This qualitative study examined the attitudes of senior leaders around the concept of storytelling as a strategic communications tool to assist in driving successful organizational change. The leaders interviewed were more likely to incorporate a strategic storytelling approach if one or more of the following conditions are present: The belief that storytelling can be an effective tactic to drive organizational change, the experience of training in sound storytelling techniques and the ability to incorporate storytelling as part of a wider change-communication strategy. These findings provide greater understanding of the potential role of storytelling within strategic change communications and provide clues for change communications professionals who are seeking to build a strategic storytelling approach.
Build trust between managers and employees. Auvinen & Blomqvist (2013) interviewed 13 managers in Finland who headed organizational effectiveness efforts and asked them to retell stories used in change situations. They concluded that storytelling makes a positive impact, especially in terms of a leader's ability to increase trust and help employees make sense of a situation. Additionally, Auvinen & Blomqvist (2013) determined that storytelling could help a manger care about others and grow their professional skills.
Tie together past, current and future organizational change: Dalpiaz & Di Stefano (2018) discovered benefits of organizational storytelling by conducting historical analysis of the Italian design firm Alessi. They specifically examined the narrative leadership of founder Alberto Alessi between 1979 to 2010 and the tactics he used to affect change among employees and customers. The authors determined that Alessi's narratives sustained the company's story, provided artifacts and created shared memory. This was done through the creation of a narrative that included storytelling in the form of books and other artifacts.
Blend a culture during a major period of organizational change, like a merger or acquisition: Vaara and Tienari (2011) demonstrated how managers used storytelling to build an internal, blended culture during the merger of Nordea, a financial services group. Top managers crafted stories of Nordic culture to bring together Swedish, Finnish, Danish, and Norwegian employees. A new cultural identity was developed internally in the company that smoothed over traditional biases held by each country's culture against co-workers from other cultures.
Help organizational stakeholders make better sense of change situations (Weick, 1995). Weick (1995) maintained that "when people punctuate their own living into stories, they impose a formal coherence on what is otherwise a flowing soup, narrativity is a mode of description that transforms events into historical facts by demonstrating their ability to function as elements of completed stories" (p. 128). Boyce (1995) demonstrated this impact during a study of two storytelling events at various non-profit organizations. She led two groups through various storytelling exercises and led follow-up interviews to determine how participants used stories to define the experience in the organization. The results showed that storytelling helped center employees and helped them determine shared meaning (Boyce, 1995).
Physiologically tie speaker and listener: Stephens, Silbert, Hasson & Gross (2010) recorded one native English speaker telling an unrehearsed story and had 12 native English speakers listen to the story. The brain activity of all participants was measured with an MRI machine during the story exchange. The findings showed that successful communication results in neural coupling between speaker and listener. This research makes a physiological case for stories connecting participants, an especially important factor in helping employees make sense of change, inspiring and motivating stakeholders and helping to instill a sense of trust between leader and follower.
Yet, for all indications that there are benefits to senior leaders using storytelling, there is evidence that many avoid such an approach. Consider the results of a 2006 International Association of Business Communicators survey on the topic, the most recent such data from one of the world's most prominent business communications group. Nearly 70 percent of respondents considered storytelling an important addition to change communications (Ioffreda & Gargiulo, 2008). Yet, only 33 percent said their senior leaders effectively used the technique (Ioffreda & Gargiulo, 2008). Researchers continue to study why some senior leaders avoid storytelling as part of a deliberate change communications strategy. This dichotomy forms the basis of this study. The definition of change communications from Kalla (2005) was used in this study and included all formal and informal communication within an organization that advanced the sharing of knowledge to help employees make the organization more successful.
• Storytelling as non-linear: Boje (2011) considers stories as snippets of information that impact future organizational outcomes. The leader's story is part of an organization's larger and always active narrative; a process constantly shifting in meaning (Boje, 2011). Boje (2011) invited the term "antenarrative" (p. 1) to describe a story as "a bet on the future and its before narrative cohesion fossilizes the past." Boje (2011) maintains that the delivery, meaning and impact of stories is also impacted by time and space. For example, he might view a story that is delivered by a leader as having the biggest impact at a later time, dependent on how the listeners received the story, how they repeat the story, who receives their story and within what context.
• Specific kinds storytelling drives business results: Denning is one of the originators of describing how leaders can use stories to affect change in order to meet business objectives. Based on his experience at the World Bank, Denning (2001) invented the term "springboard story" (p. 207) as a way to describe the kind of organizational narrative given by a leader that can spark stakeholders to action. This aligns with Kotter's (1996) change management framework that calls for the establishment of a sense of urgency to successfully drive change.
The primary research question of this study was: What are the barriers and enablers around storytelling for senior leaders who are implementing change communications initiatives in organizations?
This study consisted of ten interviews and was limited to English-speaking, director-level and above business leaders who had worked on internal change communications strategy. Nine of the 10 interviews were conducted virtually and lasted 30-60 minutes. One interview was conducted in person. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The interview questions aimed to get respondents to 1) Define change communication strategy; 2) Describe the tactics involved in a change communication initiative; 3) Describe how storytelling factored – or could have factored – into the change communications example and 4) Provide perspective on why strategic storytelling might be used – or not used – generally in change communications. (See appendix for interview questions.) Participant questions initially focused on role function and duties. Questions then focused on at least one example of a change communications initiative that detailed the scope of work, communications planning and implementation and beliefs surrounding successful and non-successful tactics. Questions then moved into views around storytelling. The purpose of this portion of the interview was to determine if the respondent generally supported a storytelling approach or generally resisted a storytelling approach. Once that view was established, respondents were asked to provide deeper perspective on their reason for the support or resistance to storytelling within a change communications and business context. For this research, a purposely broad definition of story was used that included the foundational research: A traditional beginning/middle/end approach, as well as a snippet of information that makes meaning the future. Each respondent was asked to define the concept of storytelling from their perspective.
All study participants were based in the United States. Study responses were 60 percent women and 40 percent men, and all had at least 15 years of professional experience. Sixty percent of respondents could be described as purposefully incorporating a strategic storytelling approach into change communications initiatives. This study took a qualitative approach and used the process of inductive coding identified by researchers, such as Thomas (2006). Specific attributes of this kind of approach that Thomas (2006) identifies include cleaning data, reading transcripts multiple times to refine understanding, adding category labels, adding category descriptions, adding associated text, adding common links and incorporating themes into a model. For this study, an inductive approach allowed the researcher to align and synthesize more than 300, double-spaced pages of interviewee transcripts that represented varied change communications experiences across a variety of industries and a differing perspective on the impact of strategic storytelling. Each interview transcript was given a first and second read, with key thematic concepts listed and combined with each review. Key transcript examples were then anonymized and added to a spreadsheet that categorized pieces of data into an example of a change communication initiative, participant definition of storytelling, storytelling themes, storytelling sub-themes and additional quotes providing context and future storytelling research opportunities. In line with Thomas (2006), categories were established based on the themes and insights that emerged from the transcripts. A theme was established only if there were multiple examples of that theme from three or more participants. Sub-themes were identified through strong links to main themes. For example, one sub-theme of storytelling reputation was a misunderstanding of the definition of storytelling.
I discovered three primary themes that point to the barriers and enablers for strategic leadership storytelling within a change management initiative: A belief that storytelling is or is not a reputable business approach, a belief that training is necessary and is or is not easy and a view that storytelling can be integrated into wider change communications.
Barriers and Enablers: Storytelling reputation: Had a senior leader actually used a storytelling approach?
As previously stated, there are varying opinions between researchers and senior leaders about storytelling as an effective change communications tool within a business context. This reputational disconnect was apparent in this study. Some respondents perceived the concept of story as more appropriate for external marketing or advertising efforts. Others indicated they were intimidated by a growing number of sophisticated storytelling events like TED Talks that would require them to be expert presenters, almost in the vein of a celebrity circuit speaker. Some respondents reported having frustrating experiences with storytelling consultants that didn't help organizations reach strategic communication goals. Even the word storytelling evoked mixed reaction. One respondent said: "Children listen to stories, right? A lot of senior executives might think 'my employees are not children. These are grown adults who should understand the strategy and deliver against it'" (P2). The P2 code, and ensuing similar codes throughout this paper, refer to responses from specific, anonymized participants. Figure 1 is comprised of three separate interviewee responses that are linked to storytelling resistance and are therefore barriers to storytelling. Figure 2 is comprised of two different interviewee responses that are linked to storytelling acceptance. Figure 1 and Figure 2 demonstrate reputational barriers or enablers to a storytelling approach. One key difference, within the theme of reputation, seems to be hands-on experience with storytelling. Respondents who took a negative reputational view of storytelling used language that suggested what they imagined would happen when implementing strategic storytelling in a business context. Most had actually not attempted to use storytelling in a strategic way. Respondents who took a positive reputational view of storytelling used language that suggested they had actually attempted a storytelling approach. In other words, respondents with a negative view had not used storytelling.
Study participants who embraced storytelling also demonstrated the experience of how the approach helped employees understand a change situation. One study respondent said that "I think (storytelling) is an effective way to get to the point and to get people to understand what you're trying to accomplish, the decisions you're trying to get to, the update you're trying to provide." That particular respondent demonstrated how they frame a storytelling approach for nearly every business problem. Their approach included mapping out a change story in much the same way that a filmmaker might storyboard a movie. They reported enlisting other C-Level leaders to take the same approach, a request made increasingly easier because those leaders began to see the benefit of the process.
