to leave.
“We had the chance to start over,” Mr. Estes said. “What do you do when you start with a clean slate? You want to build it better. Right?”
And so his company decided to incorporate in the new dealership — the old one was wrecked in the tornado — design features like skylights and electrical systems that cut energy use by half, plumbing fixtures that save almost 40,000 gallons of water a year, and two wind turbines out back that spin in a steady wind and generate a part of the dealership’s electricity.
The first gatherings after the tornado produced a surprising civic consensus in a community where “green roofs” and the “heat island effect” were foreign concepts. As Dea Corns, a real estate agent who manages the Greensburg State Bank with her husband, Thomas V. Corns, recalls, “We decided to put the ‘green’ in Greensburg.”
These days, the technical language of the green building world is in everyday use as Greensburg sets out to achieve the distinction that the former Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius, now the secretary of Health and Human Services, described in a news conference two years ago. "We have an opportunity of having the greenest town in rural America,” she said.
Last year, leaders approved a redevelopment plan drawn up by the architectural firm BNIM, based in Kansas City, Mo., that called for Greensburg to be a “truly sustainable community that balances the economic, ecological and social impacts of development,” and “a laboratory for research on sustainable design and community development.”
Greensburg also approved an ordinance requiring that all municipal buildings larger than 4,000 square feet be built to LEED-platinum standards, putting it in the forefront among communities in the United States in energy conservation standards.
BTI’s John Deere dealership is a small part of a bustling panorama of development whose total cost is expected to reach $100 million. Financing comes from a mix of federal, state and local sources, and to a surprising degree, private donations.
In April, for example, the city’s 10,000-square-foot $3.4 million business incubator opened on Main Street. Financing for the office building, which offers temporary space at low rents for 10 small businesses, was provided by Frito-Lay, the federal Department of Agriculture and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
The 4,700-square-foot $2.9 million City Hall, designed to achieve LEED platinum designation, is about to open at the center of town.
A block away, the 18,800-square-foot Kiowa County Courthouse, built in 1914, is being renovated at a cost of $5 million. The reconstruction includes highly insulated walls, geothermal pumps for heating and cooling, high-performance lighting and controls and other environmental and clean energy features that qualify for LEED gold designation.
Along United States Route 54, the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, a 48,500 square-foot, $25 million medical building, is under construction and scheduled to open next year.
According to Kiowa County, the new hospital is seeking to become the first LEED platinum critical-access operation in the country. The building incorporates natural light; high-performance insulating glass; light-sensing dimmers; motion sensors; an on-site wind turbine to generate electricity; a bio-swale filtration system to process all waste water from the laundry, showers and lavatories; and a system to capture rain water to flush toilets. Those and other energy conservation features mean that it will not need fuel oil boilers to back up its heating and cooling systems, drastically reducing costs.
“People saw that a terrible tragedy could be made into something valuable and durable and better,” said Daniel Wallach, founder and executive director of Greensburg GreenTown, a nonprofit organization that has provided technical assistance and organizational support for the reconstruction. “They said, ‘Look what we can do when we think about this in a new way.’ ”
Not everybody in town is so sure. Some residents and business owners, particularly in the months after the tornado, expressed concerns that the green plan would increase costs and slow the process of getting construction permits.
But Mr. Estes and others who have added energy-saving designs and equipment report that the higher initial installation costs have been more than offset by significantly lower operating costs. Mr. Estes said he was saving the equivalent of $25,000 to $30,000 annually in energy and water costs compared to his old building.
Greensburg’s green showcase also includes a 32-unit LEED-certified town house complex, comprising 40,000 square feet and built at a cost of $4 million, and 200 new homes, most of which were built with energy efficiency, water conservation and other environmental values in mind.
The National Renewable Energy Lab, a unit of the federal Department of Energy that advised the city in green development, tested 100 of Greensburg’s recently built homes and found that, on average, they consumed roughly 40 percent less energy than those they replaced.
Greensburg is also among the first in the nation to light its streets with LED lamps, which focus their beams on the ground and make it possible to see the stars. The new lamps also save 70 percent in energy and maintenance costs over the old sodium vapor lights, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 tons a year, city leaders say.
And Greensburg is planning to generate all of its electricity from the wind. Outside of town, John Deere Renewable Energy, an Iowa-based unit of the equipment maker that has built wind farms in other Midwest states, is planning to break ground on a 12.5-megawatt wind farm that consists of 10 turbines capable of supplying electricity to 4,000 homes.
Mr. Estes is so enthusiastic that he embraced a new clean energy business plan that responds directly to the city’s goal of generating new jobs.
CNBC Slideshows
Hottest States for Green JobsHow to Green Your Home
BTI is now the national distributor of Canadian-built Endurance Wind Power turbines capable of powering homes and businesses. “Two years ago, the whole town needed to be rebuilt,” Mr. Estes said. “And we needed industry. We are learning that green makes sense.”
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6e6c40846629114d0089a7917dd5a916 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/behind-wednesdays-fed-decision.html | Both the S&P and Dow sold-off Wednesday as comments from the Federal Reserve reminded investors that at some point the economy will have to stand-up on its own.
Initially stocks rose sharply following the Fed's comment that economic activity was picking up, but in the last hour of trading the market reversed course as investors fretted about the timing of the removal of some of the Fed's stimulus.
Although the Fed kept interest rates unchanged, they also talked about slowing purchases of mortgage debt. That was seen as a step toward a measured withdrawal.
Among the casualties were banks, housing stocks and energy shares.
The other worry was the Fed's vow that interest rates will stay low for an extended time, which makes it tougher for banks to make money. Also the market's run-up of nearly 60 percent over six months might have also caused some investors to use the Fed's statement as reason to book profits.
VIDEO0:0000:00Word on the Street
How should you be positioned now?I don’t read a lot into the sell-off, says Karen Finerman. Wednesday’s move just takes stocks back to where they were on Monday. At the end of the day there were no surprises out of the Fed meeting.
Also there was never any panic, echoes Pete Najarian. Just look at the volatility .
