Podcasts about Dulles International Airport

HOK design principal Peter Ruggiero joins Architectural Record's DESIGN:ED Podcast to discuss the process of successful aviation design, the firm's expansion at Dulles International Airport, and how HOK is working to reimagine how people experience air travel

A group of 49 Afrikaner "refugees" has arrived at Dulles International Airport just outside Washington D.C. to a warm welcome from senior officials of the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security. The group of white South Africans departed Johannesburg overnight and arrived in the United States via Dakar Senegal. They are the first beneficiaries of U.S. refugee status after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order in February seeking to address so called "Egregious actions of the Republic of South Africa". Sherwin Bryce-Pease reports ....

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. To call it an annex is misleading, this place is massive! Home to an incredible collection of aircraft, this episode, our 101st, is just me trying to talk you around the place while trying to take it all in, especially when confronted with Enola Gay.-----------------------------------------------------

Today on America in the Morning   House Plans Budget Vote The House of Representatives is set to vote on a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown from going into effect, but questions remain as to if it can pass both houses of Congress. John Stolnis has more from Washington.    Trump On Tariffs President Trump is downplaying business concerns about uncertainty from proposed tariffs and prospects of higher prices.  Correspondent Julie Walker reports he also did not rule out the possibility of a recession, and California Senator Adam Schiff, speaking on ABC This Week, claimed tariffs are already driving up prices for working families.    Carney's Message To America Mark Carney has been elected leader of Canada's Liberal Party in a months-long battle to replace Justin Trudeau. Winning with 89 percent of the vote, he will now be expected to lead his party into the next federal elections to become Prime Minister.    Pro-Palestinian Protester Facing Deportation Protests are slated in Manhattan today following the arrest of one the leaders of the Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in New York City. Correspondent Clayton Neville reports.     Measles Cases Increasing The number of measles cases in the U.S. is increasing, now with as many as 10 states reporting outbreaks, and Fox News is reporting that there was a confirmed case of measles at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, DC. Correspondent Mike Hempen reports.         Budget Vote For Tomorrow With a possible government shutdown set for March 14 when current federal funding runs out, House Republicans have abandoned plans to put together President Trump's budget blueprint, instead, opting for a six-month budget extension that would keep federal agencies funded through September 30. Correspondent Donna Warder reports.     TSA Losing Union Bargaining The Department of Homeland Security says it is ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of employees at the Transportation Security Administration, effectively calling it quits with the TSA workers' union. Correspondent Jennifer King reports.    Lie Detectors For ICE Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that workers at the Immigration and Custom's Enforcement Agency will now face lie detector tests to see who may be leaking information about operations to the media. Correspondent Julie Walker reports.    Vance & Daughter Protested Authorities are investigating after Vice President JD Vance claimed that he was harassed by pro-Ukraine protesters while taking his three-year-old daughter out for a walk on Saturday.    NJ Detective Killed A police detective in Newark, New Jersey was gunned down in a shootout before he could even exit his police car. Bob Brown reports that the suspected shooter – a 14-year-old – was apprehended.    Pennsylvania Plane Crash A quiet retirement community in Manheim Township, Pennsylvania was rattled after a small plane crashed outside their building.     California Earthquake In California, it was the earth moving under people's feet as a magnitude 4 point 1 earthquake rattled the Los Angeles area yesterday afternoon.     Reaction To South Carolina Execution A witness recounted the experience of watching the Friday execution of a prisoner by firing squad in South Carolina, saying they heard a rifle crack, and then silence. Correspondent Lisa Dwyer.     Finally   Despite the hype from the Oscars last week, the box office was a little slower than expected for the past few days. Kevin Carr has details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

December 19th Show Notes December 19, 1934 – The New York Yankees send five players to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League as partial compensation for the acquisition of Joe DiMaggio. The Yankees had previously paid $25,000 for the future Hall of Famer. DiMaggio will play one more season in the PCL before reporting to the Yankees in 1936. In ‘36, DiMaggio will hit .323 with 125 RBIs in helping the Yankees to a World Series title.December 19, 1976 — A single-engine Piper Cherokee plane crashes into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, home of the Orioles, injuring the pilot and three others. Minutes prior to the mishap, the plane had buzzed the stadium during the final moments of the Steelers' playoff victory over the Colts. The pilot of the Piper Cherokee was 33-year-old Donald Kroner. Kroner served three months of a two-year sentence for malicious destruction of property and violation of aviation ordinances.Kroner had been arrested prior to the Stadium incident for making threats against former Colt Bill Pellington. This included Kroner being accused of dropping a bottle and toilet paper from his plane onto the roof of Pellington's Timonium restaurant. According to news reports, Kroner was upset over being thrown out of the restaurant. Kroner died in 2013.Kroner had been fired as an MTA bus driver the day before the crash. He also had been a flight instructor and, according to some accounts, had worked as an air traffic controller. In 1980, Kroner was charged with stealing a Greyhound bus from Dulles International Airport. December 19, 1990 — At a press conference, Tiger management and WJR announce 1991 will be Ernie Harwell's 32nd and final season in the broadcast booth. The dismissal of the Motor City's popular play-by-play announcer starts a furor among fans, which includes a threatened boycott of Domino's Pizza, a business of club owner Tom Monaghan, and the rise of the slogan, “Say It Ain't So, Bo”, which appears on bumper stickers and T-shirts all over Detroit, referring to Bo Schembechler, the team president and former University of Michigan football coach."[Harwell's situation is] not going to change no matter how much clamor is made over it," said team president Bo Schembechler. The situation caused outrage so much that some made threats of violence against Schembechler. Some, such as Mitch Albom, blamed the situation causing as much negative feeling as it did on WJR executive Jim Long who was the one who pushed the quick, no severance pay removal of Harwell.[6] The movement in favor of keeping Harwell was so strong that even billboards in favor of his remaining were put up.[7] Rick Rizzs was hired away from the Seattle...

December 19th Show Notes December 19, 1934 – The New York Yankees send five players to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League as partial compensation for the acquisition of Joe DiMaggio. The Yankees had previously paid $25,000 for the future Hall of Famer. DiMaggio will play one more season in the PCL before reporting to the Yankees in 1936. In ‘36, DiMaggio will hit .323 with 125 RBIs in helping the Yankees to a World Series title.December 19, 1976 — A single-engine Piper Cherokee plane crashes into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, home of the Orioles, injuring the pilot and three others. Minutes prior to the mishap, the plane had buzzed the stadium during the final moments of the Steelers' playoff victory over the Colts. The pilot of the Piper Cherokee was 33-year-old Donald Kroner. Kroner served three months of a two-year sentence for malicious destruction of property and violation of aviation ordinances.Kroner had been arrested prior to the Stadium incident for making threats against former Colt Bill Pellington. This included Kroner being accused of dropping a bottle and toilet paper from his plane onto the roof of Pellington's Timonium restaurant. According to news reports, Kroner was upset over being thrown out of the restaurant. Kroner died in 2013.Kroner had been fired as an MTA bus driver the day before the crash. He also had been a flight instructor and, according to some accounts, had worked as an air traffic controller. In 1980, Kroner was charged with stealing a Greyhound bus from Dulles International Airport. December 19, 1990 — At a press conference, Tiger management and WJR announce 1991 will be Ernie Harwell's 32nd and final season in the broadcast booth. The dismissal of the Motor City's popular play-by-play announcer starts a furor among fans, which includes a threatened boycott of Domino's Pizza, a business of club owner Tom Monaghan, and the rise of the slogan, “Say It Ain't So, Bo”, which appears on bumper stickers and T-shirts all over Detroit, referring to Bo Schembechler, the team president and former University of Michigan football coach."[Harwell's situation is] not going to change no matter how much clamor is made over it," said team president Bo Schembechler. The situation caused outrage so much that some made threats of violence against Schembechler. Some, such as Mitch Albom, blamed the situation causing as much negative feeling as it did on WJR executive Jim Long who was the one who pushed the quick, no severance pay removal of Harwell.[6] The movement in favor of keeping Harwell was so strong that even billboards in favor of his remaining were put up.[7] Rick Rizzs was hired away from the Seattle...