While respondents in this study had mixed opinions on the value and impact of strategic storytelling, nearly all addressed that training and practice were important storytelling barriers and enablers. One interview participant summed up the situation as: "I think a lot of people just haven't had the practice or the training or the appreciation of its impact. I definitely wasn't naturally born with it…I come from the classic story of MBA school of logic…(that's) not necessarily bad…but I have all that classic training of creating a good PowerPoint, create a good logical flow, create a good set of facts and data points." (P1). Beyond formal schooling, other respondents reported that senior leaders realized they had to dedicate time to develop and practice storytelling. This process was not only presumed to be time-consuming, but the act of rehearsal could make the leader feel vulnerable – a word used by multiple respondents. Multiple respondents maintained that some senior leaders believed that storytelling, as part of practicing for an audience, made them feel vulnerable if they revealed a personal anecdote. Others worried about appearing vulnerable in front of a storytelling coach or consultant. Some then imagined they would be vulnerable when delivering a story in front of a live audience. Figure 3 is comprised of four separate interviewee responses that are linked to training resistance and are therefore barriers to storytelling. Figure 4 is comprised of two separate interviewee responses that are linked to acceptance and are therefore enablers to storytelling. Figure 3 and Figure 4 demonstrate training barriers or enablers to a storytelling approach.
To clarify why training and practice are important, this study makes a distinction between storytelling that is strategic versus off-the-cuff: Storytelling that is strategic is part of a change communications strategy. The story is somewhat planned out, meets the need of change objectives and is continually refined by the speaker and the reaction by the audience is gauged, either by observation or a quantitative process like a survey on understanding the message the story was meant to convey. To get to that point, many storytellers use professional coaches. Other leaders said that practice is a balance: "I think practice and training is important, but I also want to make sure that we don't over-train and over-do practice" (P7). Too much practice, can make the storyteller and story seem inauthentic, the respondent added.
Many respondents in this study were quick to point out that storytelling should only be considered as one part of developing and implementing strategic change communications. The interview protocol purposely began with general questions that asked participants to detail a change communications initiative, specifically focusing on the situation, the messaging content, the tools and tactics used to communicate the messaging and outcomes. This was done to determine if participants would address the subject of storytelling without prompting in order to provide greater sense of how much it played into their overall change communications planning. In most cases, the topic of storytelling was not addressed without a prompt. It can be reasonably inferred, therefore, that other change communication approaches were more top-of-mind for interviewees, and likely more regularly used. These included town hall events featuring senior leaders, work with key stakeholders around message alignment, email and company Intranet sites, the use of video that aligned with internal brand, as well as the establishment of private social communities. Figure 5 is comprised of three separate interviewee responses showing perspective on the importance of other organizational change tactics. For most respondents, these tactics appeared to be more top-of-mind than storytelling.
Figure 5: Interview feedback: Storytelling should be part of a larger communications strategy that includes modeling behavior, stakeholder feedback loops and rewards/recognition.
This study was conducted to better understand the barriers and enablers for senior leaders to use strategic storytelling as part of change communications to drive organizational change. First, the results showed that storytelling's reputation within a business context – from the perspective of the individual leader – can be a major determinant if the approach is used. Specifically, senior leaders who could see the value of new approaches beyond traditional business school training that solely focused on communication that relied on pure data and jargon-laden communications appeared to be more open to considering a storytelling approach. For that to happen, it is important that the senior leader have a research-based understanding of the myths and realities of storytelling, especially related to business objectives. This approach should be highly relatable to challenges in business communication. One respondent in this study who trains senior leaders on storytelling techniques uses an acronym to get clients to this view: C.R.A.P. stands for "Corporate Rhetoric and Pomposity" (P10). Injecting such instances of humor can help senior leaders see how storytelling can make business communication more clear and authentic. Additionally, this respondent ensures that clients work on storytelling training by using a real business problem so that the concept and value becomes more readily apparent. As this participant told me, "as they're applying what we're teaching them, they're actually getting work done. We make a point not to take people out of work, we make story part of their work" (P10). Secondly, training and practice can serve as barriers and enablers to using strategic storytelling as a change communications planning. Third, senior leaders were more apt to see the value of storytelling if they could see it as part of a larger strategy that included making sure that leaders were aligned and included other structural elements seen in widely accepted organizational change strategies. Based on these conclusions, I developed the following model (Figure 6) to represent the understanding of barriers and enables to use of strategic storytelling.
I have identified the barriers and enablers of storytelling within the context of change communications and it is necessary to show how the topic relates to current trends in organizational management against a quickly changing business world. One oft-cited statistic in human capital literature is that 70% of change efforts fail (Hughes, 2011). While recent research shows that figure may be inaccurate (Hughes, 2011), there little doubt that most organizational change is a difficult yet necessary component of a company's survival (Burns, 2011). It is also important to consider how organizations will grapple with change management practices as the business world continues to become more global, more connected and faster moving. What might that mean for leadership storytelling? Renjen (2018) contends that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has started and is marked by artificial intelligence, digital disruption, data, increased M&A activity and other factors. A Deloitte survey of 1,600 C-Suite leaders cited by Renjen (2018) reported that just 14 percent believed their companies could manage Industry 4.0, with 25 percent reporting their workforce was prepared. Allan, Fairtlough & Heinzen (2002) maintain that organizations are in limbo as they move away from being hierarchical entities and are torn by a desire for stability and need to navigate a new, ambiguous business world. The authors recognized this change gap within organizations where stakeholders realized they needed to change but struggled to progress without the traditional hierarchal systems and reporting structures of the past. The authors maintain that one answer to effective change is increased soft skills that help people navigate anxiety during times of internal change and storytelling can provide an answer. Effectively communicating that change is often underestimated or placed in a supporting planning role but McClellan (2011) agrees that it is a reason why efforts are successful.  How might the findings in this study help guide future efforts by companies that want to implement strategic storytelling, especially to drive organizational change in a rapidly changing business world? The results suggest a few tactics. First, senior leaders should be educated as to how companies have used storytelling to positively impact a variety of business objectives – from driving brand performance to strengthen culture, especially during periods that can bring high internal conflict such as a merger and acquisition. Second, companies should work to develop a checklist of skills that storytelling consultants should possess to help guarantee positive results. The items on this list would include foundational understanding of storytelling theory, outlined in this study, as well as references to demonstrate positive results with other clients. The list should include research on how storytelling can physiologically tie speaker and listener using the previously mentioned research from Stephens, Silbert, Hasson & Gross (2010). Additionally, storytelling training and practice are important and senior leaders should have a supportive consultant-coach. The storytelling consultant must provide the senior leader with a safe and private space to practice storytelling and should work with the client to identify ways to gradually work storytelling into business communications. This does not have to be a verbal presentation to thousands of employees. It can be a paragraph in a company newsletter. It can be a quick scene in a video. It can be incorporated into a presentation to a few senior leaders. The coach and the senior leader might consider identifying peers who could provide honest feedback on the storytelling approach. This would allow the senior leader to feel increasingly comfortable using storytelling. Additionally, storytelling training should focus on helping the senior leader(s) solve actual business problems. Finally, companies should understand the latest trends in change communications and how companies are integrating storytelling into their strategy. This may help them better determine the best ways to integrate strategic storytelling in their own organizations.
While the participants involved in this study provided high-quality insight into strategic storytelling, the sample size of responses was small, with ten interviews conducted. Additionally, while participants were employed in various senior leadership roles, not all focused solely on change communications strategy, which possibly meant a gap in knowledge surrounding foundational change management frameworks and theories. There is a difference in leading an organization from the perspective of a finance background, for example, and leading an organization from the perspective of a human capital background. Additionally, the concept and practice of change communications was much better known to some respondents than others. Finally, there was just one interview per person. Having time to conduct additional in-person and observational research around a change initiative and storytelling over a period of months or years would have made this study more robust.
Additional research into the barriers and enablers of strategic storytelling are certainly needed. The analysis of the transcripts of this study point to a few areas of import: The need to study the views of strategic storytelling by demographic age group, specifically around views of this approach by newer senior leaders in the Millennial generation compared to more seasoned senior leaders of Generation X and the Baby Boom Generation. Additionally, there was a call to examine the storytelling orientation of leaders in different industries, especially those in the non-profit sector where a storytelling approach might be used by a greater number of leaders. There is also a need to research storytelling dynamics at workplaces beyond Europe. Mládková (2014) has studied the impact of leadership storytelling on employee learning in change situations in the Czech Republic and has surmised that results were partially impacted by that country's specific culture. Country of origin identity was certainly a factor in the implementation of Nordic identity and storytelling identified by Vaara & Tienari (2011). Additionally, while Auvinen & Blomqvist (2013), connected storytelling capability to increased leadership trust, they acknowledge deeper studies are needed, especially that measure exactly how audience members perceive the story and decide how it is worthy of trust. The authors also rightly identify that storytelling is not just an oral tradition, that leadership storytelling can take the form other company communications like press releases, emails, branded books and other artifacts. While that was incorporated into the study of Alessi by Dalpiaz & Di Stefano (2018), more is needed. McCarthy (2008) called for more research into how storytelling techniques might deepen connections between organizational stakeholders, clarify values and connect with emotional intelligence.
Allan, J., Fairtlough, G., & Heinzen, B. (2002). The power of the tale: Using narratives for organisational success. Chichester: Wiley.
Auvinen, T., Aaltio, I., & Blomqvist, K. (2013). Constructing leadership by storytelling – the meaning of trust and narratives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 34(6), 496-514.
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Dalpiaz, E., & Di Stefano, G. (2018). A universe of stories: Mobilizing narrative practices during transformative change. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3), 664-696.
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I am a graduate student in the Master's in Learning and Organizational Change program at Northwestern University who was given your name by [MUTUAL CONTACT].
I am working on my Capstone project and am studying how senior leaders view strategic storytelling related to change communications. I'm speaking with a group of change communications professionals to get their perspective.
I would love to include you in this research study. Would you have time for an in-person or videoconference interview? It should take about 60 minutes and I am more than happy to schedule it on a day and time that is convenient for you.
Hello and thank you for your time.