I found the Fed statement to be bullish, says Joe Terranova. Low interest rates create a great environment for growth. But the market obviously didn’t see it that way.
I think the market has gotten use to the Fed stimulus, adds Tim Seymour. It’s like a crack pipe and the Fed said at some point it’s going away. But the market can survive without it. I don’t think the pullback is a big surprise or that it means the rally is over.-----------
CRUDE CLOBBERED
U.S. crude futures tumbled on Wednesday after government data showed a surprisingly large increase in supplies.
"Today's data certainly was on the bearish side across the board. Crude builds are largely the result of lower refinery utilization and stronger-than-expected imports," says Chris Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management.
What’s the trade?
As far as I’m concerned there’s more upside potential in nat gas than oil, says Joe Terranova. I’d play it with Apache or EOG as companies exposed to nat gas but for the long-term.
I’ve noticed a divergence between the spot price of nat gas and the UNG, adds Karen Finerman. I’d be careful. If you want exposure I’d do it with Chesapeake .
Oil broke some important trend lines, says Tim Seymour. I think we could have a few more days of weakness. I wouldn’t run into the space right now.Oil seems to be grinding in a range, says Pete Najarian. It seems oil at $70 is the new norm. But as far as I’m concerned the best energy trade is long coal .
-----------TOPPING THE TAPE: TECH OUTPERFORMSIt appears investors remain bullish on tech with Apple , Western Digital and other names all making intraday 52-week highs.
Seagate also made headlines on Wednesday after the company signaled improving demand for its hard-disk drives and hiked its quarterly sales forecast.
The new forecast dovetails with other signs of improving personal computer demand. Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel , the world's largest supplier of chips for the computer industry, said Tuesday that worldwide PC sales are making a quick comeback.
What’s the tech trade?I’m bullish on Intel long-term, adds Pete Najarian. And I’ve got my eye on RIM , he adds. The stock has made a huge move ahead of earnings.
I’m watching the PC upgrade cycle, explains Joe Terranova. Names that benefit from renewed IT spending are names I’d be in. I expect to see growth coming from this sector.
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AFTER HOURS ACTION: RED HAT
In extended trade Red Hat moved higher after the company reported higher fiscal second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher sales of its open-source software subscriptions and a one-time tax benefit.
The world's biggest provider of Linux software reported net quarterly profit of $28.9 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $21.1 million, or 10 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
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OPTIONS ACTION: ELECTRONIC ARTS
Pete Najarian has spotted unusual options activity in Electronic Arts. Market speculation suggests Microsoft may be interested in acquiring the company.
What’s must you know?
The stock has underperformed and they’ve got a great balance sheet but they’ve had a hard time showing profits, explains Najarian.
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STORY OF THE DAY: WHAT DID FED DO WRONG?
VIDEO0:0000:00Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged
As we said above, both the S&P and Dow fell Wednesday with the sell-off largely triggered by comments from the Federal Reserve.How is strategic investor Dennis Gartman positioning himself in the wake of the Fed meeting?Find out! Watch the video now!
______________________________________________________Got something to to say? Send us an e-mail at fastmoney-web@cnbc.com and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment but not have it published on our website send those e-mails to .Trader disclosure: On Sept. 23rd, 2009, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Terranova Owns (F); Terranova Owns (F) Calls And (F) Puts; Terranova Works For (VRTS); Najarian Owns (ACI) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (C) Calls; Najarian Owns (DELL) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (ERTS) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GE) Calls; Najarian Owns (JPM) And Is Short (JPM) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) And Is Short (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MSFT) And Is Short (MSFT) Calls; Najarian Owns (PALM) Calls; Najarian Owns (ORCL); Najarian Owns (TEVA); Najarian Owns (V) And (V) Calls; Najarian Owns (WFC) Put Spread; Najarian Owns (YHOO) Call Spread; Finerman's Firm Owns (MSFT), (NOK), (PBR), (WMT), (RIG), (TGT), (BDX); Finerman's Firm Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares, Finerman Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares And Owns (BAC); Finerman Owns (RIG); Finerman's Firm Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares And Is Short (WFC); Finerman Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares; Finerman's Firm Is Short (IJR), (MDY), (SPY), (IWM), (USO); Seymour Owns (AAPL), (BAC), (RIG), (SBUX), (FXI), (F), (TTM)
For Jim SuvaCitigroup Owns (PALM)Citigroup Has Received Compensation From (PALM)Citigroup Is A Market Market In Securities of (PALM)Citigroup Is A Market Market In Securities of (RIMM) For Dennis GartmanGartman Owns Gold
CNBC.com with wires
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72b7e868cb914ab40f922874c92dd4f8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/conocophillips-gets-bet-to-break-50-level.html | ConocoPhillips Gets 'Bet' To Break $50 Level | ConocoPhillips Gets 'Bet' To Break $50 Level
ConocoPhillips has not broken the $50 mark since the beginning of the year, but one large option trader is betting that the oil and natural gas company will break that level by mid-January.
COP is off 0.86 percent to $46.24 in midday trading. The stock hit a 52-week low of $34.12 in March before running up 43 percent in early June but has largely traded sideways since then.
The options activity was concentrated at the January 48 contracts, which consisted of a single block of 3,300 calls bought at the $2.29 asking price less than half an hour into the session. The trading was above open interest and dwarfed the average daily volume of just 183 calls at that strike, according to
The calls would turn a profit only if COP rises roughly 9 percent from today's levels to more than $50.29 by the time the options expire on Jan. 15. The company has not yet scheduled its next quarterly earnings report.
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7728bdd0f9cc0848ae44c3ee9e98649e | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/cramer-here-comes-another-pullback.html | After the Federal Reserve’s statement sparked a rally that pushed the Dow past 9,900, stocks tumbled back down, closing 81 points lower. Cramer on Wednesday predicted this was the start of another 3% to 5% decline, the kind we’ve seen periodically since the March bottom. If so, he said, investors should use the dip to buy companies related to the “mobile Internet tsunami.”