On this week's Film Sack podcast, DIE HARD 2!!! John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. AIR PORTS DON'T HAVE MAN HOLES! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's Film Sack podcast, DIE HARD 2!!! John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. AIR PORTS DON'T HAVE MAN HOLES! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen oversees Baldi Management Group (BMG), an airport concessions and management consulting company that manages restaurants in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport and Dulles International Airport. Established in 2008, BMG operates various food and beverage outlets, including franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts, Potbelly, and Smashburger. Stephen is an alumnus of Georgetown University, where he was a Community Scholar and student-athlete. He attributes his success to mentorship and now mentors young people, aiming to provide growth opportunities within his company. As founder-led company, Stephen has formed connections with other DC-based founder-led restaurants like Founding Famers and Timber Pizza as well as with larger national brands. About 15-20% of BMG's customers are employees from the airport itself. Stephen is a strong advocate of mentorship and helping employees grow and advance within an organization, even if it means the employee leaving the organization for a better opportunity. QUOTES “My commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am but my circumstances and I've tried to carry that out through my career and my life.” (Stephen) “There's something different about a founder-led company, because you've built it.” (Stephen)“Airports are a wonderful place to work. Once you end up in this ecosystem, it's hard to walk away.” (Stephen)“(In airports), the passengers are dynamic. We get to meet and connect with them all. We have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day and the following day, we get a whole new group of people.” (Stephen) “The (airport concessions and restaurant industry) is about an $8 billion a year industry nationally but the industry is controlled by about 20 key companies. It's a small ecosystem.” (Stephen) “Operating a streetside restaurant versus a restaurant in an airport is a completely different sport. The speed, the requirements, the logistical challenges (of being an in airport), all of our crewmembers have to go through background checks. Unless you're a serious player, you're not trying to participate in airports.” (Stephen) “We encourage our crewmembers just to meet people where they are. It may be the 50th time you've welcomed someone to our restaurant but it's the first time you've spoken to the person in front of you. You should be additive to their experience and not add additional stress or complications.” (Stephen) “We welcome the chaos. When it's raining and snowing outside and your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means we get to hang out with you a little bit longer.” (Stephen) “If I bring in someone as a front line worker who's pouring coffee, if they're still pouring coffee in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong. We want to scale people up.” (Stephen)  TRANSCRIPT 00:01.9900:01.99vigorbrandingHey folks, welcome to Fork Tales, and I’m excited. Today’s guest is Stephen Baldi He’s the founder and president of Baldi Management Group. Baldy Management Group is an airport concessions and management consulting company. It’s a mouthful there. ah Manages concessions in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport, and Dulles International Airport. Stephen, welcome to Fork Tales, and thank you so much for joining us.00:25.82Stephen BaldiMichael, thank you for having me. I’m looking forward to the conversation.00:29.01vigorbrandingSo for those that don’t know, all of these are located in the sort of DC Metro, Baltimore or down at DC Metro area, right?00:36.21Stephen BaldiCorrect.00:37.04vigorbrandingYeah.00:37.19Stephen BaldiYeah, even though Philadelphia is my hometown, I’ve been in Washington DC for almost 30 years. um So this is home base for us.00:46.37vigorbrandingyeah Well, you you you know, I have a little trick question because that was going to be my first question. Are you still a Philly sports fan? I mean, do you bleed Eagle Green?00:53.03Stephen Baldiif If you cut me, it would be nothing but green. I live in Washington, DC.00:56.48vigorbrandingOK, beautiful.00:57.88Stephen BaldiMy heart is in Philadelphia.00:59.81vigorbrandingBeautiful, beautiful. Wow. There’s, there’s guys, I don’t even know what they call themselves these days. these’s The commanders, the Washington football club.01:04.91Stephen Baldioh The Washington football team, they’re all.01:05.40vigorbrandingI mean, they’re just, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just, it’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant.01:10.11Stephen BaldiYeah, Michael, my family would disown me if anything other than my ah zip code changed as far as my hometown affiliation.01:10.06vigorbrandingSo that’s fantastic. Hey, it’s awesome. You got to bring, I had a gentleman come in, uh, from, uh, Oregon last week to speak to a bunch of advertising agencies from North America. We hosted them in Philadelphia and this guy was so excited. He was, he, he, he came from there, but he was Philly through and through. So everything in his presentation tied back to a Philly icon, something about Philadelphia that was iconic. And, you know, ah in our company, we’re,01:44.34vigorbrandingWe’re very proud that we’re an independent advertising agencies. We have an agency called Vigor and an agency called Quench. Vigor’s restaurant branding. Quench is food and beverage marketing. And the whole thing was around independence and how it’s how important it is.01:57.06vigorbrandingAnd he had all these great icons from like Nick Foles to, ah you know, ah Mike Schmidt to the Fanatic to, I mean, Will Smith.02:07.11vigorbrandingI mean, he just went through all the Philadelphia stuff, you know, the Liberty Bell and everything else. and So it was cool. It was cool.02:11.77Stephen Baldium I love it. I’ll tell you an interesting story about Nick Foles. So I had a really good feeling about our Super Bowl run, even though you know Carson Wentz, who was leading as the MVP that year, went down. And the Friday before the Super Bowl, something told me to go online and buy a Nick Foles autograph helmet.02:33.57vigorbrandingWow.02:34.10Stephen BaldiAnd I did. Now, I did not expedite the shipping, Michael. So it was not in my possession on Monday after we had won the Super Bowl. And many of my friends said that helmet’s never going to show up, but it did.02:47.65Stephen BaldiSo I bought it for $99.02:47.77vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.02:49.77Stephen BaldiAnd I can tell you, it’s it’s worth a lot more than that.02:51.92vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah, it’s worth a lot to people in Philadelphia. So it’s fantastic. And the pride of that city runs deep. So alright, so tell us about Baldy enter Management Group and what it does what inspired you to get into the airport concession games. I mean, you started I think in residential property, right?03:06.90Stephen BaldiI did. I started in residential property management in 2002. And I started in airports in 2005. And it was all kind of serendipitous. I had a really ah prickly history before starting in 2002.03:23.22Stephen Baldiat Kettler Management, which managed tax credit properties, but also Class A luxury communities.03:29.04vigorbrandingOkay.03:29.23Stephen BaldiAnd I had a tenant coming to my office. And she said, Steven, I see you engaging with the residents and how you handle issues. And I think you should be doing more. And I thought to myself, like this woman doesn’t know me.03:39.92Stephen BaldiYeah, I just fixed her fireplace. But who are you to come in my office and tell me what I should be doing? And at the time, I was making $22,000 a year with a Georgetown degree. And the job that they wanted me to interview for paid $85,000 a year.03:54.21vigorbrandingwow03:54.39Stephen BaldiSo as you can assume, Michael, goal I took the interview, I got the job. And so for three years, I worked in development for Westfield, which most people know as shopping mall developers, they have an airport division.04:05.82vigorbrandingHmm. Ah.04:07.99Stephen BaldiAnd so I was responsible for the redevelopment of national airport here in Washington, DC from 2005. to 2008. And then I leveraged a relationship with OTG Management, which has a very large presence at Philadelphia International, um into a joint venture relationship and actually launched the company, BMG, in 2008. And two thousand and eight and it’s we’ve not looked back since.04:31.36vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know It’s funny. I really i don’t know you. we’re We’re really talking for the first time. I can tell right away, like youre you have a positive attitude, and I can tell you’re engaging. And so I could see how someone would see you in action and be like, hey, you know you you could do more. like You can be a part of something bigger. And it’s obviously what’s happened, which is it’s awesome. I’m a big proponent of attitude. I mean, i I love to know where people went to school. I mean, if you if I interview you, I want to see your brains on the table.04:58.39vigorbrandingBut I really want to know what your personality is like. I want to know about your attitude. I want to know ah how ah how much of a ah person you are that wants to win and be engaging and help people. And it’s ah like it comes through with you right away.05:09.91vigorbrandingAnd that’s ah it’s cool.05:10.18Stephen BaldiI appreciate that.05:11.03vigorbrandingnow it’s it’s05:11.32Stephen BaldiYeah, i’ll I’ll take it back if you if you want me to. So ah back in 1988, I was turning 13 and I begged my mom for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers.05:24.58Stephen BaldiAnd you’ll remember when Gordon’s first came out, ah they were the first shoe over a hundred dollars.05:25.72vigorbrandingOh, yeah.05:29.85vigorbrandingOh, yes, they were.05:30.36Stephen Baldiyeah I grew up in a upper lower class household and it was a stretch for my mom to purchase these shoes.05:31.49vigorbrandingYep.05:37.09vigorbrandingMm hmm.05:38.21Stephen BaldiBut I begged her and I begged her and I begged her and and she ended up buying them for me. And she said, you know, I just want you to be safe. Well, you probably can assume where the story goes. Within like a month of getting these sneakers, I was an attempted robbery, and I acted very violently to defend myself, and it resulted in me getting expelled from the school that I was at.05:59.94Stephen BaldiAnd as a punishment, ah rather than letting me play basketball for the entire summer, my mom forced me to go to the reading math and basketball clinic at Friend Central, which is a very prominent independent school on the main line of Philadelphia.06:14.39vigorbrandingMm hmm.06:14.96Stephen BaldiAnd that decision changed my life. um I went from living in a predominantly all-Black neighborhood to a private school that I was the only Black male in my class.06:25.11vigorbrandingWow.06:25.74Stephen BaldiAnd what it did was it changed my perspective of what was accessible. like I had never seen a computer before.06:31.75vigorbrandingRight.06:32.14Stephen BaldiAnd at this school, there was in a computer lab where we could sit down and navigate things.06:34.40vigorbrandingYeah.06:36.15Stephen BaldiAnd so going to Friends Central, having my mom make that leap of faith changed my trajectory in many ways. I matriculated from there to Georgetown University here in Washington, DC, which is how I got.06:48.20Stephen Baldito Washington DC. So I am a super Philadelphia sports fan, because not only am I from Philly, but Allen Iverson was my classmate at Georgetown University.06:51.93vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.06:55.50vigorbrandingIs that right?06:56.61Stephen BaldiYeah, we were the same class.06:56.89vigorbrandingWow.06:57.61Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, very cool.06:58.33vigorbrandingThat’s so cool. Yeah.07:00.38Stephen BaldiAnd so maya my commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am, but my circumstances.07:00.74vigorbrandingAI. It’s legendary.07:12.75Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve tried to carry that out through my career and my life.07:15.84vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. what a great That’s great. That’s a great story. you know it’s like It’s funny that on the Air Jordans, at that time, when they came out, and I can follow you on that. i know you You nailed it. You said the first sneaker that was over $100. My dad had ah this like mom and pop retail sporting store. We sold mostly like hockey stuff. We were from Hershey, Pennsylvania.07:35.39vigorbrandingAnd I was working in a store in in Camp Hill and outside of Hershey. It’s up in the West Shore, they call it. Anyway, long story short, I was in the mall and we sold some sneakers and the Air Jordans came out and we had them on the wall.07:48.37vigorbrandingAnd it was like, it was insane. $100 for a pair of sneakers.07:52.08Stephen BaldiYeah.07:52.28vigorbrandingAnd I mean, like, whereas I’ll say the average then was probably like on the high end was probably like 50, 55.07:57.40Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.07:58.58vigorbrandingAnd this went right to 100. And it was funny, my dad, maybe that’s where I started learning about, and I really did learn a lot about marketing, working in retail, because you have to talk to people, you have to sell. And I think that’s the most important skill a person can learn. Communicating with people and learning how to sell, like, you know, at least present yourself, right? So I put these sneakers at the very top. I said, dad, you know what? ah I said, everybody wants the Air Jordans. Most people can’t afford them.08:21.42vigorbrandingbut everyone wants to come and look at it. So I always sell them the white, the white, men’s the body they’re like but you know, so for every one Air Jordan, I saw, I used to sell like 30 other pairs of shoes.08:25.49Stephen Baldiah yeah08:30.65vigorbrandingYou know what I mean?08:31.05Stephen BaldiIt’s been up in the store. It’s like a newspaper. People don’t necessarily want just the newspaper, at least the retailer does it, but they come in to buy the newspaper and then they buy the water, the soda, the candy.08:33.13vigorbrandingThat’s right.08:39.73vigorbrandingThat’s right. yeah I lured them in with the Air Jordans. I think we had like five parrot the most. I mean, we couldn’t afford, you know, it’s a little mom pop store.08:46.41Stephen BaldiProbably two sizes.08:47.56vigorbrandingYeah, right. That’s exactly right. So that’s funny. So okay, you talked about sports and and and you know, Philly and all that you you pride yourself on um being a local company and playing in front of the home crowd.08:58.99vigorbrandingTalk a little bit about the the local connection in DC that you have.09:02.34Stephen BaldiYeah, so I’ll tell you, when you fly into most airports, what people don’t automatically see, but being a former developer, I understand that any airport authority, when you land in their airport, they want you to know what city you are in.09:18.24Stephen BaldiSo national brands are extremely important. So you’ll have your Dunkin’ Donuts. You’ll have your Pop-Belly’s, which are ah franchises that we operate.09:22.12vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:25.89Stephen BaldiBut every airport wants you to have a sense of place. So when you fly into Philadelphia Airport, you’ll have a Jim Stakes, because that’s you know historical to that region.09:34.38vigorbrandingYeah.09:34.93Stephen BaldiWhen you fly into National Airport here, or Dallas International, you’ll have your South Blocks, which is an ASE base. com concept here in the DC.09:45.49Stephen BaldiYou’ll have Ben’s Chili Bowl, which has been around since the 60s.09:45.90vigorbrandingMm hmm. Mm hmm.09:49.41Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve prided ourselves from identifying and connecting with other founder-led brands, because I’m a founder. And nothing against a hired gun.09:56.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:58.81Stephen BaldiI know they are often effective at their job. But there’s something different about a founder-led company because you’ve built it.10:06.95vigorbrandingYeah.10:07.27Stephen Baldiit probably has more ah meaning to you behind just the bottom line um results that you drive. It’s personal.10:15.52vigorbrandingYeah.10:15.69Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve developed very deep relationships with companies like founding farmers, with timber pizza, who are all local based companies here. And we expect to continue to grow it, not just in this region that we’re in, but as we grow into other markets to do the same.10:30.68vigorbrandingYeah, that’s that’s fantastic. And you nailed it. I mean, like, I’m a founder, I’m an entrepreneur. And you know, and ah again, wonderful folks that that work with me, I’m very, very, very lucky. But you know, for for most people, it’s their job, you know, their career, and and hopefully there’s a sense of of a family and a real relationship.10:49.53vigorbrandingBut for me, it’s my life. I mean, i am I am defined personally by this, which is probably pretty shallow.10:51.05Stephen Baldiright10:54.86vigorbrandingI mean, i mean look, um I love my daughters. I’m a dad. I’m ah a husband. I love my family with all my heart, but I feel like I’m defined by my company and the what I’ve built. and and all of that And I just, you know, so again, I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing or whatever, but it’s just, it’s ah it’s a lot deeper, right?11:11.93vigorbrandingWhen you found something and ah it’s it’s a lot deeper, everyone thinks it has to do with like money and stuff, and it really doesn’t.11:12.49Stephen BaldiRight. For sure.11:17.73vigorbrandingIt’s a it’s really about, you know, sort of like your life’s life’s work. and You know, you know, I get I get the most excitement out of seeing the growth of the folks in the company. ah It’s great to see the brands grow and the companies grow.11:30.42vigorbrandingBut I really get a kick out of of seeing the folks that have been here a long time and and all that. So anyway, that’s just that’s me.11:35.91Stephen Baldiright11:36.26vigorbrandingBut I just I totally I totally concur with what you’re saying as far as the founder led. I mean, that’s that’s fantastic.11:41.40Stephen BaldiYeah, at some point as a founder, you most likely had to put something at risk that meant something to you.11:47.14vigorbrandingYeah.11:47.50Stephen BaldiWhether it’s personal guaranteeing, first leverage to build the company or, you know, having to bail it out because you run into a pandemic, which we all face back in 2020.11:47.75vigorbrandingOh, yeah. Yeah.11:55.18vigorbrandingAll right.11:57.80Stephen Baldium Oftentimes you can’t just walk from that business and matriculate to another W2 position because this is yours. And so I love when I can connect with founders.12:04.69vigorbrandingYeah.12:07.41Stephen BaldiI’ll work with non-founders also, but there’s something unique about the journey we’ve all been on.12:09.54vigorbrandingSure.12:11.88vigorbrandingYeah, absolutely. So let’s let’s talk a little bit. I just so folks know, I mean, what’s really cool about this conversation is I, ah you know, with vigor, we work with restaurant brands, right?12:22.32vigorbrandingSo we’re very familiar with restaurant brands. And you you have brands like Potbelly, Smashburger. You said founding farmers soon to come. ah Timber Pizza, Dunkin, I mean, some some household names.12:33.94vigorbrandingI don’t know if I’m um yeah any ants.12:34.26Stephen BaldiOn the end, don’t forget on the end, this is what else we have.12:35.99vigorbrandingNo, I can’t actually. Yeah, we actually worked on any answers. We have an agency called quench that a branding agency, Food and Beverage, that that actually worked with Auntie Anne’s because they started here in Lancaster.12:40.96Stephen BaldiOkay.12:45.88vigorbrandinghu Yeah, and I got to meet Anne Byler in the beginning.12:45.98Stephen BaldiThey did.12:48.81vigorbrandingSo, Auntie Anne is actually a person and she’s a wonderful lady and It was a really really awesome to meet her and and and what a she was so she’s a very philanthropic lady very very ah ah Generous and very successful very so she’s got a phenomenal story as well. But so yeah, I certainly won’t leave the auntie hands out But you so you have all these great brands um Talk a little bit about I mean, you know, you said somewhere founded by they you know the founders and all that what’s it like to to manage all these different brands and13:18.00Stephen BaldiI’ll tell you, it’s a dynamic