As we've discussed in our initial emails and conversations, I am a graduate student in the Master's in Learning and Organizational Change program at Northwestern University. For my Capstone project, I'm studying how senior leaders view strategic storytelling related to change communications. I'm speaking with a group of change communications professionals to get their perspective. We'll talk today for about 60 minutes. I'll then transcribe our interview and analyze the results for general themes. I'll then present findings in a paper and presentation at Northwestern.
Our discussion today will focus on a few areas, including recent examples of a change initiative in your organization, how you communicated that change within your organization and if storytelling was a part of it. I have a series of beginning questions and then we'll drill down a bit deeper into a couple of topics. Do you have any questions before we begin?
• Change management/initiative: The act of offering a process to enact successful tactics to successfully drive different outcomes in a company.
Please describe your role at this organization.
Probe, if needed: What are your functional duties?
Probe, if needed: What key divisions/units do you oversee?
How is your internal communications team structured?
Probe, if needed: What are its primary functions?
Probe, if needed: How does the internal communications generally structure change communications strategy?
Can you tell me about a recent change initiative in your organization?
Probe, if needed: When did the initiative happen?
Probe, if needed: Who were the message's targeted stakeholders?
How did the organization communicate the change to employees?
Probe, if needed: How did the communication planning happen?
In your opinion, how successful was the change communications effort?
Probe, if needed: Why do you feel that way?
Probe, if needed: Was there a way to measure the effect of those change communications.
How do you think about storytelling?
Probe, if needed: From your perspective, what is a story?
Probe, if needed: What are the different parts of a story?
Have you purposely used storytelling to advance a recent change initiative?
How did you use storytelling as part of this particular change initiative?
Probe, if needed: Please walk me through the process.
Probe, if needed: Where did you tell the story?
Probe, if needed: Who heard the story?
Probe, if needed: Why did you select that particular story?
Probe, if needed: Why did you/your team decide to use storytelling?
Probe, if needed: What was the general reaction to the story? How do you know?
Probe, if needed: What worked in using a storytelling approach to this initiative?
Probe, if needed: What didn't work in using a storytelling approach to this initiative?
In general, why is using storytelling as part of change communications a good idea?
Probe, if needed: How did the story help make a positive impact on the specific change goal?
Have you received storytelling training?
Probe, if needed: If applicable, describe a storytelling training that has been held?
Why do you think some leaders avoid using storytelling?
Probe, if needed: From your perspective, how do the following factors play into that avoidance?
Probe, if needed: Traditional communication approach impact?
Probe, if needed: Lack of training impact?
Probe, if needed: Lack of time impact?
Probe, if needed: Lack of resources impact?
Probe, if needed: Lack of understanding of storytelling benefits (culture) impact?
Probe, if needed: Industry competitive pressures impact?
If you were going to convince senior leaders to implement strategic storytelling at an organization, how would you do it?
What else would you like to add about your perception of storytelling and change communications?
How did you communicate about the change initiative?
Probe, if needed: Can you tell me why storytelling wasn't used as part of the change communications?
Probe, if needed: How did you work to ensure the organizational change communications strategy was successful?
Probe, if needed: How did you know?
What are the most common methods that you communicate change?
Probe, if needed: In general, what strategies seem to work the best?
From your perspective, what are the downsides to storytelling?
Why do you think some senior leaders might support using a storytelling approach?
Would you be open to using storytelling in the future? Why or why not?
What else would you like to add about your perception of storytelling and organizational change?
Thank you for your time. Your responses today have given me a deeper understanding of how you think about storytelling within the context of organizational communications and change. If it's alright, I may need to follow up with additional questions based on overall themes that develop with this research project.
What is the link between self-orientation and trustworthiness?
I've been lucky this year to learn from people who are skilled at talent coaching, design thinking, change communications, organizational effectiveness and more.
They all share one personality trait: Low self-orientation.
They work to avoid making any part of the process about themselves. In fact, their actions are almost hidden as they guide others to a solution.
My Master's Capstone project has been approved. It's about business leaders and storytelling.
Specifically, I'm examining how senior leaders (director level and above) view strategic storytelling when communicating about change.
I am looking to interview change management and/or change communications leaders to get their perspective on using storytelling to driving business results. Is that you? Is that someone you know? Email me at chad@chadgraham.com.
Here's why change management and change communications pros should care about this topic: A growing body of research reveals that storytelling can guide modern change efforts in an increasingly complex and ambiguous business world. Storytelling, as part of a leadership change communications strategy, can spark employee action, strengthen team trust, deepen knowledge sharing and help employees better visualize the future (Denning, 2006). Stories provide a way for leaders to help employees make sense of change by bridging the future state laid out in a communications change plan with current-state reality, (Reissner, 2011). Senior leaders who use storytelling techniques, methodically and intentionally, can shape the future of an organization, especially in rallying others around a shared purpose (Boal & Schultz, 2007).
Yet, for all indications that strategic leadership storytelling should be universally embraced, questions remain if that is happening during change efforts. Researchers continue to study why some senior leaders avoid storytelling as part of a deliberate change communications strategy.
This gap forms the basis of my project.
Boal, K., & Schultz, P. (2007). Storytelling, time, and evolution: The role of strategic leadership in complex adaptive systems. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), 411-428.
Denning, S. (2006). Effective storytelling: Strategic business narrative techniques. Strategy and Leadership, 34(1), 42-48.
Reissner, S. (2011). Patterns of stories of organisational change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 24(5), 593-609.
I am excited to present this week at the Daily Iowan's 150th anniversary celebration. As a University of Iowa undergrad, the DI was my first training ground in how to be a reporter and a newsroom manager. It remains an incredible experience for students.
I'll be speaking about change management, focusing on media organizations. It's been a year since I left my job as a digital director at a TV station to return to school and head down a new career path in change management. I've had plenty of "aha" moments from incredible mentors connected with Northwestern University's MSLOC program about why organizational change can be so difficult and how to help make it a smoother process.
Plenty of news organizations continue to scramble just to get their product out, find new revenue streams and navigate ever-changing consumer behavior. It's a tough business and the past decade has been a roller-coaster ride. I also remain deeply concerned that news companies still aren't paying enough attention to building and growing internal change capability. There's plenty of "we need to change" talk, but the "how" of the change — the boots-on-the-ground, step-by-step implementation that gets broad buy-in — loses steam. Many are failing to continually train new leaders or set up systems to create, share and scale knowledge in engaging ways. Some don't have the know-how to create successful and sustainable teams, HR is buried in logistics paperwork, the emotional impact of historic industry disruption on employees is ignored and so on.
Meanwhile, business is only getting more complex. Check out this Industry 4.0 site from Deloitte.
Try to stay in the problem. Picture it: You're in a meeting and a problem is brought to everyone's attention. It's the first time most participants in the room have heard of this problem. What does everyone do? They start suggesting solutions. Not so fast. While that behavior is rewarded around deadline-driven news coverage, it may not work best with internal, organizational strategy. Ask the room: Have we really identified that this is the problem? How do we know? Have we tested these assumptions?
Ask questions. Then ask more questions and then ask more questions. How many times do we pretend to listen to others, but are actually simultaneously formulating a response in our minds? This Harvard Business Review article has a different tactic. There is power in asking follow-up questions, which can make a participant feel respected and involved in a change process. Questions can be as much about building rapport and gaining support for an initiative as they are about getting answers. Here's a challenge: Could you go an entire work day mostly asking questions? You do work in the communications business, after all. Take a page from journalism and avoid "yes" or "no" questions, capitalize on silence and allow the other person to expand on their comments and take care not to interrupt.
Know yourself at work. Do you know your work style? How do you react during times of stress? Can you read a room and adjust your style accordingly? Taking assessments can provide a better sense of how to be more effective in the workplace. Two of my favorites are the CliftonStrengths assessment and the Hogan assessments. Here's more information on assessments.
Know your team at work. Did you know that teams with more than 8-10 people may not function well? Or, how about that most teams go through four distinct phases: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing? Have you ever considered writing a team charter so that every member is clear on how the team operates, member roles and goals? Knowing how a team works is just as important as ensuring that the team reaches its goals.
Build narrative intelligence. Organizational storytelling is the focus of my Master's thesis and I am convinced that company leaders (especially) should continue to build skills in this area. Being able to tell the right story at the right time to the right audience to spark action will become even more critical to drive change. Storytelling can be a powerful way to steer through ambiguity.
Learn design thinking. "This approach brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows people who aren't trained as designers to use creative tools to address a vast range of challenges," according to the experts at IDEO. This method can be rolled out across the enterprise as a key way to build ideas and test solutions. It works for planning news content, discovering revenue solutions, transforming talent management and more.
To be sure, this is just a starter list. I'd love to hear from my fellow change management practitioners and media leaders on their solutions.
The world of work has changed and leaders need to become champions of innovation and create a work environment that fosters creativity, ideation and experimentation. How can that happen? It's not easy.
Stephanie Waite, Amy Buck and Andee Harris joined me to discuss their tips and tactics. I especially loved their takes on how leaders can use the power of questions and reading the room/body language to adjust their messages.
Will Busch III, Associate Client Partner at Korn Ferry Hay Group in Chicago, joined me on the DisruptHR Chicago podcast to explain how data can help HR show its value in business, his advice for newbies and more. It's good stuff and worth a listen.
Note: I'm Working Out Loud to document my learning journey around developing a digital learning course for the Master's in Learning & Organizational Change program at Northwestern University.
We conducted six, one-on-one interviews with MSLOC students who have a wide variety of experience in creating and maintaining a digital portfolio. Overall, there was very positive feedback. Interviewees generally found it easy to navigate the modules and felt that the structure was not overwhelming. That was a key hope, that this self-paced course wasn't overwhelming for time-strapped students.
In a part one of this post, I identified the stakeholder interview process. This time, my favorite question was: Tell me what this section is asking you to do? It was valuable to get user's descriptions to determine if their expectations met our intentions.
Develop a FAQ for the resource page, making sure to add that there are no grades, address the time to complete the course and explain the "reading" tasks of each module and the "creating within WordPress" tasks of each module.
Tabs for additional information, including examples and resources.
A primary benefit to using these design elements is to continue to simplify the experience for users. We do not want lengthy blocks of text or lack of images or too many links to distract and discourage them from creating a digital portfolio.
Wireframe designs have been submitted and we'll see what's possible.