These are Cramer’s plays on the smartphone. Consumers want faster data, more video and a better Web connection – in the palm of their hands. The trend is so big that he likens it to the mass adoption of the PC. His Mad Money Mobile Internet Index, created to track the group, is up 16% since its Aug. 11 inception, with Ciena , SanDisk and Skyworks Solutions being the biggest winners. Compare that to a 7% increase for the S&P 500 over the same time period.
“These are all plays on the mobile Internet tsunami,” Cramer said of his index, “and I believe they can all go much higher. And that’s what you buy into the sell-off of the next couple days.”
For investors who thought they were late to the game, Cramer shared some good news.
“Despite how much these stocks have moved,” he said, “we are still early on in this trend, and I think it’s going to last for years.”
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Questions for Cramer?
Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? madcap@cnbc.com
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37a1ed8b7adc62b9f74c51bcd59ca22b | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/do-drugs-and-tweets-mix.html | Do Drugs And Tweets Mix? | Do Drugs And Tweets Mix?
TwitterSource: Twitter
The drug biz is abuzz over social media. It's the new frontier. For a lot of PR and corporate communications teams it's all about new media and social media. Some biopharmas, big and small, now have directors of social media. Most are still trying to find their way, but the Food and Drug Administration may soon direct them.
This FDA revealed its plansto hold a public hearing in November to talk about social media and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries' use of it.
I've been using Twitter for several months now. I invent as I go but, in general, I treat it as my personal wire service along with the occasional pop culture observation and shout out for the USC Trojans. But I'm certainly not marketing FDA-regulated products or anything else, for that matter. And that's what the agency is apparently getting concerned about.
I follow a number of biopharma companies on Twitter, but I'm keeping an eye out for news or something notable. I'm not interested in them selling me one of their products. Twitter requires you to say what you've gotta say in 140 characters or less. So, one of the main issues here is if a company wants to sell its drugs on a social media site like Twitter (I don't do Facebook or MySpace or any of the others, so I can't speak for those outlets) how do you possibly squeeze the half-page or 30-seconds of side effect warnings into a tweet? (That's what a message on Twitter is called.) Would a link to the safety stuff be sufficient?
Those are questions for the FDA to answer.
In the meantime, though, I decided to do a biopharma Twitter checkup. The world's biggest drug company Pfizer is following more people than any of its competitors and is number two in followers behind Novartis, but it's only sent out 37 tweets. Johnson & Johnson is a close third for followers. Marc Monseau, who tweets on behalf of JNJ, is the most prolific pharma twit, but he's kind of a hybrid because he sends out personal and corporate blurbs. As far as I can tell, the two big drug companies that are getting bought - Wyeth and Schering-Plough -aren't on Twitter. Merck is there, but only to post job openings. AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Genentech are also all on Twitter. Biotech giant Amgen has 1,352 followers, but is the only company that doesn't follow anyone. It has tweeted 54 times, but nearly half of the tweets were from a fashion show. Seriously. Bristol-Myers Squibb confirms it has the Twitter handle of bmsnewsand it has attracted nearly 350 followers even though it has yet to send a single tweet. A spokesman says the radio silence should end in the near future. Eli Lilly has also yet to join the conversation.
Biopharma & Twitter
I'm not sure how or if drug and device marketing will fit in on Twitter or social media. That's up to the FDA, I guess. But I do see it as another effective platform for companies to communicate with the public and the media. Just do it in a real-time manner. Treat it like an extension of the corporate website and the PR and business newswires. When you put out a release, get it out at the same time or as quickly as possible on Twitter or Facebook as well. And please leave the fashion shows to your internal corporate websites and e-newsletters.
Questions? Comments? Pharma@cnbc.com and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman
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c3109d3528f2bcdb416860cd5abb4ae2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/do-you-buy-the-optimism.html | Do You Buy the Optimism? | Do You Buy the Optimism?
Car on road
They are the moves, comments, and reflections of a struggling auto industry finally getting back on its feet.
A couple of major automakers and their executives have sent clear signs they are preparing for better times.
Today in India Ford CEO Alan Mulally said he expects U.S. sales between 10.5 and 11 million this year and rising to 14.5 million in 2011.
And yesterday GM announced it would add a third shift at 3 of its plants - a move that will mean re-hiring 3,000 workers.
Separately, you might look at these statements and say these companies were operating at such a low base a slight increase is to be expected. But this goes beyond such a quick dismissal. There is clearly an optimism building among automakers. And no, it's not the kind one-time quick hit you get with a clunkers incentive program.
The question is whether you buy it?
Talking with those outside the auto industry I still sense plenty of trepidation about what's next. Everyone agrees the worst has passed, but there's still not the confidence that would fuel auto sales of 12 or 13 million annually. People still know friends and relatives who are without a job.
Slideshow: Top Clunker Trade-Ins and Upgrades
That said the automakers are buying into this optimism as we head into the start of the auto show season. Last year, the shows were a bust across the board. This year, starting with Tokyo next month and Los Angeles in December, the executives will be painting a far different picture. Are you buying what they are selling?
Bookmark Alert: Track All the Dow Transports Here
_____________________________________Click on Ticker to Track Corporate News:
- Ford Motor
- Toyota Motor
- Nissan
- Honda Motor
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Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com
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7f6a068970ad42f1811298600a063d3a | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/does-your-school-party-hardest-on-saturday.html | Does Your School Party Hardest on Saturday? | Does Your School Party Hardest on Saturday?
The business of college football is normally Darren Rovell'sdomain. Except he went to Northwestern (which I'm told has a football team) and I went to USC (please, let's not talk about last weekend). So I feel that I'm more of an expert on college football, at least when it comes to college football tailgating. Anyone who has ever camped outside the Coliseum on a Saturday in autumn knows what I mean.
College Tailgate Party
Tailgating is big business for beer, ribs, and grills. Those who do it well are an asset to their schools.
But the Trojan faithful do not make the list of the top 10 tailgating schools, according to Tailgater Monthly.
First, let's consider the fact that there is a publication called Tailgater Monthly.
A one-year subscription costs $14.95. You could buy a 12-pack for that and do your own research. On the magazine's website, ads include a banner at the top of the screen screaming, "Do you Clink N Drink?", selling a fascinating fridge-mounted bottle opener. Other ads sell things like portable beer-pong tables.