environment. Airports are a wonderful place to do business. Again, I share with you briefly how I matriculated into them, but once you end up in this kind of ecosystem, it’s hard to walk away.13:33.35Stephen BaldiWe get the privilege of serving the traveling public every day. And what’s special about that are the passengers are dynamic. There are people who are going on business trips. There are people who are going on vacations. There are people who are going to be celebrated and there are people who are going to, you know,13:51.28Stephen Baldiusher people off into a transition of life. And we get to meet and connect with them all. And so I tell our crew members that we have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day.14:03.68Stephen BaldiAnd then the following day, we get a whole new group of people coming through.14:06.48vigorbrandingyeah yeah14:07.36Stephen BaldiSo that’s dynamic in the industries are small. I will tell you it’s about a $8 billion industry nationally in the United States, food and beverage and airports.14:14.57vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.14:19.40Stephen BaldiBut the industry is really controlled by about 20 key companies. And within those 20 companies, you probably have 50 total key players.14:23.32vigorbrandingyeah14:27.50Stephen BaldiAnd so we know each other. you know You typically don’t leave the industry. Your business card may change. So you may go from company to company, but it’s a small ecosystem. And so I’ve enjoyed being in the industry now.14:40.58Stephen Baldi18 years. I started when I was two. ah But it’s a buy it’s been an extraordinary 18 years, except for some of the challenges like COVID. But you know for the people who were able and blessed to push through it, I think we have a different perspective on what we can be and what we should be in the businesses that we lead. To your point,15:00.50Stephen Baldium being defined by your business is not necessarily shallow, but there’s levels, there’s there’s depth to what we do.15:08.62vigorbrandingYeah.15:08.91Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to swim in those depths ah for many years.15:14.41vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. We’ll get to COVID in a second, but I want to go back to airports. ah I’ll say, fortunately or unfortunately, I’m a customer. I’m in an airport every single week. So when you’re describing the people you see there, it’s like, yeah.15:21.70Stephen BaldiAwesome.15:24.71vigorbrandingI mean, you know there’s it’s every single walk of life. Everyone seems to have a higher level of stress.15:30.65Stephen Baldiyeah15:30.77vigorbrandingEveryone’s in a hurry, even when they’re not, or even worse, if someone’s really not in a hurry and they’re walking slow in the airport, that can actually be more frustrating and stressful. but ah So how do you how do you deal with that chaos? I mean, you got all these people that are amped up and nervous and they have anxiety or whatever, and then all of a sudden you’ve got to serve them and take them, you know, and represent these great brands and and and actually make the stuff and and in a and a fast time because they’re always running late, even if they’re not, they just think they’re always stressed.15:56.04Stephen BaldiRight.15:59.20vigorbrandingTalk about airport concessions. Talk about that chaos.16:02.08Stephen BaldiYeah, so you meet people where they are. And I will tell you, operating a street-side restaurant versus an airport, it’s a completely different sport.16:09.79vigorbrandingI cannot imagine.16:10.73Stephen BaldiI tell ah these founder-led companies when they’re thinking about matriculating in the airports, I tell them you know it’s like playing high school varsity basketball.16:10.80vigorbrandingyeah16:19.70Stephen BaldiAnd then you get drafted to the and NBA, like the speed, the requirements, you know, we have to go through the logistical um challenges of having every box that comes into your restaurant scan.16:20.40vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah.16:31.21Stephen BaldiLike Cisco’s not pulling up to our back door and delivering our ground beef for Smashburger.16:31.53vigorbrandingYeah.16:34.05vigorbrandingRight.16:35.85Stephen BaldiLike it’s going through an X-ray, just like your luggage is.16:38.86vigorbrandingYeah.16:39.39Stephen Baldium All of our crew members have to go through a 10 year federal background check.16:44.03vigorbrandingSure.16:44.19Stephen Baldium There’s complexities to the business, which are to our challenge. But to me, it’s also kind of to our benefit, Michael, because it reduces my competition. Because unless you’re a serious player, you’re not trying to participate in airports.16:54.14vigorbrandingMhm.16:56.81Stephen BaldiAnd so for me, understanding those barriers and be able to navigate them are great. But from a day to day operation standpoint, We encourage our crew members just to meet people where they are.17:07.93Stephen Baldium It may be the 50th time you’ve welcomed someone to our restaurant, but it’s the first time you’ve spoken to the person that’s in front of you. And again, you don’t know if they’re going on vacation or they’re going to a celebration of life to send a family member home.17:16.31vigorbrandingright17:22.96Stephen BaldiRegardless, you should be additive to their experience and not adding additional stress or complications. Just try to deliver them fast, friendly, exceptional,17:34.09Stephen Baldiservice because that’s our standard. That is our vision for the company, which is being exceptional is our standard. It’s not something that happens intermittently.17:42.84vigorbrandingAll right.17:44.59Stephen BaldiIt happens all the time. And so we welcome the chaos.17:45.78vigorbrandingYeah.17:48.05Stephen BaldiYou know, when it’s raining and snowing outside, even though your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means you get to hang out with you a little bit longer.17:54.78vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.17:55.63Stephen BaldiSo as long as we’re not canceling flights, if they’re just delayed, that’s kind of our sweet spot.18:00.01vigorbrandingThere you go.18:00.65Stephen BaldiSo we welcome it all.18:02.58vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. You know, you you said something really interesting. So as I mentioned, Vigor is our agency that that does branding and marketing for restaurants. I know, and it’s not, you know, it’s common knowledge that turnover and and employees in the restaurant industry is like the biggest hassle, right? and Everyone’s dealing with that that turnover. But you just said something. they They have to go through this long, arduous process to get through. So do you find that you have, I’ll say, maybe better better qualified, better quality,18:32.38vigorbrandingah team members in your restaurants?18:34.64Stephen BaldiI would tell you that our hourly and even our salary leadership ah on some levels, they’re more committed because it is a personal investment to get through the process.18:39.98vigorbrandingMm-hmm.18:45.54Stephen BaldiAnd so, you know, typical food and beverage turnover is anywhere from 100 to 150%. And only ours is closer to like 30.18:51.64vigorbrandingRight.18:54.91vigorbrandingthat’s hey That’s fantastic. I never thought that that would have never dawned on me that that would be ah an unfair advantage. you know It’s funny, like yeah I was telling someone the other day, you know the higher the barrier to entry in business, actually the better the business is because you don’t have just everybody and anybody competing.19:12.66vigorbrandingSo you you have a higher barrier of entry.19:13.25Stephen BaldiCorrect.19:15.58vigorbrandingum And with that, you have you sort of have ah have a capture to a degree ah group of people, right? ah But the one thing that is interesting, I think if I remember correctly, I think there’s like 30%, I’ll say of ah if it’s a Dunkin Donuts on the street corner, 30% of their their ah customers will probably repeat, right?19:35.43vigorbrandingah you You are not, I mean, you know you might have the same business guy that flies every Thursday out to you know wherever,19:37.58Stephen BaldiNo?19:40.80Stephen Baldiwe have We’ll have our Michaels.19:41.81vigorbrandingYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.19:42.16Stephen BaldiWe have our Michaels.19:43.59vigorbrandingI’ll hit your place and at the airport get a coffee on the way out, but that’s it. Yeah, that’s it. So that’s.19:48.43Stephen BaldiI will tell you, though, we do have outside of the the traveling public, we do have recurring customers who are the people who work at the airport. I mean, at National and Dulles Airport, you get anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand employees that are there every day.19:56.97vigorbrandingNo, that makes sense. Sure.20:03.65Stephen BaldiAnd so ah they are also extremely important to us.20:03.75vigorbrandingMm hmm. Hey, they got to eat and drink, right?20:07.86Stephen BaldiThey got to eat and drink and they have to do it fast.20:09.70vigorbrandingRight. That’s right.20:10.84Stephen BaldiWell, we have different incentives to get them in and out, but they are our recurring customers and they’re about 15 to 20 percent of our business.20:15.10vigorbrandingYeah, that makes sense. Hey, going back to the old mall days that I was talking about the sneakers, I sold a lot of sneakers to people that worked in the mall, not many Air Jordans, but a lot of the, you know, a lot of the lower end sneakers.20:22.26Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.20:27.36vigorbrandingSo, we talked to you hit on earlier and I know we, we inevitably, hopefully one day we, we don’t, and we don’t have to talk about, we always go back and talking about COVID and, uh, you know,20:35.54Stephen BaldiOh, yeah.20:37.21vigorbrandingOne of our companies and our holding company is a company called Varsity. And Varsity does retirement communities around the country, we market retirement companies. Well, that that industry shut down. I mean, no one was going, no one was visiting, and people were sick. It was bad. Restaurants, another one of our our agencies, right? We marketed restaurants. No one was going. It was basically shut down. you know Your hospitality Uh, and your restaurants, I mean, and your travel, I mean, you’re, you’re combining it all and how, talk about that a little bit.21:06.75vigorbrandingI mean, you were hit from both ends.21:07.11Stephen BaldiOh, I had the privilege of double dipping.21:11.81vigorbrandingYeah.21:11.93Stephen BaldiSo we were in hospitality beverage, but we were also in travel.21:12.41vigorbrandingIn turmoil.21:15.47vigorbrandingYeah.21:16.03Stephen BaldiAnd so I remember very specifically on March 11th, 2020, President Trump came on television and he announced a 30-day travel ban to Europe.21:27.16vigorbrandingMm-hmm.21:28.65Stephen BaldiAnd at the time, ah most people only thought about the impact of air traffic travel to Europe, places like London, Paris.21:37.58vigorbrandingright21:38.31Stephen BaldiBut I anticipated that this was really the big moment for our industry.21:43.00vigorbrandingRight.21:43.21Stephen BaldiI know a lot of people associate kind of their aha moment with COVID becoming a significant thing when the NBA shut down and more importantly, when the NCAA tournament shut down.21:53.85Stephen BaldiBut that announcement on March 11th signified for me that things were about to change for my business.21:58.60vigorbrandingYeah.21:58.72Stephen BaldiNow, I didn’t know it was going to be 18 months.22:02.21vigorbrandingRight.22:02.55Stephen Baldium But within about two weeks, we lost 85% of our top line revenue. And so on March 18, we shut the company down for 18 months. um And it was a challenge to what we talked about earlier, where a lot of my identity was tied up in this company that I built.22:20.39Stephen BaldiWell, there was no company to have an identity he tied to. And so for me as a leader, It really pushed me during that time to redefine who I was in that moment and who I was going to aspire to be if we were privileged enough to come out of it. And we did. We’ve come out very strong, stronger than actually we went in. um We actually sold 35% of the business last year to some strategic, but then also some individual investors. And so I’ve had the privilege of surrounding myself where before I was the only voice in the room and now there are many.22:55.69vigorbrandingRight.22:55.77Stephen BaldiAnd it presents some unique challenges, but also some extraordinary opportunities for me to low to learn and grow from other individuals and institutions that have built companies to scale, not all in food and beverage, many not.23:10.17Stephen Baldium But it’s really given me the opportunity to become a better leader um and to take our company into the next five to 10 years of what we will be.23:20.35vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know i the the The COVID obviously affected everybody. It affected everybody in different ways. and like For us for a business, it was and it was really interesting in that you know because we have several different agencies in our holding company, it was sort of a little bit of a like a mutual fund where one or two stocks could be really down, but then others can be up. Our CPG agency, Quench,23:40.72vigorbrandingyou know we’ We’re doing we’re doing brands national brands like you know Sunmade Raise and Stark Institute. To me, COVID, to to that to that company and those brands, COVID was like the greatest sampling program in the history of Earth. i mean If you put it in a package back then, it was on a shelf. People bought it. They stuck it in their pantries. They ate it. They bought more of it. i mean They couldn’t get enough of it. i mean It was just ah an insane time.24:01.94vigorbrandingfor those companies. and then the other the The negative side obviously was the restaurants and everything else. i mean It’s a really interesting time. and and you know You said about how you it can define things. the other thing One of the other things we did was we took adversity. We had all these CEOs that were like, what is everyone doing? i mean like you you know This just happened. It was unprecedented. What is everybody else doing? so We thought, well,24:23.89vigorbrandingAll right, we’re not making i mean and and again it’s not we’re not making revenue businesses down, but we still have these relationships. They’re our clients. So what can we do? So it wasn’t my idea, but one of our guys said, hey, let’s create sort of a round table. of that And our agency is called Varsity. So we called it the Varsity Round Table. So we got all these CEOs that were just like,24:41.34vigorbrandingWhat’s everyone doing? And they were able to talk and it was so successful that we did it the next week. And then they talked more and then more and more CEOs jumped in. They weren’t even our clients and became this open source sharing that has now been, we are on about, I think it’s like 250th.24:58.49vigorbrandingroundt We’ve been doing them every week since the first month of COVID.25:04.38Stephen BaldiWow, impressive.25:05.19vigorbrandingAnd what’s done for a company, for us, i mean again we don’t make any money from it. And it wasn’t about that. It was just a place for people to really vent and help. And now we have speakers come in and talk, and everyone’s obviously well beyond COVID.25:16.71vigorbrandingBut it’s really allowed us to be a thought leader and assist these folks. And you know at the end of the day, it’s what it’s all about. And I know a big thing for you is is mentorship, right? I mean, you know talk about giving back. you want you Do you want to talk a little bit about that?25:27.81Stephen BaldiYeah, I’ll talk about that but I’ll also talk similarly to your roundtable so in February of 2020 I had the privilege of joining the organization YPO, which is Young President Organization, which is very similar to what you define there’s 35.25:42.82Stephen Baldi1,000 YPO members globally. And it’s really for business leaders who have decided that they want to walk towards betterment as a person, as a leader, as a family member, as someone contributing to their community in partnership with other leaders.25:58.55Stephen BaldiAnd so I am in the Washington DC Baltimore chapter here ah in the region.25:58.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.26:04.18Stephen BaldiAnd I’m in leadership. And I can tell you that organization was really critical in me navigating everything that I had to go through ah during COVID.26:14.98Stephen BaldiNow, we didn’t we didn’t meet weekly, um but we do meet monthly in a small group of seven to 10 people, and we have forum.26:15.26vigorbrandingSure.26:19.82vigorbrandingMonthly forum.26:22.81Stephen BaldiAnd, oh, there you go.26:22.85vigorbrandingI didn’t know I’m i’m YPO, too. I didn’t know your IPO. Yeah, I’ve been.26:25.92Stephen BaldiYeah!26:26.21vigorbrandingYeah.26:27.01Stephen BaldiSo YDO is really what sustained me during COVID.26:27.03vigorbrandingSo Oh.26:29.86Stephen Baldium And I’m privileged to be on the ladder now in leadership.26:32.72vigorbrandingDo for you.26:35.01Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, as far as mentorship, when I started the company, you know it was a priority for me to give opportunity to underrepresented populations. um Now, as I started to grow the company, my focus started to turn inward, Michael, if I’m being honest. And you know the beginning of 2020, it was difficult for anybody to tell me that I wasn’t the shit. I built this company from zero to something much larger than I had ever aspired to as a young person.27:04.34vigorbrandingRight.27:06.68Stephen Baldium But COVID took all of that away.27:08.81vigorbrandingYeah.27:09.14Stephen BaldiAnd so what it reminded me of is that there was a mission that I started this company with. And it was something that I needed to recommit to when we reopened.27:19.90Stephen BaldiAnd so now um we’re really pouring into our crew members um When I hire someone, specifically, let’s take Dunkin Donuts.27:30.76Stephen BaldiIf I bring in someone as a frontline worker that’s pouring coffee, if they’re still pouring coffee for us in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong.27:34.59vigorbrandingMmhmm.27:41.17Stephen Baldium We want to scale people up. It is not cost effective for us to have people in the same position for multiple years. So if we’re not scaling someone up to take on additional responsibility inside our company and sometimes even outside of our company, then we’ve done something wrong. you know My mentor told me a good leader ah expects or wants people to leave. A great leader expects them to.28:08.64vigorbrandingYeah.28:09.01Stephen BaldiAnd so either they’re leaving the position that we’re hiring them for or they’re leaving to go to another organization. But either way, we have to invest in our hourly crew members because we can’t afford not to.28:20.86vigorbrandingYeah.28:21.76Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s something that we really communicate out and share out. to our community and our organization and people know that we’re gonna invest in them in ways that other companies might not to and we feel like that gives us a competitive advantage and as a leader it makes me feel a good about not only our bottom line results but also the success that we can feel. I have a manager who’s been with us for eight years.28:46.57Stephen BaldiHer name is Marta. And she started as a single unit manager. And now she’s a multi-airport director.28:53.24vigorbrandingawesome.28:53.39Stephen BaldiAnd to see her growth and to understand the impact that that has has had on her family is tremendous. And I want to do that a hundred times over.29:00.50vigorbrandingSure.29:00.79Stephen BaldiAnd I have the privilege of being able to do that as a leader of our company.29:01.01vigorbrandingYeah.29:04.70vigorbrandingand And think of it this way, I mean, and that’s what’s so great about this country, I’ll say is like, you were making whatever $22,000 a year, I think you had free room or board or whatever you were managing, right?29:12.60Stephen BaldiI did.29:13.65vigorbrandingSo you you’re probably like, I’m getting by, this is okay. And look, you and you know, obviously, you’re you’re very well educated, you have a great drive and personality, but you you created a a huge company. And that’s, that’s, that’s really super cool, really super cool.29:25.90Stephen BaldiWell, Michael, I can tell you specifically in that first year, 2002, I made $19,117 and 43 cents. I can tell you that specifically because that W2 still sits on my desk.29:36.80Stephen BaldiI have it framed.29:36.84vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.29:37.68Stephen BaldiI look at it every day just to remind me of where all of this started and where now we’ve grown the company to I’m, I’m extremely proud.29:45.15vigorbrandingYeah. And you know, you mentioned YPO and I’ve been very privileged to be in that organization for, gosh, I think at least 20 some years.29:53.06Stephen BaldiSo you joined when you were 17.29:54.45vigorbrandingYeah, no, but yeah, it’s one of those things, is we you know, it used to kick you out when you’re 50. In fact, I did, I got the rocking chair and showed up at the front door.30:02.59Stephen BaldiOh, there you go.30:03.68vigorbrandingYeah, that was the thing. And then they decided to have YPO Gold, WPO and all that. stuff So I stayed in and now we’re like a forum for life. So my guys, we meet once a month and we are together. ah we A lot of it’s virtual because these guys, a lot of it, we’re retired and stuff.30:15.91vigorbrandingSo um I’m old. I mean, the it’s YPO o Gold, but I always say it’s Silent G, you know, YPO old. So, but it’s a, it was the greatest thing I’ve ever done for me.30:26.29vigorbrandingMaybe a better husband, better father, better businessman, a better employer, better ah a friend. I mean, and I i mean that.30:32.27Stephen Baldiand human30:33.29vigorbrandingYeah. It’s just a better human. And I think a lot of people see it from the outside and think it’s all, it’s a bunch of guys didn’t talk about how many cars they have and where they want vacation. It’s not that at all.30:40.24Stephen BaldiIt’s not that it’s a transformational community, you know, having a high trust network is invaluable.30:40.92vigorbrandingYou know, it’s, you know, it’s a, it is, it is.30:47.41vigorbrandingYep. Yeah. Someone’s got your back, right? You can always pick up that phone and call your, one of your folks and just, they got your back. No, that’s yeah.30:54.39Stephen BaldiAnd it’s nobody, and it’s nobody, nothing, never. And to have that level of confidentiality is special.30:57.03vigorbrandingThat’s right. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. That’s all good for you. I had no idea. That’s fantastic. um So, but now I’m going to do a little ploy here. You got to go and you should go to Austin this year to the food and beverage round table.31:10.60vigorbrandingI mean, if you can check it out, it’ll be, I think it’s in in January, you know, I’ll probably be speaking there, but you should go.31:14.55Stephen BaldiOK.31:16.84vigorbrandingI mean, you know, I’d love to meet you in person. It’d be fantastic.31:18.67Stephen BaldiYeah, I’d love that.31:18.88vigorbrandingAnyway, so could we do,31:20.42Stephen BaldiMaybe we’ll be celebrating a Phillies World Series by then.31:22.74vigorbrandingOh man, you’re making me nervous. um I hope so. I hope you’re right. I hope you’re right. But our company, we do it we do an annual food and beverage trends report every year. We’ve been doing them for like, jeez, 15, 16 years. And so a lot of times we launched it at the food and beverage round table. So it’s always really cool stuff.31:40.96Stephen BaldiAwesome, send me an invite and I’ll be there.31:41.00vigorbrandingum Yeah. All right. Well, definitely. I’ll make sure you get it after this, after our conversation here. So, okay. When you go to a restaurant, you you have a choice between human interaction or self ordering kiosks. I know that, you know, you guys need to be really ah high speed, efficient and all that. What what do you, what do you prefer?31:58.57Stephen BaldiWell, it depends, right? Deploying technology is a strategy that ah should be done with intention and asking the question, and then what, right?32:12.55Stephen Baldium I will tell you a story. So the first time we experimented with self ordering technology was in 2008 at JFK airport terminal five.32:24.65Stephen BaldiAnd we deployed at the time iPads um at our Dunkin Donuts because we thought, you know, technology is moving in this way and it’s fun and it’s cool, but nobody wants to walk up to a counter and order a coffee by pressing buttons.32:29.75vigorbrandingMm-hmm. Yep.32:39.85vigorbrandingMm-hmm.32:44.46Stephen BaldiYou know, communicating to a cashier, ah medium cream and sugar takes about 15 seconds. When you are forcing someone to press hot coffee, then medium, then sugar, then extra sugar, like that’s just, we found that that was a ah strategy that wasn’t ah successfully deployed at that time.32:58.57vigorbrandingwho33:05.34Stephen Baldinow That was back in 2008. I will say trends have matured since then and so there is an opportunity to have self ordering technology at a place like Dunkin Donuts and people have learned to navigate it quickly. um You have hot buttons for certain high usage items and so I say to people all the time because my friends question me, whenever they see an iPad, they assume that that means that that technology has taken someone’s job. And what I try to educate people on is that you know if you deploy technology in a intentional way, in a smart way, it allows you to redirect33:45.29Stephen Baldiwhat you would have otherwise spent on front of house and the back of house.33:46.57vigorbrandingMm33:49.72Stephen BaldiOr maybe you’re deploying it at a ah leadership level that’s multi-unit capable.33:49.78vigorbrandinghmm.33:55.24Stephen BaldiAnd so it’s not necessarily ah replacing jobs, but allowing savvy business leaders to take that investment and redeploy it in other ways. I will tell you that the benefit is you know technology doesn’t call out. Sometimes you have to reboot the system, but it always upsells. It always asks you if you want a dessert and always ask you if you want to package your burger with fries. And so to be able to grow your top line ticket, ah that’s only going to drive bottom line outcomes, which allows a business owner like me to look at expansion, to go into other cities, to be able to bring other people along with us because the business is growing. And so there’s opportunity beyond just taking someone’s order. And so34:40.31Stephen BaldiTechnology is something you have to look at in parallel kind of decision making. But I enjoy it. There’s some concepts that it resonates more significantly than others. But I think there’s a balance and there needs to be a balance of both going forward. I don’t think we’re ever going to have an industry that is exclusively technology or self ordering driven. um And I think you go in with a bunch of assumptions, you understand how your customers respond to it, and then you be agile enough to adjust appropriately.35:08.96vigorbrandingYeah, I mean, it makes a lot of sense. And i I concur. I mean, you know, I don’t want to wait in a massive line, especially from an airport. But, you know, just ordering, pre-ordering and all that kind of stuff isn’t all that funny either.35:19.32vigorbrandingSo it’s just you with that happy balance. You know, I do like talking to somebody and, you know, because I talk a lot, I guess. But plus, I always ask for some ice in my coffee just a little bit. I don’t want nice coffee.35:27.30Stephen BaldiThere you go.35:27.67vigorbrandingSo it’s a little tough to explain to an iPad, you know, so very soft.35:31.57Stephen BaldiTo drop it into a couple of cubes, yeah.35:32.20vigorbrandingWhoops. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t want to burn my, burn my mouth. So now I know you have at least one daughter, correct?35:38.70Stephen BaldiI’d have two daughters and a son.35:39.87vigorbrandingTwo daughters. right All right. Sorry. There we go.35:41.61Stephen Baldi26, 25, and eight.35:41.75vigorbrandingThis will be great then. Wow. Wow.35:45.67Stephen BaldiI started over, Michael.35:45.74vigorbrandingA little gap here.35:46.59Stephen BaldiI started over.35:47.16vigorbrandingYou had a little gap here.35:48.55Stephen Baldihad I had a couple of gap years.35:48.93vigorbrandingA couple of gap years. i well so I have two daughters, 26 as of last week and coming coming up on 29. The reason I bring up these families is you know we all know we love all our kids the same.36:01.78Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:01.79vigorbrandingBut on any but okay but on any given day on any given day, depending on the phone call, depending on the visit, there’s certainly ones that we like other better than others.36:02.97Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:09.94vigorbrandingMichael Alex, it happens it back and forth all the time, just in case you’re listening. Those are my daughters. um36:14.34Stephen BaldiLove it.36:15.04vigorbrandingso you know, we talked about pot belly, we talked about smash burger, we talked about dunking, we talked about timber, we talked about founding farmers, am I missing any any ends?36:25.21Stephen BaldiThere you go.36:27.03vigorbrandingWhich one?36:27.28Stephen BaldiIt’s the end. Yeah.36:27.84vigorbrandingWhich one’s your favorite? What’s your favorite kid there?36:29.64Stephen BaldiMy favorite. Wow. You’re going to force me to say that.36:33.77vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.36:34.15Stephen BaldiWell, I will tell you, because I don’t know if any of our franchisors are going to listen to this part. I love them all equally, and I am privileged to be able to operate them. I will tell you the one that probably um sits deeply in my soul as a person ah is probably Dunkin’ Donuts.36:55.45vigorbrandingNice.36:55.85Stephen Baldiand And I’ll tell you Dunkin’ Donuts because when I was growing up ah in Southwest Philadelphia off of Cobbs Creek Parkway, I had family that lived out by the airport. And in order to get into that area of the city, you have to travel on Cobbs Creek Parkway.37:11.63Stephen BaldiAnd there’s a Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Cobbs Creek Parkway and I can’t remember the cross street, but it’s been there for close to probably 30 or 40 years. I’m 48 and I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there. And I remember seeing that Dunkin Donuts and thinking how rich that franchisee must be to have that score.37:30.65Stephen BaldiNow I know that owning a single franchise is not necessarily a path to generational wealth, but it did, that Dunkin Donuts did put in my mind like what was possible.37:40.22vigorbrandingYeah, that’s cool.37:40.70Stephen Baldium And so to be able to be now a 14 year franchisee of that brand, um which is our longest franchise relationship, it’s pretty special.37:46.48vigorbrandingSuper.37:50.20vigorbrandingThat’s cool. And you know, I’ll say this from the, from the branding side of the world. Uh, what a phenomenal job. I mean, Duncan’s been around forever. I mean, at one point time it was getting a little tired. It was sort of just fading in the woodwork.38:01.35vigorbrandingAnd we know, I mean, all these brands, I mean, they come on strong. They’re, they’re always started somewhere. There’s this regional thing. And then they become these big brands and is they, they struggle to stay relevant.38:10.04Stephen BaldiRight?38:12.62vigorbrandingRight. And I think Duncan has just done a remarkable job.38:16.08Stephen BaldiWe have, yeah.38:16.24vigorbrandingof staying relevant i mean from their graphic design from their marketing their branding to their advertising and all the cool stuff they’ve done that you did you did they blew it away they they absolutely did and yep38:22.42Stephen BaldiI mean, we had the best Super Bowl commercial in my opinion. I mean, Ben Affleck and J.Lo, they did their thing. And Mark Wahlberg, it like it was it was a beautiful commercial.38:33.65vigorbrandingYeah, and you know, it just shows like when you have passion for something, and those guys certainly have passion for for for that part of the world and ah from the Boston area. I just think it’s it was exceptional. In fact, ironically, we have at at our holding company level, Pavone Group, we have the longest running, okay, this is no kidding, the longest running Super Bowl commercial voting mechanism called spotbowl.com.38:56.66vigorbrandingSo every year we get38:57.28Stephen BaldiOK.38:59.26vigorbrandingyou know, thousands and thousands and thousands of votes from around the world, and people vote for their favorite Super Bowl commercial as it’s being played, as the game is being played. And then the the national media outlets reach out to us, and then we tell them the results.39:13.08vigorbrandingAnd Dunkin Donuts was was certainly a stellar winner.39:13.26Stephen BaldiOK.39:16.02Stephen BaldiIt was and had to be at the top.39:17.26vigorbrandingYeah, it was awesome.39:17.88Stephen BaldiCome on out. Tell me Michael it was at the top.39:19.04vigorbrandingYeah, yeah. It was, well, I’m looking over here at my guy that runs it. it was It was the top one. Yeah, it was, it definitely was.39:24.42Stephen BaldiIt was, it I thought it was.39:25.10vigorbrandingOh, yeah, yeah, yeah.39:25.89Stephen BaldiThere you go. Thank you for, thank you for phoning your friend and getting confirmation.39:26.59vigorbrandingIt was it was awesome.39:29.55Stephen BaldiIt was a pretty special advertising.39:31.41vigorbrandingYeah.39:31.85Stephen BaldiAnd yeah, I didn’t get a chance to order my Duncan jumpsuit, but I’m sure it’s in the mail somewhere.39:36.72vigorbrandingYeah, there you go. there That’s that that everything.39:38.41Stephen BaldiMaybe Duncan corporate will see this and they’ll send me one.39:38.96vigorbrandingAlthough. yeah Yeah, all the merch, everything they did around that was super cool. and the take the outtakes from the39:43.99Stephen BaldiSuper cool.39:46.35vigorbrandingyou know It’s funny too because when it comes to this marketing stuff, like it used to be just a TV spot. and The reason I looked over to ask Dave, Dave’s the guy you spoke to. He’s the one that that kind of heads up this podcast. He’s also the one that really runs Spopple. We’ve been doing this so long that In the beginning, we didn’t know anything.40:03.48vigorbrandingIn other words, they would the game it was all about the game. The game was played. And then people realized, well, people love the commercials. So we never knew, like like you and everybody else, we just sit there and watch the game, cut the commercial. Oh, it’s a commercial for fill in the blank.40:15.61vigorbrandingNow, they release the commercials to us ahead of time.40:15.73Stephen BaldiYeah.40:18.45vigorbrandingThey tell us what it’s about. They send us outtakes. They give us information. Because they realize it, because it’s a couple million dollars for 30 seconds, that they need to get as much juice out of the you know squeeze as much juice out of this as possible so they want to know they put stuff online they do teasers and it’s it’s turned into a an event unto itself and uh we’re really proud to have been a part of it so it’s kind of funny that you brought that up that’s cool stuff all40:39.58Stephen BaldiYeah. Now I will tell you my all time favorite Super Bowl commercial.40:44.35vigorbrandingright uh40:45.67Stephen BaldiNow I remember the star, but I don’t even remember the brand.40:49.95vigorbranding-oh40:50.06Stephen BaldiRemember the the commercial with the kid and the Star Wars mask and he was going around zapping things and he went and he zapped the car and the car started.40:55.24vigorbrandingVolkswagen. Yeah. Yeah.40:58.28Stephen BaldiThat was my all-time favorite more commercial.40:58.46vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. That was ah that was a Volkswagen spot. That was a fantastic spot.41:03.91Stephen BaldiFantastic commercial.41:03.93vigorbrandingIt was a fantastic. You know, I’ll i’ll tell you mine next. i’m I’m a simp and I, you know, ah the Budweiser commercials and41:11.83Stephen BaldiOh yeah.41:13.17vigorbrandingThere was one though in particular where the guy, you know, he raises these horses and it goes on to be a Clydesdale and it it takes off and the horse leaves and there’s a parade. And I almost get choked up thinking about it.41:24.28vigorbrandingIt was so well done. There’s a parade, the guy standing there to parade and the horse sees him, breaks away, chases him down on the road. Oh my gosh. It was, it was, I had to do a live TV commercial. I had to do a live segment on the news about the the best TV spot and and they they, you know, they played it and I wasn’t expecting them to play it.41:40.60vigorbrandingI’m like, I had tears going down my face.41:42.56Stephen BaldiOh, you got emotional.41:42.51vigorbrandingI’m like, That’s my favorite.41:43.64Stephen BaldiOh, look at you.41:45.41vigorbrandingI still get emotional. i think but i think it I think it was the best all-time i mean story. It was just cute. so anyway That’s right, man.41:50.70Stephen BaldiAnd the best story always wins, Michael. Best story always wins.41:53.25vigorbrandingThat’s right. right yeah Yeah, you know, we always tell people a brand is a promise, ah but you have to tell a story. You have to draw a motion, make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel something about your brand. And that’s how you break through. And it’s always important, you know, a lot of times clients will say stuff, um you know, hey we just want to sell more, we got to do this, we got to do that. And and really it comes down to ah the fact that you’ve you got to do great creative to break through to get people’s attention.42:19.09vigorbrandingSo, well, I have a couple more questions for you and I want to hit them for sure.42:21.03Stephen BaldiOkay.42:22.25vigorbrandingSo now look, ah we talked about the airports you’re in, in the in the in the greater DC area, some of the most, I mean, they’re they’re busy, they’re they’re important, they’re huge. Other airports, I mean, you have great concessions in those airports.42:34.37vigorbrandingOther airports that you think have great concessions in the country?42:37.16Stephen BaldiYeah, I will tell you, Atlanta, one of the busiest airports in the world, definitely in this country.42:42.95vigorbrandingOh yeah, oh yeah. yeah42:45.86Stephen Baldium And then Houston, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, these are all markets that we kind of look at.42:49.80vigorbrandingMm hmm. Oh yeah.42:54.54vigorbrandingMassive hubs.42:56.51Stephen Baldium It’s important for us to be in high demand airport systems, because you never know how the world’s going to,43:02.80vigorbrandingYeah.43:05.21Stephen Baldirespond. And Morgan Hausl is one of the people who I look to for kind of strategic direction.43:12.04vigorbrandingMm hmm.43:13.49Stephen BaldiI’m thinking about my business. And one thing he always says is that as a business leader, if you’re only planning for the risk and threats that you can predict, you’re probably missing the biggest one.43:24.90vigorbrandingOh, yeah.43:25.41Stephen Baldium And so how we kind of shelter ourselves from that is we go into high demand markets. So even if an airline, a legacy airline like an American or United or a Delta or a Southwest ah decides that they no longer want to operate in that market, there’ll be another legacy carrier chomping at the bit together.43:44.09vigorbrandingSure.43:44.40Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s one of our strategy when we’re looking to grow nationally is to look at high demand airport markets.43:44.77vigorbrandingSure. Mm hmm.43:51.29Stephen BaldiAnd those are just a few that I named.43:53.58vigorbrandingI’m a big fan of Morgan has effect. We have him speaking at our, at our YPO. He’s, he’s one of, I think he might even be next month’s speaker. So I’m really, really, are you really, that’s all his book.44:00.64Stephen Baldiah We’re bringing them in on the 13th of November. Yeah.44:04.00vigorbrandingHis book’s incredible. Incredible. I made my daughter’s read it. So, um, what’s next for balding management group. And mean we talked about in other airports. What’s, what’s next for you? What’s what’s your vision? Where are you were are you hoping to go?44:13.26Stephen Baldimy My vision is to grow the tent and plant trees that I may never even know their shade, um because that’s when I think a community and when a business is thriving is when you’re willing to do things that you might not be able to see to fruition. And so we’re trying to build a company, not trying, we are building a company that will rise the tide for all the boats. I want to create another 20, 25 stories just like mine.44:41.46vigorbrandingYeah.44:41.62Stephen Baldium I can invest and grow my company so that it’s beneficial and creates generational wealth for me, but I also have the opportunity to listen to the individuals whose stories might not necessarily be taken to the top because they’re not fully formed or well articulated.44:59.34Stephen BaldiI try to look for those people, because I was once that person.45:00.66vigorbrandingyeah45:02.15Stephen BaldiI was the property manager in the office, and Cynthia Garber came and tapped me on the shoulder, which she did not have to do.45:02.50vigorbrandingyep45:08.96Stephen BaldiAnd so I’m trying to identify those voices in our companies, the people in leadership, but also the people who we don’t necessarily identify with immediately, because a lot of our workforce our ESL where English is a second language.45:24.24Stephen BaldiAnd so verbal communication is a challenge, but I don’t want that to get in the way of us knowing or ide