text:
Trump administration officially declines to label China currency manipulator
U.S. 100 dollar bank notes and Chinese 100 yuan bank notes are seen in this picture illustration in Beijing, January 21, 2016. Jason Lee/REUTERS
Ana Swanson and
Ana Swanson
BioBioFollowFollow
Max Ehrenfreund
April 14, 2017 at 5:00 PM EDT
The Trump administration has chosen not to brand China a currency manipulator in an official report, reversing one of the president's most prominent campaign promises on trade.
In a semiannual report on America's major trading partners published late Friday, the Treasury Department declined to label any country a currency manipulator, though it kept China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Switzerland on a previously established "watch list" of countries that merit close attention for their currency practices.
During the campaign, Trump often claimed that China was manipulating the value of its currency to boost its exports, a policy that cost the United States manufacturing jobs. He promised to label the country a currency manipulator on Day One of his presidency.
But 83 days into his presidency, the president struck a different chord.
"They're not currency manipulators," Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an Apr. 12 interview, adding that China hasn't been manipulating its currency for months and that labeling China a manipulator could discourage the country from helping the United States with North Korea.
Economists agree that China doesn't currently merit the label of currency manipulator, and has not engaged in the practice for several years.
Eswar Prasad, a professor of international trade at Cornell University, said the administration's decision not to label China a currency manipulator was a good thing for the global economy.
"Using that label right now would have ratcheted up the tensions, would have accomplished little in terms of advancing U.S. economic and business interests, and could have hurt the bilateral relationship at a time when the relationship is even more important, not just for economics but for geopolitical issues," Prasad said.
The report is the latest sign of a dramatic shift in economic policy for Trump, who won the support of many voters by promising to get tough on the country's biggest trading partners, especially China and Mexico.
Trump signed a presidential memo on Jan. 23 to officially withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an Obama-era trade deal that Trump had heavily criticized. He signed two more executive orders in April directing government officials to investigate the practices of trading partners.
But other prominent promises made on the campaign trail have yet to materialize, including renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and hammering out better terms of trade with China.
Some supporters say this is only natural. Congress has not yet confirmed one of the administration's top negotiators, United States Trade Representative nominee Robert E. Lighthizer. But as the days pass, some supporters and critics of Trump's tough talk on trade are losing patience.
"China has years of experience manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage. And no doubt Beijing will manipulate its currency in the future unless it is deterred in some way," said Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which represents industry and steelworkers. "Failing to name China is a missed opportunity."
"Unfortunately the President's failure to name China a currency manipulator is symptomatic of a lack of real, tough action on trade against China," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Democratic leader, said in a statement Friday.
"While they're not manipulating their currency at the moment because it doesn't suit their economic needs, make no mistake about it, as soon as the tide turns they will. When the President fails to label them a currency manipulator, he gives them a green light to steal our jobs and wealth time and time again," Schumer said.
The value of a currency is determined by supply and demand, and currency manipulation occurs when a country buys or sell large amounts of its own currency on global markets to change the price.
But U.S. policy is really directed at countries that sell large volumes of their own currency to lower its price — a practice that makes a country's exports relatively cheap on global markets, hurting American exporters. In previous years, when China artificially lowered the value of its currency, it helped the country export products to the United States, and U.S. industries and workers balked at what they saw as an unfair competitive edge.
"When our trading partners engage in currency manipulation, they impose significant, and often long-lasting hardship on American workers and businesses," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a news release that accompanied the report.
The accompanying report used similar language to describe China's past interventions in exchange markets — a shift to a more forceful tone from prior reports issued under the Obama administration, but not one with immediate practical consequences.
"Expanding trade in a way that is freer and fairer for all Americans requires that other economies avoid unfair currency practices, and we will continue to monitor this carefully," Mnuchin added.
China held down the value of its currency, called the renminbi, RMB or yuan, to help its exporters for nearly a decade. But recently, China's behavior changed. For the past several years, the country has actually been propping up the value of its currency, which helps American manufacturers.
The Treasury report acknowledged as much.
After "engaging in one-way, large-scale intervention to resist appreciation of the RMB for a decade, China's recent intervention in foreign exchange markets has sought to prevent a rapid RMB depreciation that would have negative consequences for the United States, China, and the global economy," the report read.
Trump's dramatic reversal on China's currency follows a cordial meeting between the president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago on Apr. 6 and 7.
Before the summit, Trump tweeted that the meeting would be a "very difficult one" due to China's large trade deficit and the American jobs it had cost.
But after the encounter, he characterized the meeting in another tweet as one of "goodwill and friendship." The countries agreed to a 100-day plan for trade talks to boost U.S. exports to China, and China said it was willing to offer U.S. companies greater access to its markets for beef and financial services.
In the interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he had offered the Chinese better trade terms in exchange for their help on addressing the nuclear threat from North Korea. "That's worth having not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make," he said.
A 2015 law requires the Treasury Department to review the currency practices of major trading partners using three criteria, including exporting more than it imports to the U.S., and persistently buying or selling its currency to change its value.
While the report stops short of labeling the country a currency manipulator, the Treasury Department report criticizes China for past currency manipulation and warns that the United States "will be scrutinizing China's trade and currency practices very closely."
"China will need to demonstrate that its lack of intervention to resist appreciation over the last three years represents a durable policy shift by letting the RMB rise with market forces once appreciation pressures resume," the report says.
The report reiterated the Obama administration's recommendations to other countries on the list for reforms. Germany, South Korea and Switzerland should increase public borrowing to support domestic demand for goods and services, the report suggested. The Treasury Department continued to call for reforms to the labor market that would improve Japanese workers' productivity, along with fiscal and monetary support for the Japanese economy.
It also called on Taiwan to be more transparent in its purchases of currency on global markets.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Discussion in 'General Banter' started by TJ65, Feb 8, 2012.
I guess this is right place to post this, if not I'm sorry but I'm sure someone will move it for me.
I've not been a member for long and spend most of my time reading the threads and not participating much in the discussions. I feel now is the time to join in a bit with the thread on hobbies and the forums nominated charity. My hobby (after the zed of course) is distance running, this year I have managed the get a place in the Virgin London Marathon in April, and thought it only fitting to run in MNDA colors and raise some money in the process. If any one wishes to sponsor me on this 26.2 mile tour around London without the aid of four wheels and a full tank of petrol please feel free the link to my giving site is below. All money raised will go to MNDA. When I have it all the money in including any money raised on sponsor forms I'll let you know the total so it can be added to forums grand total.
Thank you so much for joining in the fund raising, it's really appreciated! Not sure what I can offer except sponsorship & encouragement. We can supply you with a custom t-shirt for the actual run & we will try and get you as much publicity through the site that we can!
My son has just failed to be awarded a place in this year's Great North Run.
He'll do something else for MNDA instead, but meanwhile I've chipped in to your sponsorship.
Tell your son not to feel down about the Great North I got a refusal to today as well. If he goes on to the MNDA site they have gold bond places to give away he will just have to comit to raising I minimum of £395. I've ran the race twice before and it's great fun and loads of atmosphere.
As the others have said, thank you so much for the support, that's absolutely fantastic so anything we can do to help let us know.
we don't have any sew on badges yet but we will make sure you have one. What sort of size do you need?
As far as the training is going, the weather is not helping. I went out last night but only managed to do 6 miles because of all the ice, I'm supposed to be out running to night to do another 6 miles but it's snowing like a bas#%¥d in Yorkshire by the weekend come rain, snow, ice or Armageddon I've got a 20 mile run to do to stay on program.
Here is a little bit of an up date.
This is week 11 for me in my traiing program for the London marathon and last night was the first run since Saturdays 20 mile slug in the snow.
What a difference a few days make, the snow has gone and the temperature was a magnificent 6 degrees with no wind chill, it was perfect running conditions for me.
Training for a marathon is not just about distance, you need to train your body to cope with the stresses you are going to put it through so when the legs start to fail and go like jelly at about 20 miles you hopefully have the strength continue.
Last nights run was designed to help build stamina, this consisted of a 7 mile run at a faster pace than you would run a marothon but a bit slower than a sprint, or more commonly known as a Tempo run.
Back out again tonight for another 6/7 miles but this time at a bit steadier pace then rest day Friday ready for another long run on Saturday.
The fund raising looks to be going as well as your training! Great effort that man!
Thank you so much for choosing this charity for your London Marathon total respect. Let's hope you can raise loads and loads of money. I will copy your just giving link to the MNDA charity Forum.
Just got back from 21 mile run and seen the thread I'll post some pictures and a bit of a blog on Monday when I'll have a bit more time of to days escapades.
As promised here is an up date.
I went out for a run on Thursday but not as early as I wanted to, in fact I ran for 6 miles in the dark with my ear phones in and a head torch on. Not much fun just running with your head down looking for pot holes and trying to dodge them being very careful not to twist your ankle, but I have a schedule to keep so I just had to get on with it.
Saturday was my long run day and I ran the same route as the previous week in the snow but with a little extra loop to make 21.25 miles in total. the problem this week wasn't the snow it was the wind, but hey it's good stamina training, just not 8 miles into a head on wind next time please !!!
Now it's week 12 and Just got back from 5 mile lunch time run. pictures are taken from the same place as last week minus the snow.
You must have put an X on the ground judging by the pics. What diverse conditions you are experiencing. Like you say all building up your stamina. I used to like running many moons ago never did marathon though but loved to run in very fine drizzle with no wind.
Wednesday night is running club night, so it was quite a sociable run, chance to chat and catch up with the gossip as we ran 7 miles and hey no snow, wind or rain all together a good night.