But I digress. Here is Tailgater Monthly's 2009list of the best schools for tailgating.
10. University of Colorado: "One of the most naturally beautiful settings in all of tailgating. No matter what the weather, there is a microbrew to fit your situation."
9. University of Georgia: "Tailgating in Athens is as serious as the game itself."
8. University of Washington: "It is an uncommonly cool event to tailgate on the water."
7. University of Alabama: "Bama's faithful arrive almost a week early to set up the perfect spot and to place orders for ribs or sauce from Dream Land or Archibalds."
6. University of Texas: "Not many people have pride in their grilling skills like the people who fill the lots surrounding the DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium."
5. University of Wisconsin: "The fans are loud, the tailgates are massive, and the beer, brats and cheese are in no small quantity."
4. University of Tennessee: "Combining a trip up the Tennessee River with SEC football is an experience that has become a tradition for many of the Volunteer faithful."
3. LSU: "The food here is unlike any other in the world. That, accompanied with the atmosphere of a night game in Death Valley, can give you tailgating memories that will last a lifetime."
2. Penn State: "Great tradition, a constant fan base and a party that sprawls all around the stadium."
1. University of Mississippi: "Simply put, an Ole Miss Saturday in the Grove is tailgating at its finest...the elegant tailgate setups with centerpieces, silverware and a feast as southern as Mississippi."
Vote now for your favorite party school - AND - leave me a comment below on why your school should be on this list. My reason for USC: "We play hard, we party hard. There's nothing like tailgating out of the back of a Porsche."
Questions? Comments? Funny Stories? Email
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192ba48ed2bba92c831e0df3f9c6858c | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/emphasis-on-growth-is-called-misguided.html | Emphasis on Growth Is Called Misguided | Emphasis on Growth Is Called Misguided
Among the possible casualties of the Great Recession are the gauges that economists have traditionally relied upon to assess societal well-being. So many jobs have disappeared so quickly and so much life savings has been surrendered that some argue the economic indicators themselves have been exposed as inadequate.
In a provocative new study, a pair of Nobel prize-winning economists, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, urge the adoption of new assessment tools that incorporate a broader concern for human welfare than just economic growth. By their reckoning, much of the contemporary economic disaster owes to the misbegotten assumption that policy makers simply had to focus on nurturing growth, trusting that this would maximize prosperity for all.
Recession-themed newsprint cuttings
“What you measure affects what you do,” Mr. Stiglitz said Tuesday as he discussed the study before a gathering of journalists in New York. “If you don’t measure the right thing, you don’t do the right thing.”
According to the report, much of the world has long been ruled by an unhealthy fixation on swelling the gross domestic product, or the quantity of goods and services the economy produces. With a singular obsession on making G.D.P. bigger, many societies — not least, the United States — failed to factor in the social costs of joblessness and the public health impacts of environmental degradation. They allowed banks to borrow and bet unfathomable amounts of money, juicing the present by mortgaging the future, thus laying the ground for the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
The report is more critique than prescription. It elucidates in general terms why leaning exclusively on growth as an economic philosophy may yield unhappiness, and it suggests that the incomes of typical people should be weighed more heavily than the gross production of whole societies. But it sidesteps the thorny details of slapping a cost on a ton of pollution or a waylaid career, leaving a great mass of policy choices for others to resolve.
Some Americans may reflexively reject the report and its recommendations, given its provenance: it was ordered up last year by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, whose dissatisfaction with the available tools of economic assessment prompted him to create the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Tuesday’s briefing was held in an ornate room at the French consulate. The official French statistics agency is already working to adopt the report’s recommendations. Mr. Sarkozy plans to bring it with him to the G-20 summit meeting in Pittsburgh this week, where the leaders of major countries will discuss a range of policy issues.
But whatever one’s views on the merits of European economy policy, and wherever one sits on the ideological spectrum, these appear fitting days to re-examine how economists measure vital signs — particularly in the United States.
By most assessments, the American economy is now growing again, perhaps even vigorously. Many experts expect a 3 percent annualized rate of expansion from July through September. As a technical matter, the recession appears to be over. Yet the unemployment rate sits at 9.7 percent and will probably climb higher and remain elevated for many months. In millions of households still grappling with joblessness and the tyranny of bills, signs of health served up by the traditional economic indicators seem disconnected from daily life.
This was precisely the sort of contradiction Mr. Sarkozy sought to unravel when he created the commission, tasking it with pursuing alternate ways of measuring economic health.
To head the panel, he picked Mr. Stiglitz, a former World Bank chief economist whose best-selling books amount to an indictment of the Washington-led model of global economic integration. Mr. Sarkozy also selected Mr. Sen, a Harvard economist and an authority on poverty.
The resulting report amounts to a treatise on the inadequacy of G.D.P. growth as an indication of overall economic health. It cites the example of increased driving, which weighs in as a positive within the framework of economic growth, as it requires greater production of gasoline and cars, yet fails to account for the hours of leisure and work time squandered in traffic jams, and the environmental costs of pollutants unleashed on the atmosphere.
During the real estate bubble that preceded the financial crisis, the focus on economic growth helped encourage overbuilding and investment in real estate. Mr. Stiglitz argues that the single-minded focus on growth gave American policy makers a false sense of assurance that their policies were virtuous, as they allowed financial institutions to direct virtually unlimited sums of money into real estate and as consumer debt levels built with unrestrained momentum.
Credit enabled spending, and spending translated into faster growth — an outcome that was intrinsically good, and never mind how long it might last or the convulsions that would accompany the end of easy money.
A growth-oriented policy encouraged homeowners to borrow as if money need never be repaid, and industry to produce products as if the real cost of pollution were zero, Mr. Stiglitz added.
“We looked to G.D.P. as a measure of how well we were doing, and that doesn’t tell us whether it’s sustainable,” he said at the briefing. “Your measure of output is grossly distorted by the failure of our accounting system. What began as a measure of market performance has increasingly become a measure of social performance, and that’s wrong.”
