Mass Communication

Introducing Jim Kokocki and Toastmasters

We all know that effective leaders need also to be effective communicators. However, public speaking can be one of the most prevalent fears out there. In fact, up to 75% of people have some degree of glossophobia. So how does one who wants to be an effective leader learn the skills and ease the anxiety around communication. 

Jim Kokocki is the immediate former president of Toastmasters, a global organization that seeks to improve the speaking skills of its members through exercise and practice. Jim wasn’t always a seasoned speaker though. He remembers a time when he was working in IT and two engineers approached his desk and noted that he was a pretty smart guy but he had nothing to say in company meetings. Through Toastmasters, Jim was able to gain confidence speaking in public and the skills even changed his career path.

Toastmasters isn’t just for those who fear public speaking though. Their clubs also help those who are just not effective communicators, those who can come off as abrasive, those who don’t understand their audience, and those who aren’t effective for many other reasons.

If you are looking to touch up your communication skills this is the episode of the Boiling Point for you.

In this episode

• We congratulate Dave on his family’s upcoming “bundle of joy”.
• Jim gives us the background behind Toastmasters and how he became their president.
• We learn what is involved with being the president of this great organization.
• Jim explains why anxiety of public speaking can be a good thing because it shows that you care.
• Greg expands on his experience with Toastmasters and how it helps that you are allowed to fail and encouraged to keep trying.
• We learn what a typical meeting is like.
• We hear of some of the reasons why people join up.
• Jim tells us of an upcoming book titled Keyboard to Keynote, which is tailored for those in the IT industry who wish to enhance their communication skills.
• We hear about some public speaking experiences from Greg, Dave and Jim.

Links

- Toastmasters Website

- Jim on Linked In

- Jim's Email

- Jim on Twitter

- Toastmasters on Twitter

Local First

Introducing Jayne DeMerchant & Scott Williams and Taylor Printing

We have all heard the expression, “buy local.” Many of us make the effort to go local and it often means a better quality product and sometimes means a few extra dollars. However, beyond a few buying decisions how can we encourage local collaboration amongst businesses and a real “union” of local purchasing?

This week’s guests, Scott Williams and Jayne DeMerchant came up with a unique way to encourage business to work together in New Brunswick. Scott and Jayne are executives at Taylor Printing Group in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The printing moniker may be a bit misleading, however, as they are more of a communications company that offers printing as well as web based products, email campaigns, SMS marketing, and much more.

Scott and Jayne are big proponents of supporting local and they came up with an idea to do just that. A few months back, Scott came up with an idea to have a 24 piece puzzle where each piece would correspond with a New Brunswick business but none of the other businesses would know which other businesses were involved. Each business would develop clues to each piece and the group that could decipher the businesses first would win money to donate to a charity of their choice. Not only would this game introduce a number of businesses to each other but it would also give them an opportunity to network with one another, develop relationships, and support a worthy cause. 

Check out this week’s episode of the Boiling Point to see how you can encourage local business working together in your region.

In this episode

• We reach Scott going through customs and immigration and Jayne is in studio with us.
• We learn about how Jayne and Scott began to work with each other through the Wallace McCain Institute.
• We learn about Taylor Printing and how they have become a leader in Atlantic Canada.
• Scott tells us why he opened Taylor Printing as Atlantic Canada’s first print start-up in 25 years and how it is different than his competition.
• We learn why it is important to Scott and Jayne to support their local community and especially their local businesses.
• We learn about Taylor’s unique puzzle competition.
• Greg talks about the negative and incorrect mythology in Atlantic Canada where we feel that we need outsiders for quality work.
• We are given the secret to a number of companies that took part in the puzzle competition.
• Greg challenges our listeners to figure out strategies to encourage “local first”.
• Dave is inspired by the idea of local companies collaborating for the common good.

Links

- Taylor Printing Website

- Scott on Linked In

- Jayne on Linked In

- Wallace McCain Institue

- Millennial Dream

A Culture Designed for All

Introducing Joe Brewer and Evonomics

Looking back through history you could find many examples of capitalism running amuck. There are even recent examples of those with money and power abusing those with less.   This week’s guest sees a massive global change coming and hopes he might be able to inspire a cultural design. 

Joe Brewer is the co-founder and editor of Evonomics magazine, a research director for TheRules.org and a coordinator for the newly forming Cultural Evolution Society. Joe is a complexity researcher and also an evangelist for the field of cultural design and he hopes to see a transition in society to sustainability.