I have reviewed a few of these apps myself, and for those who like education, and continuing education combined on the go, these are definitely worth checking out.
The Basic/EMT task of managing cardiac arrest using an AED is fully illustrated using 3D graphics and interactive exercises to reinforce key learning concepts. This lesson includes: patient and scene evaluation, proper CPR techniques, equipment preparation, proper use of the equipment, as well as airway management and oxygen administration techniques.


text:
Previous Walter Cunningham, ICCC9 (Panel 6)
Next Hal Doiron, ICCC9 (Panel 6)
Joseph D'Aleo, ICCC9 (Panel 10)
"Ignoring Cooling, Snowier Winters"
Joseph D'Aleo has more than three decades of experience as a meteorologist and climatologist. He is currently executive director of Icecap, an organization and Web site devoted to climate change issues (http://icecap.us ). He was a professor of meteorology for six years at Lyndon State College (in Vermont) and from 1981 to 1988 was the first director of meteorology at the cable TV Weather Channel. From 1989 to 2004, he was chief meteorologist at WSI and senior editor and 'Dr Dewpoint' for its popular Intellicast.com Web site. He was a weather producer for ABC's Good Morning America while planning The Weather Channel with John Coleman. He is a certified consultant meteorologist and a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. He has served as chairman of the American Meteorological Society's Committee on Weather Analysis and Forecasting and has chaired or co-chaired several national conferences. He has written a book and presented papers on how research into ENSO and other atmospheric and oceanic phenomena and solar cycles has made skillful seasonal and even decadal forecasts possible. He also has authored many articles and made numerous presentations on the roles cycles in the sun and oceans have played in climate change.
Click here for more information and presentations by Joseph D'Aleo.
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, ICCC9 (Panel 17)
E. Clavin Beisner, ICCC9 (Panel 21)
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, ICCC9 (Panel 5)