Instead of centering assessments on the goods and services an economy produces, policy makers would do better to focus on the material well-being of typical people by measuring income and consumption, along with the availability of health care and education, the report concludes.
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Many of these prescriptions will no doubt resonate with policy makers and ordinary people.
Indeed, the difficulty comes in turning these general principles into new means of measurement. The report notes that its authors concur on the big picture, but diverge on the methodologies to be employed when it comes to factoring in the value of a better education and cleaner skies.
The old mode of measurement has taken a beating, and yet the new one, it seems, is still a work in progress.
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0ccd229950193231c475b8c6fb5f8a9b | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/former-merrill-exec-may-head-ubs-americas-sources.html | Former Merrill Exec May Head UBS Americas: Sources | Former Merrill Exec May Head UBS Americas: Sources
VIDEO0:0000:00Shuffle At UBS
Bob McCann, who ran Merrill Lynch's brokerage divison before it was bought out by Bank of America, may take the place of Robert Wolf as head of UBS Americas, according to sources within UBS.
McCann was already gunning for the top position in UBS's wealth management unit, but sources say he is now being considered for control of the entire UBS Americas branch.
McCann faced Bank of America in court last week, arguing against the bank's claim that he is not allowed to be hired by a competitor as part of his severance agreement.
Also on CNBC.com:
US Bank CEO Pay Dwarfs Rest of the World: StudyBofA CEO Won't Resign Unless Charged By SEC: Sources
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ac858e633f12b379c0b27dc65227c07a | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/future-of-energy-ceos-weigh-in-from-summit.html | Future of Energy: CEOs Weigh In from Summit | Future of Energy: CEOs Weigh In from Summit
As the National Energy Summit kicks off in Washington, CEOs shared their insights with CNBC Wednesday on the future of energy and what it means for business.
VIDEO0:0000:00Powering Up With Coal
Powering Up with Coal
"Coal is the fastest growing fuel that we've had for fossil fuels in the United States at 50 percent; that's enormous. The scalability of renewables today are about 2 percent ... If they quintuple, we'll have 10 percent of our nation being derived from renewables. People forget to do the math ... If you look at China, they're developing everything. And I think that's a very smart policy. And in the U.S., I think we need to do the same."
- Steven Leer, Arch Coal CEO
VIDEO0:0000:00Blue Chips Take on Energy
Blue Chips Take on Energy
"My company, Caterpillar , we're a pretty big player in this space. We're a leading provider of machines, engines and turbines to the development of— and natural gas resources here and around the world. We're a big producer of kilowatts, in fact the third largest after GE and Siemens ... We're investing a lot of money in clean energy." (GE is parent company of CNBC)
- Jim Owens, Caterpillar CEO
VIDEO0:0000:00Energizing the Future
Nuclear Energy Part of the Future
"We feel that nuclear power has to be part of the energy complex going forward. The plants are in fact 20-40 years-old; there hasn't been one built in 20 years. In order to get a renaissance, we need all the supply chain issues to fall in place and develop a whole new manufacturing base that supports the build out of new nuclear plants as well as a new labor force that has to come along."
- Mayo Shattuck, Constellation Energy CEO
VIDEO0:0000:00Making Energy Affordable
Making Energy Affordable
"We have to keep everything practical. My advice would be look for those who are being pragmatic and separate them from the pipers ... There's a lot of folks that say, 'Let a thousand flowers bloom in the energy space.' You know, there aren't that many flowers ... You're looking at the core of where energy comes from; you got the sun, you got the wind, you got vegetation and general for biomass. And then you have hydrocarbons and nuclear. There aren't that many solutions out there."
- John Hofmeister, founder & CEO for Citizens for Affordable Energy
More Energy News on CNBC.com:
Schork Oil Outlook: What Makes Those Bulls HappyCommodities Prices: Track Oil, NatGas and More HereObama Wants Global End of Fossil Fuel Subsidies
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51c44c9e75d1d78136943614dd1d3164 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/g20why-pittsburgh-a-tale-of-three-cities.html | G20—Why Pittsburgh? A Tale of Three Cities | G20—Why Pittsburgh? A Tale of Three Cities
Pittsburgh is known for its three rivers. To me, it's been three cities over the past 30 years.
It's the city that I grew up in when the Steel Era was strongest in the late 1970s.
Pittsburgh, PAAP
It became a city whose universities and hospitals flourished over the next decades, while a growing number of global services businesses started calling Pittsburgh home.
And now the city that G-20 visitors will see can credit those institutions for helping it weather this financial crisis.
"It used to be we'd dive into a recession and leap out," says Doug Heuck, a former colleague from my days as a fledgling reporter at the now defunct Pittsburgh Press. "Now all of those curves are much flatter. It's kind of a brain power center now as compared to a brawn power center."
Heuck edits Pittsburgh Quarterly, the city's glossy commerce and culture magazine. Its stories — features on educational and medical breakthroughs, conservation and greening programs, and the city's lively cultural district — couldn't have been written in the 1980s.
"Pittsburgh is really much better off now, it's much more livable, much more vibrant," he says.
The City of Steel
It's been a slow process but Pittsburgh seems to have figured out how to deal with difficult economic times, like this current recession. After all, the city has seen much worse. Pittsburgh's unemployment rate hit 17 percent in 1983, after the collapse of the steel industry. Today unemployment here is under 8 percent, about 2 percent below the national average.
The steel mills that provided my grandfather with a living for three decades are mostly gone. Manufacturing lost 100,000 jobs when that industry largely shut down in early 1980s. Yet the manufacturing sector — now diversified into energy, technology, life sciences and robotics — still contributes about $14 billion to the local economy.
Financial Services, Education & Healthcare
Downtown Pittsburgh's skyline is dotted with Fortune 500 companies and global services corporations, including financial services companies (Federated Investors and PNC ) and top law firms (K&L Gates), which have also been critical to the city's survival. About 14 percent of the local jobs are here and financial activities, business and professional services account for $35 billion in gross regional product.