Two giant pandas on loan from China have arrived at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Also, originally from Central Asia, Kernza doesn't need to be replanted every year, unlike crops such as corn and soybeans.Pandas Return To Washington, D.C., ZooOn Tuesday, two VIPs (Very Important Pandas) arrived at Washington's Dulles International Airport, en route to new quarters at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.The arrival marks a new chapter of “panda diplomacy,” which leverages the public's affection for the cute, charismatic animals to both strengthen US-China ties and fund conservation initiatives. Sophie Bushwick, senior news editor at New Scientist, joins SciFri's John Dankosky to talk about the giant pandas' arrival and other stories from the week in science.Scientists Push For A Lesser-Known Grain Called KernzaOn a recent weekday afternoon, dozens of people filled the cozy taproom at Blue Jay Brewing Company. On tap that day was a fresh creation called New Roots. The American Lager was a hit, with many of the patrons going back to the bar for another glass.Blue Jay's owner and brewer, Jason Thompson, was also pleased with the result of this experimental beer, which he described as “earthy, almost nutty,” with a “lingering honey-like sweetness to it.” Those flavors came from his choice to use a novel grain called Kernza for 25% of the 600 pounds of grain needed for the whole brew, he said.Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Episode Notes United Airlines is adding eight new, off-the-beaten-path destinations to its summer 2025 schedule, betting that travelers will fly to less popular locations, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.  United's new destinations for summer 2025 include the capitals of Mongolia, Senegal and Greenland. Maharishi notes many of its new destinations are in contrast to American and Delta, two carriers with summer schedules that typically revolve around more popular routes. However, United isn't completely ignoring big-name destinations as it's adding flights to Nice and Venice from Dulles International Airport.  Next, Disneyland guests are paying more for the theme park's attractions after the Walt Disney Company increased ticket prices on Wednesday, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  Prices went up for most single-day tickets under Disney's tier system, with some increasing by as much as 6.5%. Most of Disneyland's multi-day ticket prices increased by roughly the same percentage. Habtemariam notes the price hike comes as Americans are increasingly cutting back on travel spending in response to rising cost of living.  Finally, Sharjah, one of the UAE's seven emirates, is aiming to attract what one official calls “invisible” tourism — unlike neighboring Dubai, writes Middle East Reporter Josh Corder.  Corder notes Sharjah is focused on becoming the national center of cultural tourism with plans to create camps and eco-resorts. Sharjah leaders are also working to preserve large portions of the emirate in its “Heart of Sharjah” project, which aims to restore historic structures.  Sharjah is the most conservative of the seven emirates and the only one that still outlaws alcohol. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the country, which is becoming more and more Western, notably giving the green light for casinos earlier this month. For more travel stories and deep dives into the latest trends, head to skift.com.  Connect with Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/ X: https://twitter.com/skift Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/ WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/ Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.