text:
The Virtual Weapon and International Order
Lucas Kello
336 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
5 b/w illus.
An urgently needed examination of the current cyber revolution that draws on case studies to develop conceptual frameworks for understanding its effects on international order
The cyber revolution is the revolution of our time. The rapid expansion of cyberspace in society brings both promise and peril. It promotes new modes of political cooperation, but it also disrupts interstate dealings and empowers subversive actors who may instigate diplomatic and military crises. Despite significant experience with cyber incidents, the conceptual apparatus to analyze, understand, and address their effects on international order remains primitive. Here, Lucas Kello adapts and applies international relations theory to create new ways of thinking about cyber strategy.
Kello draws on a broad range of case studies - including the Stuxnet operation against Iran, the cyberattacks against Sony Pictures, and the disruption of the 2016 U.S. presidential election - to make sense of the contemporary technological revolution.
Synthesizing data from government documents, forensic reports of major events, and interviews with senior decision-makers, this important work establishes new theoretical benchmarks to help security experts revise strategy and policy for the unprecedented challenges of our era.
Lucas Kello is senior lecturer in international relations at Oxford University, where he also serves as director of the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs.
"How much has the cyber revolution transformed global politics? With a thoughtful blending of theory and empirical cases, Lucas Kello avoids the pitfalls of cyber utopians on one hand and traditional skeptics on the other. This book is a great introduction to the ways in which the cyber technology is affecting global order."—Joseph S. Nye, Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and author of The Future of Power
"The Virtual Weapon grapples with the most important security issue facing the world: how to understand the impact of the creation of the cyber world on the global system. As the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, I worried more about cyber security than anything else. This book is a superb overview of the unfolding challenges, which will only loom larger as this turbulent 21st century draws on."—Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of Nato (2010 - 2013).
"An essential scholarly analysis of how both political science and international relations theory need to come to terms with the revolutionary force that is the digitization of information. "—Professor Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ
"The Virtual Weapon points to the huge gap in international relations theory regarding the cyber domain, and performs an important service in filling it with conceptual structure. The book makes a powerful case that the nature of global power has been fundamentally altered by the ongoing digital revolution."—Prof. Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
"The Virtual Weapon poses a much-needed challenge to the fields of international relations and security studies: to take the virtual domain seriously as a distinctive arena of global action. Even those who disagree with Kello's analysis can no longer duck the significance of his subject."—Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO, New America
"Displays an enviable grasp of the technical issues, as well as of the academic landscape . . . Readers of all kinds will find Mr. Kello's book informative and thought-provoking."—Economist
"[Kello's] work represents an important step toward bridging the gap between academic thinking about international relations and the cyber revolution in the real world. We can hope his courage, audacity and clarion call will inspire others to follow."—The Wall Street Journal
"The cyber revolution clearly constitutes an ever-growing challenge to international order. Lucas Kello reflects on technology's role in political revolution, and the importance of aligning international-relations studies with the unruly expansion of cyberspace."—Nature
Treacherous Alliance
The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
Trita Parsi; With a New Preface by the Author
Quest for Status
Chinese and Russian Foreign Policy
Deborah Welch Larson and Alexei Shevchenko
The Impossibility of Palestine
History, Geography, and the Road Ahead
Mehran Kamrava
The Chessboard and the Web
Strategies of Connection in a Networked World
See It/Shoot It
The Secret History of the CIA's Lethal Drone Program
Christopher J. Fuller
Unfinished Revolutions
Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia after the Arab Spring
Ibrahim Fraihat
Political Science > International Relations
History > Intelligence and Espionage
Political Science > Current Events
Science > Web/Internet
History > General
Political Science > General
Economics > General