But to me, the most stunning change in Pittsburgh's economy over the past 30 years has been the explosive growth of its universities and hospitals.
"When I came here, Pittsburgh was known mainly for steel, ketchup and football and now while I love all of those things in many parts of the world it really is pioneering research and world-class medical care that people know about this city," says University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, who joined the faculty in 1977 and worked for nearly 25 years with my father, now a retired university dean.
Today the University of Pittsburgh accounts for nearly $1.75 billion in local spending and supports 34,000 jobs. Fifteen years ago, the university's research expenditures were a little over $200 million dollars a year.
Today they're more than $650 million dollars a year. Collaborating with Carnegie Mellon University — a few blocks away — to create technological innovations, these schools have spawned hundreds of start-up companies.
"We're spinning off new companies from university-based research," Nordenberg says. "Those companies are rooting here and beginning to grow here and that of course is the generator of not only new jobs but good jobs."
The University of Pittsburgh's Medical Center — known now just as "U-P-M-C" — is the most shining example of the city's transformation. Its letters are emblazoned on top of the city's iconic U.S. Steel Building, the $8 billion corporation is the biggest tenant of this 42-story skyscraper and the region's largest employer with 50,000 employees.
Support From 'Mom and Pop'
But Pittsburgh's small businesses, the "Mom and Pop" shops, will be critical to Pittsburgh's continued growth. My mother's family owned a dry cleaning business in the city for nearly 70 years. One of the locations, under new ownership, still serves the Homewood neighborhood. Justin Strong's dad runs it now.
VIDEO0:0000:00Spotlight Pittsburgh
Justin, also an entrepreneur, owns the popular "Shadow Lounge" in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood and is scouring the forgotten areas of the city for new business opportunities. He's hoping to convince visitors from around the world who are in town for the G-20 to consider investing here.
Vacant lots and abandoned buildings in the city's East End are prime locations for urban farming and green manufacturing, he says.
CNBC Slideshows:
World's Most Expensive CitiesUS Cities with the Most Underwater Mortgages
"It's about using what is already here and using it in a new way that you may not be thinking about that actually gets us the best potential and the best bottom line."
That has been Pittsburgh's promise for the past 30 years and may be the key to its future progress.
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743b8f5c026442ff8fa8139b64622562 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/geithner-supports-franks-revisions-to-financial-reform.html | Geithner Supports Frank's Revisions to Financial Reform | Geithner Supports Frank's Revisions to Financial Reform
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says he supports revisions to the administration's financial reform plan that were proposed by Rep. Barney Frank.
Tim Geithnercnbc.com
Frank, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, wants to pare back a plan to establish a new consumer protection agency to address concerns raised by neighborhood banks and other lawmakers.
Frank supports creation of the agency but would set stricter bounds than proposed by the Obama administration.
Frank's envisioned agency would not be allowed to require that companies offer standardized products known as a "plain vanilla" option. Exempt from agency oversight would be retailers, real estate brokers and other industries.
Geithner told a House panel Wednesday the administration is "very supportive" of the changes.
Geithner’s eight-page testimony devotes the most attention to the creation of a new watchdog agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would have broad rule making and supervisory power of firms offering services and products to the public.
“Consumer protection cannot be reformed without addressing these structural problems," the testimony reads. “Our proposal will address them directly. It will consolidate fragmented consumer authorities into one agency.”
House Panel Revising Obama's Consumer Watchdog Bill
The reform package, which some now say is unlikely to be passed this year despite much effort, has become a front burner issue again, with new differences emerging between key Congressional advocates.
Frank Tuesday said he did not agree with a proposal unveiled by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) earlier this week that would wrap the existing banking supervisory functions of four agencies, including the Federal Reserve, into a new entity. Dodd’s proposal also runs counter to the White House’s preferences.
Another hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET, featuring four banking regulators:. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair; John Dugan, Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; John Bowman, Acting Director, Office of Thrift Supervision and Joseph Smith, Jr., North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, who is representing the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.
Geithner’s testimony, however, does address other key banking issues, such as higher capital requirements and stricter supervision of too-big-to-fail firms.
“It will force these firms to pay an appropriate regulatory price for the risks that their failure or distress could impose on the broader financial system,” the testimony states. “It will offset the perceived government support enjoyed by these firms, which should substantially reduce any competitive advantage they have due to the market’s assumption that they would receive assistance in the event of failure.”
More on CNBC.com:
Video: Banking on GeithnerVideo: Lessons from LehmanSlideshow: World's Most Competitive Financial Centers
In making a case for resolution authority, Geithner’s testimony indicates that the the Obama administration will require such firms to “prepare and regularly update a credible plan for their rapid resolution in the event of severe financial distress." Regulators will also review them on a regular basis.
Some analysts say the lack of resolution authority thwarted federal efforts to deal with LehmanBrothers, whose bankruptcy, filing sent shock waves through the global financial system, and AIG , which has required almost $200 billion in US financial aid.
Geither’s testimony cites the Lehman case, saying, “its collapse showed, existing bankruptcy arrangements are often ill-suited for dealing with the insolvency of large financial institutions.”
—Reuters contributed to this report.
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6cdc12fdb1179038c2d71b4cf986459d | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/halftime-report-gaming-stocks-in-wake-of-fed-statement.html | Trading was subdued on Wednesday as investors eagerly waited to hear from the Federal Reserve and whether the central bank would signal any changes in monetary policy.
Although the Fed was expected to keep interest rates unchanged, investors intended to pour over the committee's statement to see whether the language used suggested a shift in its efforts to revive the economy by flooding the markets with cheap money.
VIDEO0:0000:00Fast Money Halftime Report
What should you be looking for?
It won't be a surprising statement, says Dan Faretta, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock. But if it suggests inflation is in check, you may see the market rally this afternoon. If it doesn’t, we'll probably see a muted trade.
I do not expect to hear anything out of the Fed that will change my opinion that the dollar is heading lower, muses Tim Seymour. I’m bearish on the greenback for the long-term.
I’ll be looking to hear what the Fed says about mortgage purchases, adds Brian Kelly of Kanundrum. If they extend the program to March it could be interpreted as de facto easing and the dollar could sell-off. My trade is long British pounds versus short the US dollar.