Check out this episode to see why we are where we are in society, how things could change and what that would take in a very interesting episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• Greg tells us how he sold his cottage with national exposure by “hacking the system”.
• Greg describes Joe as the ultimate culture hacker.
• Joe tells us how he became interested in cultural design.
• Greg tells us how he and Joe first met.
• Joe tells us why there needs to be an evolution in our current economic system.
• We learn how the model of economics we have now is based on good ideas that were coopted and other stupid assumptions.
• We also hear how certain stories and institutions hold up our system.
• We also learned how an important picture taken decades ago served as an important hack on our stories of separation.
• Joe dives into a time in the evolution of modern economics called the enclosure movement and how this has led us astray.
• We learn how co-ops and b-corps are taking us to a more balanced place.
• We hear how we are at a crux in our culture, which could lead to either a breakdown or a renaissance.
• We also learn that there is a biological basis for empathy and how the simplest culture hack is to just smile at people. 

Links

- Joe on Twitter

- Joe on Facebook

- Joe on Linked In

- Joe on Medium

- Evonomics Magazine

- ChangeStrategistForHumanity.com

- TheRules.org

You Can Be That Someone

 Introducing John Harthorne and MassChallenge

 Sometimes you could wait so long for someone else to solve a problem and not even realize that you could be that someone. This week’s Boiling Point guest, John Harthorne had the epiphany that he could be that someone to accelerate start-ups.

John knew for a long time that the prospect of launching a start-up was something he was passionate about. However, after graduating with an MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2007, he had a student loan to pay off. He decided to take a job as a Strategy Consultant and he would use any hefty bonus cheques to pay off the loan and then dive into a start-up. Unfortunately, when the bonus cheque came, so did the great recession of 2008. Talk about bad timing; the stock market had crashed and it was hard to find capital. John knew the solution to climbing out of the recession would be investments in start-up companies that would create jobs and help build the economy. He wished someone was out there investing in the creative economy, and then he realized maybe he could be that someone.

John has since founded MassChallenge, which is hailed as the most start-up friendly accelerator on the planet by taking no equity, no revenue and having no restrictions. Since inception, MassChallenge has been able to help launch hundreds of start-ups globally which rose over $1.4 billion, generated $475 million in revenues, and created 50,000 jobs.

Check out this episode of the Boiling Point to see if your start-up could qualify for MassChallenge, or to be inspired to be “that someone” to solve a problem.

In this episode

• Greg tells us how he met John in India while filming for the Millennial Dream.
• John tells us how MassChallenge is the most start-up friendly accelerator on the planet.
• We learn that the mission of MassChallenge is to empower the creative class globally to extenuate a period of global renaissance and what that means.
• We talk on how the global recession was caused by greed and too many people drawing short-term profit instead of building long-term value.
• John relates this to those who make and eat pie.
• John also talks about how great growth can be found in collaboration.
• We learn how MassChallenge emulated MIT.
• John also tells us about his first steps of launching something like MassChallenge.
• He also tells us how MassChallenge gave him some of his best lessons including how to communicate with the media.

Links

- MassChallenge website

- MassChallenge on Twitter

- MassChallenge on Facebook

- MassChallenge on LinkedIn

- John on LinkedIn

- John on Twitter

Tap into your Passion

Introducing Craig Pinhey, The Beer and Wine Guy 

The best type of hobby is one you can turn into a job. That is exactly what Craig Pinhey did with his love of beer, wine, and spirits.

Craig is a trained engineer but his passion was wine and spirits. When he and his wife moved for her to take a new job, Craig saw it as the perfect time to take the plunge into writing on beer and wine. At the time, New Brunswick didn’t have any columnists of this type. Decades later, Craig continues to write for three provincial papers and gets to live his passion.

Learn how you can turn your hobby into your pay cheque in this episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• Craig comes prepared with beers from some of New Brunswick’s best microbrewers.
• We learn how Craig got involved as a beer, wine and spirits writer.
• Craig also tells us about the explosive growth in micro brewing throughout the Atlantic Provinces.
• He tells us how the market potential is still “untapped”.
• We learn why brewpubs in smaller towns are so successful.
• Craig tells us about some of his adventures in writing on wine.
• He also tells us about a beer opener he got from what he thought was a pub in Germany.

Links

- Craig on Twitter

- Craig on Facebook

- Craig's Website

- Craig on Linked In