Happened In the 90's hosted by Steve and Matt picks a day, any day, and then goes back in time to that magical decade we all know and love the 90's, to revisit episodes of tv, movies that premiered, or cultural events that occurred on that day in the 90's. This week Steve & Matt discuss the greatest action stars from the 90s. SEGMENT 1 Movie: Die Hard 2 Premiere Date: 07/04/1990 Story: John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Thanks for listening! Watch all new episode every Thursday here on Youtube: ⁠ / @happenedinthe90s73 ⁠ Audio available on all major platforms. Email Us At: hitnineties@gmail.com Instagram: HappenedInThe90s Twitter: HIThe90s Facebook: @HappenedInThe90s Website: ⁠⁠https://happenedinthe90s.com

Today we look at the story of the Dulles Brothers, movers and shakers, or unravellers, actually - in the earliest years of the 20th century. Their influence in American politics is astonishing on several levels. You may have heard of Dulles International Airport, so the name might ring a bell. But their lives of privilege and influence shaped this nation like no other men could have. From a season of espionage following the first World War,  on up to the Bay of Pigs disaster under Kennedy, the entire span of that time belongs to them. Why should we care? Because God is allowing us to see the curtain pulled back just enough to reinforce the fact that spiritual influences in high places enslave more people than we can possibly comprehend. The Cold War, the CIA, regime changes in the 50s, Vietnam - all of these things have the Dulles signature all over them. Only the gospel frees a man.  A fascinating hour of dot connecting.   Shameless plug for swag for our listeners/donors! https://www.redpillprints.com/stand-up-for-the-truth - Thanks for YOUR Support!