Looking at the broad market, it seems to me that 1059 is a key level on the S&P; it’s the 10-day moving average, explains Jared Levy of Peak 6. Patterns suggest to me that if we can’t hold that level we could sell-off significantly.
But don’t forget we’re coming to the end of a quarter, reminds Danielle Hughes of Divine Capital. We could see buying through September 30th as window dressing and that would lift the broad market.
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TOPPING THE TAPE: TECH
In technology investors are closely watching Seagate after the company signaled improving demand for its hard-disk drives and hiked its quarterly sales forecast.
The Scotts Valley, Calif., company said Tuesday it now expects to report revenue at or above the high end of its previous estimate of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion.
In a note Wednesday, Deutsche Bank analyst Sherri Scribner upgraded Seagate to "Buy" from "Hold," telling investors her checks show hard drive demand "trending better than expected," mainly on the strength of notebook computer sales. Scribner also said improving demand and stable pricing could lead the sector to top expectations for the third and fourth quarters.
The new forecast dovetails with other signs of improving personal computer demand. Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel , the world's largest supplier of chips for the computer industry, said Tuesday that worldwide PC sales are making a quick comeback.
What’s the tech trade?
Going forward I expect to see money moving into tech, adds Danielle Hughes. Technology has been the real driver over the last couple of weeks. Apple hit a 52-week high on Wednesday, explains Tim Seymour. But I wouldn’t be a buyer at these levels.
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OPTIONS ACTION: ELECTRONIC ARTS
Jared Levy has spotted unusual options activity in Electronic Arts. Market speculation suggests Microsoft may be interested in acquiring the company.
What’s the trade?Microsoft seems to be looking for a strategic acquisition, muses Tim Seymour. It would be a nice fit but I wouldn’t speculate.
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COMMODITY NAMES SLIDING
Energy stocks showed weakness on Wednesday with sector dragged lower by the price of oil which tumbled more than 4 percent to below $69 a barrel. Government data showed surprisingly large weekly increases in supplies and triggered the sell-off.
"Today's data certainly was on the bearish side across the board. Crude builds are largely the result of lower refinery utilization and stronger-than-expected imports," says Chris Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management.
What’s the trade?
In this space, I’d look at nat gas, counsels Joe Terranova. Short positions are being unwound. I think over 6 to 9 months investors will get a better return in nat gas than oil. Although nat gas inventories are high right now, one strong cold snap could work off those inventories very quickly.
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TRADE TO GO -- THE AUTO TRADETim Seymour suggests putting Ford on your trader radar. With Ford CEO Alan Mulally predicting a rise in sales over next 2 years and a strong presence in Asia, the Ambassador thinks this stock is worth watching. “I’d put fresh capital to work in this stock today,” says Seymour.
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Trader disclosure: On Sept. 23rd, 2009, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Terranova Owns (F); Terranova Owns (F) Calls And (F) Puts; Terranova Works For (VRTS); Najarian Owns (ACI) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (C) Calls; Najarian Owns (DELL) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (ERTS) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GE) Calls; Najarian Owns (JPM) And Is Short (JPM) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) And Is Short (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MSFT) And Is Short (MSFT) Calls; Najarian Owns (PALM) Calls; Najarian Owns (ORCL); Najarian Owns (TEVA); Najarian Owns (V) And (V) Calls; Najarian Owns (WFC) Put Spread; Najarian Owns (YHOO) Call Spread; Finerman's Firm Owns (MSFT), (NOK), (PBR), (WMT), (RIG), (TGT), (BDX); Finerman's Firm Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares, Finerman Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares And Owns (BAC); Finerman Owns (RIG); Finerman's Firm Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares And Is Short (WFC); Finerman Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares; Finerman's Firm Is Short (IJR), (MDY), (SPY), (IWM), (USO); Seymour Owns (AAPL), (BAC), (RIG), (SBUX), (FXI), (F), (TTM)
For Jim SuvaCitigroup Owns (PALM)Citigroup Has Received Compensation From (PALM)Citigroup Is A Market Market In Securities of (PALM)Citigroup Is A Market Market In Securities of (RIMM) For Dennis GartmanGartman Owns Gold
CNBC.com with wires
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46d5b62df266804be78a38a55f298c72 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/house-panel-revising-obamas-consumer-watchdog-bill.html | House Panel Revising Obama's Consumer Watchdog Bill | House Panel Revising Obama's Consumer Watchdog Bill
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass) is working on an alternative version to Obama administration legislation that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency as part of sweeping regulatory reform of the financial services industry, according to a Congressional document.
Barney FrankAP
Frank outlines the changes in a memo to Democratic members of the panel, saying he would soon be releasing an “initial revised discussion draft...intended to be responsive to the primary concerns Members have expressed to date.” CNBC.com obtained a copy of the memo which is dated Sept. 22.
The emergence of an alternative plan for the somewhat controversial new agency comes as Congress resumes work on the regulatory reform plan, which was formally outlined by the White House in June. Frank’s committee will hold a public hearing on the agency later this month.
“The discussion draft will make several key changes to the Obama Administration’s draft legislation to make clear that CFPA will not disrupt merchants, retailers and other nonfinancial businesses or subject banks and other depository institutions to needless additional regulatory burdens and costs,” the memo states. “At the same time, CFPA will have a mandate to set strong rules that all financial institutions—both banks and nonbanks—will have to follow when providing financial products and services to consumers.”
Unlike the Obama bill, the discussion draft will not require companies to offer “plain vanilla” products and services or mandate “reasonableness standards", forcing the firms to determine whether consumers understand the products and services being offered.
The White House outline of the agency, first released in mid June, requires firms to offer a variety of basic, or plain vanilla, products, such as home mortgages.
Consumer Watchdog Proposed For Financial Services Industry
The House plan also addresses the heretofore-unanswered question of funding for the consumer agency. The White House has floated the idea of charging firms fees, similar to what it does for the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund, but sources familiar with Frank’s thinking have previously ruled that out. Others have speculated that the agency budget would come out of the federal government’s general operating budget, which funds other agencies.