text:
Q: How to convert tdata to telethon session? I need to convert telegram data to telethon session.
How can i do this?
I tried to find a solution, spent three days, but I didn't find anything

A: It's been nearly two years, but there's now a Python library called opentele created to do this.
Assuming you already have Python knowledge, please follow the steps below.
First you need to install opentele from PyPi:

pip install opentele

Preparing:

*

*You need to have a tdata folder that is already authorized (have at least one logged-in account).

*The default path to tdata folder on Windows is located at %appdata%\Telegram Desktop\tdata.

*Create a python (.py) file and import these things:
from opentele.td import TDesktop
from opentele.tl import TelegramClient
from opentele.api import API, UseCurrentSession, CreateNewSession
import asyncio

*And you also need to put the main code inside an async function:
async def main():
    # PUT EXAMPLE CODE HERE

asyncio.run(main())

Initialize TDesktop from tdata folder

*

*Load the tdata folder into a TDesktop object:
# Load TDesktop client from tdata folder
tdataFolder = r"C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Telegram Desktop\tdata"
tdesk = TDesktop(tdataFolder)

# Check if we have loaded any accounts
assert tdesk.isLoaded()

Converting TDesktop to TelegramClient
There are two ways you can do this, either by using the current session or creating (login to) a new session.

*

*Use the current session:
# flag=UseCurrentSession
#
# Convert TDesktop to Telethon using the current session.
client = await tdesk.ToTelethon(session="telethon.session", flag=UseCurrentSession)

*Create a new session:
# flag=CreateNewSession
#
# Convert TDesktop to Telethon by creating a new session.
# CreateNewSession will use the current session (in tdata folder) to authorize a new session using QR Login.
# If 2FA is enabled for this account, you must specify the password via the password argument.
# This is of course slower than UseCurrentSession.
client = await tdesk.ToTelethon(session="telethon.session", flag=CreateNewSession)

Connect and print all logged-in sessions.
# Connect and print all logged-in sessions of this client.
# Telethon will save the session to telethon.session on creation.
await client.connect()
await client.PrintSessions()

Final result example
from opentele.td import TDesktop
from opentele.tl import TelegramClient
from opentele.api import API, UseCurrentSession
import asyncio

async def main():

    # Load TDesktop client from tdata folder
    tdataFolder = r"C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Telegram Desktop\tdata"
    tdesk = TDesktop(tdataFolder)

    # Check if we have loaded any accounts
    assert tdesk.isLoaded()

    # flag=UseCurrentSession
    #
    # Convert TDesktop to Telethon using the current session.
    client = await tdesk.ToTelethon(session="telethon.session", flag=UseCurrentSession)

    # Connect and print all logged-in sessions of this client.
    # Telethon will save the session to telethon.session on creation.
    await client.connect()
    await client.PrintSessions()

asyncio.run(main())

The result

*

*The session will be saved to telethon.session file.

*You can use this telethon.session with telethon, or use it directly with opentele - which is recommended because you don't need your own API_ID and API_HASH, the library by default will use Official Telegram API.

Remark

*

*opentele is a very well documented library, you can find its documentation here.

*It can also convert telethon sessions back to tdata and it's usable with Telegram Desktop.