WTOP's Jason Fraley interviews Tony winner John Cameron Mitchell, creator of “Hedwig And The Angry Inch,” who joins the National Symphony Orchestra for “Blackstar: The Music of David Bowie” this Friday and Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He called in from the airport before catching a flight here to Dulles International Airport near the nation's capital. (Theme Music: Scott Buckley's "Clarion") Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WTOP's Jason Fraley interviews Tony winner John Cameron Mitchell, creator of “Hedwig And The Angry Inch,” who joins the National Symphony Orchestra for “Blackstar: The Music of David Bowie” this Friday and Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He called in from the airport before catching a flight here to Dulles International Airport near the nation's capital. (Theme Music: Scott Buckley's "Clarion") Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Innovations in Flight at the National Air & Space Museum, FAA preparing to address the public charter loophole, titanium components manufactured with improper paperwork, Southwest 737 MAX experienced a “Dutch Roll,” Lockheed Martin team receives Collier Trophy, and business jet found after 53 years. Innovations in Flight The annual Innovations in Flight was held June 15, 2024, at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, adjacent to Dulles International Airport. The outdoor fly-in features over 50 unique aircraft, flown in for one day only. Visitors explored the engineering and design innovations that have taken place during the last century of flight and talk with the pilots of vintage and modern aircraft on display. Again this year, Hillel Glazer flew his 1972 Piper Cherokee 180 to Innovations in Flight. He describes how aircraft are selected to participate, the process of arriving and departing from Dulles Airport, and the taxiway through the woods that connects the two facilities. Perhaps most notably, Hillel recorded conversations with some younger visitors, ages 7 to 13. In this episode, you can hear Johnny (Age 7), Alexandra (Age 8), Phoebe (Age 12), Luka (Age 12), and Jackson (Age 9). Jackson even has his own YouTube channel: Flight Pattern Talk with Jax. LIstener JD Gold (left) 777 Pilot for FedEx with Hillel (right). Reflections on the museum's architectural feature above the side door. Waiting in the conga line to depart behind the NOAA “P-3” Aviation News FAA Cracks Down On “Public Charter” Loophole, Bad News For JSX The so-called “public charter loophole” allows charter companies to operate from private terminals without some of the requirements that larger carriers are subject to, such as TSA screening and pilots with more than 1,500 flight hours. The FAA says they are now going to address this situation by issuing an NPRM that would amend the definitions of “scheduled,” “on demand,” and “supplemental” operations. Titanium in Boeing, Airbus jets lacks proper documentation, companies say Spirit AeroSystems used titanium that had counterfeit documentation and which found its way into both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. U.S. and European safety regulators are investigating, while the companies involved say the titanium is not a safety issue, only the documentation is deficient. US NTSB investigating 'Dutch roll' by Southwest Boeing 737 MAX The Dutch roll occurred at 34,000 feet on a flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Oakland, California. The lateral asymmetric movements of the roll were named after a Dutch ice skating technique. Pilots regained control of the plane which proceeded without additional incident, however, Southwest found damage to structural components and the NTSB and FAA are investigating. See: Yaw Dampers and video: What is a Dutch Roll? https://youtu.be/9Gt-IcCBiQ4?si=KgbVtTW57zTTswBc The National Aeronautic Association Recognizes Lockheed Martin with Prestigious Collier Trophy The 2023 Robert J. Collier Trophy was awarded by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) to Lockheed Martin for the team's work on NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission which collected an asteroid sample in 2020 and returned it to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. The OSIRIS-Rex team includes Lockheed Martin, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, the University of Arizona, and KinetX, among many others. A jet disappeared in Vermont over 53 years ago. Experts believe they've found it in Lake Champlain Air controllers lost contact with the Aero Commander Jet Commander 1121A ( N400CP) shortly after takeoff in 1971 over Lake Champlain in Vermont. It was only found after an underwater searcher located it recently at a depth of 200 feet. The NTSB will verify that this is the plane from 1971. Small plane crash-lands in Androscoggin River in Topsham