Instead, the Frank memo says, “to ensure adequate funding of CFPA without placing additional burden on financial institutions, the Federal Reserve will fund CFPA at a level that reflects amounts the banking agencies currently pay for consumer compliance."
The discussion draft is also expected to say that non-financial businesses would be exempt from CFPA regulation and oversight, but nonbank firms will be subject to assessments.
Frank's committee is taking up the issue of the consumer agency before the other remaining parts of the financial reform package at the request of the president. The House already approved a bill on executive compensation in July, shortly before its August recess. Other measures include banking supervision consolidation, the creation of a super, or systemic, regulator, and resolution authority to deal with too-big-to-fail firms.
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d1ddcfa38e360b899212c0ab66281ed6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/lightning-round-walmart-amd-philip-morris-and-more.html | Huntsman : Sell HUN, Cramer said. The money’s been made in this stock.
Spectra Energy : Buy Spectra, Cramer said. He likes the strong balance sheet and 5% dividend yield.
VIDEO0:0000:00Lightning Round
Advanced Micro Devices : Cramer is bullish on AMD, though he said to take some profits if investors got in when he recommended the stock at $2. He also said to wait for a pullback to $5 if they want to buy more. He likes NVIDIA in this space, too.
Walmart : Don’t buy WMT. Cramer would rather see investors in Home Depot .
Wabtech : Go with CSX instead, Cramer said.
Dana Holding : “It’s already moved too much,” Cramer said. Dana has to pull back in price before he’ll recommend it.
Philip Morris : “Take a pass on PM,” Cramer said. The stock has already had a good run.
Cramer's charitable trust owns Home Depot.
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Questions for Cramer?
Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? madcap@cnbc.com
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5b41a7fc5b1f6dd0d964f6e281bcc0f4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/market-insider-thursday-look-ahead.html | Market Insider: Thursday Look Ahead | Market Insider: Thursday Look Ahead
What Else to Watch on Thursday:
The Treasury auctions $29 billion in 7-year notes Thursday. Several new stocks will trade Thursday. Colony Financial and Apollo Commercial Real Estate priced after the close Wednesday after cutting the size of their offerings in half due to soft demand for REITs. Other IPOs on the calendar are A123, a lithium car battery maker, which upped its price range, and Vitacost.com, an online health supplement retailer and manufacturer, which priced within its range.There are several earnings including 3Com , McCormick and Rite Aid , ahead of the open. Blackberry-maker Research in Motion releases earnings after the bell. The U.N. General Assembly continues meeting in New York. President Obama presides over a 9:15 a.m. Security Council meeting on disarmament before heading to Pittsburgh.Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner briefs the media in Pittsburgh on the U.S. goals at the summit Thursday afternoon.Chicago Fed President Charles Evans gives opening remarks at 10:30 a.m. before the Chicago Fed's 12th annual international banking conference. White House Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer speaks to that gathering at 1 p.m. The House Oversight Committee holds a 10 a.m. hearing on credit rating agencies and what role inaccurate ratings played in the financial crisis.The House Financial Services Committee holds a 9 a.m. hearing on systemic risk. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker testifies. The Senate Banking Committee holds a 9:30 a.m. hearing entitled "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: One Year On." Attendees include Neil Barofsky, special inspector general of the TARP program and Professor Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel.The Clinton Global Initiative annual summit, well attended by political and business leaders, continues in New York.
More on CNBC.com:
G20 - Why Pittsburgh? A Tale of Three CitiesG20 - Rebalancing Plan Not "Blame Game"
— Questions? Comments?
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3eb7d57c7f54d9f2de0ea7b8bf0bef18 | https://www.cnbc.com/2009/09/23/michael-moores-new-doc-takes-on-capitalism.html | Michael Moore's New Doc Takes on 'Capitalism' | Michael Moore's New Doc Takes on 'Capitalism'
Capitalism: A Love StorySource: capitalismalovestory.com
As CNBC spends the month examining the economic melt down one year agoand how far we've come, Michael Moore takes the one-year anniversary to release his new documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story" which skewers the financial system. The documentary doesn't look at the big banks that failed, but at the people who suffered. And yes, the title is ironic: Capitalism is the bad guy.
From a commercial perspective it seems Moore's latest film faces a serious uphill battle.
I think the country is feeling major "recession fatigue." And now as the economy appears to be getting better, I'd guess Americans would want to move on or distract themselves, rather than spend two hours in a movie theater to reflect on just how bad things are. (Aren't theaters about escape?)
Slideshow: What Does $1 Trillion Look Like?
Moore says the big banks are entirely responsible for the financial meltdown, and he doesn’t place any of the blame on Americans who took out those adjustable-rate-no-money-down mortgages. That means he disagrees with Obama's comments to Wall Street that the "decisions made by ordinary Americans to open credit cards and take on mortgages," they couldn't afford were part of the problem.
Moore takes particular aim at Goldman Sachs , pointing out the relationships between top treasury execs and Goldman executives. Sure, there's no question that there needs to be more careful regulatory oversight and scrutiny of regulators' relationships with Wall Street. But aren't there plenty of targets that were more reckless than Goldman - banks that didn't survive?
And I can't help but point out that Moore himself is bankrolled by a titan of industry and a true proponent of free-market capitalism: Liberty Media chairman John Malone , , . The film is produced by Malone's Overture Films. Malone is quite the media mogul, nicknamed "Darth Vader" for trying to end the must-carry rules, which protected broadcasters, among other things.
Slideshow - The World's Best Banks 2009
Moore has proven a savvy businessman himself, as his "Fahrenheit 9/11" documentary was the most successful documentary of all time, grossing $119 million in 2004. (It even outperformed Warner Independent's "March of the Penguins"). LionsGate distributed "Fahrenheit", as well as Moore's "Sicko," which brought in $24.5 million in 2007. I bet the studio is breathing a sigh of relief that it's not trying to sell this film that looks back as the country tries to push forward.
Questions? Comments? MediaMoney@cnbc.com
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