Warning

*

*According to its docs, you must continue using the associated API which you've had used to create that session whenever connecting to the server, or else you're at risk of losing that account.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
God's timing is perfect and He has the final say
How the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra found itself in trouble
Jimmy Clausen, Ravens' 3rd quarterback in 4 games, hangs in vs. Seahawks
Demolition of old Baltimore jail is nearly complete. The state is now planning what will come next.
Americans can order 4 free COVID tests per home when federal website launches Wednesday
'Catastrophic institutional failure.' How a corrupt Baltimore Police officer survived, and thrived, during a decade of criminal behavior
The worst of the pandemic may be peaking in the Baltimore area
Carroll County News
Carroll officials work to get broadband to rural areas via state grants and public-private partnerships
By Madison Bateman
Carroll County Times |
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at The Baltimore Sun.
Carroll County officials continue to explore options to eliminate gaps in internet connectivity for residents in rural areas by pursuing state funding and working in partnership with several internet service providers.
At Thursday's Board of County Commissioners meeting, officials approved a request from the Department of Technology Services to provide letters of support and matching funding to Talkie Communications, Inc., of Chestertown, and Quantum Telecommunications, Inc., of Manchester. Both internet service providers (ISPs) are submitting grant applications to the Office of Statewide Broadband for the fiscal 2022 Connect Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program.
The state program, funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, offers grants between $1 million and $10 million to local jurisdictions or ISP partners to construct new broadband networks to "unserved households." The grant may pay for 70% to 90% of the capital construction costs associated with providing service to unserved homes and businesses. A match of 10% to 30% of the capital construction costs is required. Applications for the state grant are due by Jan. 14.
"If selected by the state, the proposed funded service area will provide broadband for up to 1,206 unserved households located in several rural areas, starting north of Taneytown and ending south of New Windsor," said Mark Ripper, director of Carroll County's Department of Technology Services. "The selected ISP will be responsible for the entirety of the project, including construction of the new service areas, and will own and operate the network once installation is complete."
Talkie's proposed service area includes 958 households and requires a county match of $328,757; Quantum's proposed service area includes 1,206 households and requires a $2.5 million county match.
[More Maryland news] God's timing is perfect and He has the final say »
With the board's approval, Ripper said funding for the county match will be met using the county's Local Fiscal Recovery Funds already allocated for expansion of broadband in Carroll County.
"It's wonderful to see these ISPs that want to come in here and participate. … That gets us away from the 'only game in town' company that we're accustomed to," Commissioner Stephen Wantz, R-District 1, said. "I think this really goes a long way in getting more of our households lit."
In addition, it was announced this week Carroll County will receive $393,123 in grant awards from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Administered by the Governor's Office of Rural Broadband, the funds will go toward the expansion of rural broadband access to 89 additional residences on Garret and Halter roads.
The grant funds will be matched by money from Comcast and county government. The work, which will include laying more than 8 miles of fiber, is expected to begin later this year.
Latest Carroll County News
Oldest member of Mount Airy senior bowling league celebrates 99th birthday by downing some cake and pins
Carroll Arts Center to host performance for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, volunteers may attend for free
Carroll County school board votes to limit conversations on politics in classroom
"I want to make folks aware this funding and lighting up these households is not going to happen next week," Wantz said. "I think it's important to understand we're going to need some patience here but … there is a much brighter light at the end of the tunnel now."
Top Maryland news
Latest Carroll news


text:
Home Tech News Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Release Date, Cast, Plot, Rumors
In July 2018, the Guardians of the Galaxy faced an opponent that even they might not be able to vanquish: Disney itself. The company fired series director and writer James Gunn after a number of off-color tweets sparked online outrage. And in late August 2018, Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, publicly stated what had been previously assumed but unconfirmed: that the film is in a weird limbo while Disney and Marvel figure out if they can continue the series without Gunn.
"They are putting the movie off, it's on hold indefinitely," Bautista said on The Jonathan Ross Show. Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bautista has been perhaps the most outspoken stars of the film who want Gunn back, but the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy aren't letting their leader go without a fight either. Fan petitions are urging Disney to rehire him, and the stars signed an open letter urging the studio to bring Gunn back.
But rehiring him seems unlikely, Variety reports, due to the content of the tweets and Disney's family-friendly image. That same report notes that the studio feels no pressure to quickly hire someone else, which may further delay the film's expected release. There's also been the debate about whether a new director would work with the script Gunn had already completed.
We'll continue to update this story as news trickles out.
Release date, production info
Speaking of that release date, it's as up in the air as Star-Lord's ship, the Milano (named for Alyssa!). Although nothing official had been announced, many thought filming would begin in fall of 2019 for a 2020 theatrical release. But Gunn's firing and the reported pre-production pause throws that into question. The Hollywood Reporter cites a source claiming "the timeline has been pushed out," though where that timeline now rests is unknown.
Variety also reports that Disney hasn't yet met with any possible Gunn replacements, and might be forced to reach outside its normal family of Marvel directors due to those folks already having prior films on their schedules. The site also notes the studio will be seeking someone with the same kind of "offbeat sensibility" Gunn showed on the first two films, which came out in 2014 and 2017.
Filming locations, of course, aren't yet known, but the first film shot primarily in London, the second in Atlanta. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. reportedly used all 18 of the sound stages at Pinewood Studios Atlanta. The third film, whenever it's made, is expected to stick to Atlanta for space reasons.
"We shot the first Guardians of the Galaxy in England, but because Pinewood Atlanta has so much soundstage space, we were able to have the entire production base on the lot," Gunn said in the production notes for Vol. 2. "Even though a lot of the film is CGI. I like to have as many practical sets as we can and make the environments as real as possible so it balances out the CGI elements."
Cast: Who's who?
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord
Zoe Saldana as Gamora
Dave Bautista as Drax
Bradley Cooper as Rocket
Vin Diesel as Groot
Karen Gillan as Nebula
Pom Klementieff as Mantis
Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha
Sean Gunn as Kraglin
Plot news, rumors, and theories
Who's dead? If you saw Avengers: Infinity War, (spoilers ahead), you know Thanos killed off many of Marvel's heroes, and the Guardians of the Galaxy did not go unscathed. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Mantis, and Groot all seem to be dead. But Avengers 4 could bring back any or all of them. All except Gamora were dissolved when Thanos finally acquired all the infinity stones and "rebalanced" the universe. Gamora's death seems more final — her adoptive father, Thanos, threw her off a cliff to create the sacrifice that wins him the soul gem. But some fans argue she could be held within the soul gem and thus may be freed later. Let's hope, for poor Peter Quill's sake.
Madam, I'm Adam: Superhero Adam Warlock was hinted at in one of the after-credits scenes shown at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Ayesha faces a kind of cocoon containing a person, and announces, "I think I will call him … Adam." Adam Warlock has been a Marvel character since 1967, and Gunn had mentioned wanting to include him in Vol. 3. It's technically up to the new director/writer whether Warlock will make it into Vol. 3, but whoever gets hired will probably need to explain this scene, so we expect Warlock will play a role.
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Set up alternative descriptions of your inventory items and print reports in multiple languages (for example, you can make invoices in the receiver's language). Descriptions can be linked to individual customers, which is especially useful for sales to foreign countries.
It can, however, be useful to customise the item descriptions even for domestic customers. The alternative item descriptions are automatically selected. To use the multiple language features, the texts for the alternative languages must be inserted in the relevant application objects.
Switch languages on the client in real time, provided that the language is available in the program. The language module can be used to run multi-language functionality.
IMPORTANT: Users can use this language module only if the personal license file contains the objects for the specific language.
Each language module covers the functionality for only one specific language. For example, the Danish language module contains all Danish strings for Danish functionality. It does not contain Danish strings for French or other language functionality.