In this quick little episode recorded from their gate at the Dulles International Airport, William and Sarah give an overview of their recent trip to Washington, D.C.Places referenced:Supra https://supradc.com/The Quill https://www.jeffersondc.com/dining/quill/Waldorf Peacock Alley https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/dcawawa-waldorf-astoria-washington-dc/dining/peacock-alley/Georgetown https://www.georgetowndc.com/The Fountain Inn https://www.fountaininndc.com/Rumi's Kitchen https://www.rumiskitchen.com/

In April, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority conducted a mandatory mass casualty disaster drill. The location was Dulles International Airport in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. These exercises are supposed to be held every three years.

WHO PLAYED GOLF WITH HIM?   The late O.J. Simpson was a regular visitor to Twitter when he wasn't in prison. He would appear sitting in a golf cart commenting on the news of the day. Why? Did he have a regular foursome? Did he hook up with strangers?   Congressman Guy Reschenthaler explains the fight in Congress between Republicans who want to renew FISA and those who don't and why he introduced a bill to change the name of Dulles International Airport to Donald Trump International Airport   Reagan Reese, White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller says the FISA fight could be tearing the Republican Party apart.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4/8/24  Hour 2    Vince speaks with John Hasson, Contributor at Townhall about Donald Trump's statement this morning trying to clarify his abortion position. Vince speaks with Guy Reschenthaler, Congressman representing Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional and Chief Deputy Whip for the 118th Congress about his efforts to change the name of Dulles International Airport to “Donald J Trump International Airport” and the national security threat of Biden's open border.       For more coverage on the issues that matter to you visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 from 3-6pm.   To join the conversation, check us out on social media: @WMAL @VinceCoglianese.      Executive Producer: Corey Inganamort @TheBirdWords See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congressman Guy Reschenthaler joins Larry and Marty to discuss the dysfunction within congress and his proposed bill to rename the Dulles International Airport to the Donald J. Trump International Airport. 

Recently, a bill was introduced by Democratic Representatives in the House proposing to rename a federal prison in Miami to honor an individual who has been at the center of American politics over the past few years: Donald Trump. This idea came in response to a proposition by a few Republican House Representatives to rename Dulles International Airport located just outside Washington, D.C., to celebrate the man recognized by many as a determinative figure for the country during his presidency. The suggestion to rename the Dulles Airport after Donald Trump was not received lightly by all. A number of Democrats countered this proposal with another, one that possibly delineates more accurately their view of the matter. Their counter move was to envisage the renaming of the Miami Federal Correctional Institution in South Florida to 'Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution'. The Democrats claim that this proposal truly reflects their sentiments relating to the recent past events tied to the Republican figurehead. Representative Connolly was among the Democrats who primarily vocalized their views regarding the Republican proposal of renaming the airport. Capturing the sentiment of many, he noted that a more appropriate tribute in their opinion would be to rename a federal prison after Mr. Trump, rather than an international airport. The hope was also expressed that Republican representatives might come to see this as an apt and deserved recognition for the former President. Currently, the former President finds himself confronting not one, but 91 charges across four distinct criminal indictments. Several Democratic prosecutors target this influential Republican figure-turned-opposition party leader, using legal tactics to bring him to book. Connolly plain-spokenly voiced the Democratic sentiment when he commented 'If Republicans indeed desire to commemorate him, perhaps a federal prison would be a more fitting monument.'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I believe I've put together what went down at Gardaworld in California!Danny Ocean Got Laid: DANNY OCEAN FOUND HIMSELF IN A FINANCIAL RUTHE HAD TO STEAL THIRTY MEAL TO KEEP TESS'S BUTT30 MILLION IS LONG GONE THROUGH A HOLE IN THE WALLTERRY BENEDICT IS PISSED, LINUS GOT IT ALLGARDAWORLD LET DANNY OCEAN STEAL MY CASHBASHER CREATED THE HOLERUSTY GONE IN A FLASH, GARDAWORLD HOSTED A CASH PARADETHERE'S A HOLE BY THE SAFEDANNY OCEAN GOT LAID!Tobacco Stops with MeTrump's special credit bond company isn't holding waterThe benefits of FingerhutRe-naming Dulles International Airport in Virgina?Earthquake Boob Shake songTrump's Truth Social is full of shit!

Ryan, Dana, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann discuss the Hillsborough County Schools vote on a millage referendum, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric pushing for rate increases, and passengers on a Norwegian cruise left stranded. Plus, analysis of Biden's campaign believing they can win Florida, reactions to the Florida Supreme Court's ballot amendment decisions, a Florida Man's home damaged by space junk, House Republicans proposing a name-change for Dulles International Airport, and The Daily Caller retracting their report about Biden's ban on religious easter eggs.

Republicans propose bill to rename Dulles International Airport in honor of Donald Trump!

Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania day care center experienced an outbreak of measles.  Health officials say cases first started being reported last month at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and they were notified days later of more cases at a nearby day care center. We learned this week that people who traveled through Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia might have been exposed to measles. So, what's happening with these outbreaks and are Connecticut residents at risk? We asked Dr. Browne about that. We also discussed new information regarding HIV. Researchers at the University of Virginia believe they have solved some of the mystery surrounding the transmission of HIV.  A recently published study suggests that a protein produced by the virus may adapt inside the body, allowing it to be transmitted to others. Dr. Browne says this could be the first step in a vaccine! Image Credit: Getty Images

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg -- from Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. Peter sits down with Jeremy R. Kinney - The Associate Director for Research and Curatorial Affairs at the National Air and Space Museum - to talk aviation and history. Then, IAD's Airport Manager, Richard Golinowski stops by to chat about what it takes to maintain this iconic airport. Then, a special guest who used to fly out of Dulles, Mike Bannister - the iconic British Airways Captain of the Concorde - on the history of the plane and the future of supersonic travel.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg -- from Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. Peter sits down with Jeremy R. Kinney - The Associate Director for Research and Curatorial Affairs at the National Air and Space Museum - to talk aviation and history. Then, IAD's Airport Manager, Richard Golinowski stops by to chat about what it takes to maintain this iconic airport. Then, a special guest who used to fly out of Dulles, Mike Bannister - the iconic British Airways Captain of the Concorde - on the history of the plane and the future of supersonic travel.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, why the United States is saying goodbye to its pandas. And how the bears became a powerful diplomatic symbol of U.S.-China relations.Read more:For decades, China has deployed its giant pandas as a diplomatic tool to shore up alliances and woo new partners, including the United States. In 1972, China first gifted the United Statestwo pandas. Since then, it has leased pandas to zoos across the country. Now, after American zoogoers have come to adore the bears, China is taking all of its pandas back. This week, under police escort and accompanied by their longtime keepers, Washington's three giant pandas boarded a FedEx cargo jet at Dulles International Airport headed for Chengdu, China. The only remaining pandas in the nation will be in Atlanta, and they are scheduled to depart for China next year. The pandas' exit comes at a moment of strained U.S.-China relations. Enterprise reporter William Wan explains the hidden diplomatic power of China's pandas, and how these black-and-white bears are beloved by Americans across the country.

Three giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, including a pair who came 23 years ago and their 3-year-old son, headed back to China on Wednesday, an "unbearable" moment for millions of their fans who have usually cited the bears as the reason to visit.At noon on Wednesday, before the steel and plexiglass crate that contains Xiao Qi Ji, the panda junior, was about to be loaded onto a FedEx plane at Dulles International Airport, the little one seemed to be waving his paws at the window, to the awe-struck fans who had followed him from the Zoo.Three Zoo staffers, including assistant curator of giant pandas Laurie Thompson, an animal and a supervisory veterinary medical officer traveled with the trio, along with a bonanza of the pandas' favorites: about 220 pounds of bamboo, eight pounds of leaf-eater biscuits, six pounds of apples, and even a pound of cooked squash.After a 19-hour plane ride aboard the "Giant Panda Express", including a brief refueling stop in Alaska, Xiao Qi Ji and his parents Mei Xiang, aged 25, and Tian Tian, aged 26, will arrive at Chengdu, to be greeted by keepers from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.They will drive them toShenshuping base in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Southwest China's Sichuan province, where they will stay in quarantine for approximately 30 days.For Zoo visitors from the US capital and beyond, saying good-bye to the pandas is not easy."Dear Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji - I have dreaded this post for quite awhile, living in denial and hoping this day would somehow never come. Because saying goodbye to you is the hardest thing I've ever had to do," wrote a Zoo-goer identified as DC Panda Girl."You may never know it, but you have given me so much over the years. You gave me a reason to smile, to laugh and to find joy, even in some of my darkest moments. You provided comfort and support in a way that humans simply could not," the letter continued.Brandie Smith, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, said that as the family of three departed for their new home in China, they've left behind a "tremendous" legacy in Washington DC."It is exciting and humbling that people around the world have followed these pandas, shared in our joys and rooted for our success," Smith said. "As this chapter of our giant panda program closes, we remain committed to the conservation of this species and look forward to continued collaboration with our Chinese colleagues."Asked how to cope with the situation of having an empty panda habitat at the Zoo, Smith said she would immediately think about the future – working with colleagues to bring pandas back."I will say that they have to wait the same as I do until we know that information for sure," Smith told China Daily when asked how she would answer the visitors' question about when they can expect new pandas."We have a great relationship with our colleagues in China and we look forward to working together to bring them back," she said.More than 2 million visitors travel to the Zoo every year, and giant pandas are at the top on their wish and watch list.In an interview with China Daily in August, Smith said the absence of the bears may mean that the other animals will get "a little extra" attention.In 2000, China and the US signed a Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement for the second pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, to stay at the zoo for a decade since Dec 6 that year.The loan pact was renewed twice, each time for a five-year extension until Dec 7, 2020. It was then extended for another three years.Since collaboration between China and the Smithsonian's National Zoo began in 2000, the two sides have worked "closely and fruitfully" on giant panda conservation and research, said Xu Xueyuan, minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States."The sheer fact that so many of us are gathering here, so early in the morning, to say farewell to the giant pandas returning to China, speaks for itself the unique charm of these adorable creatures," Xu said at a see-off ceremony at the Zoo."Giant pandas belong to China. Giant pandas also belong to this world. China will continue to work closely with cooperation partners, including the United States, on the conservation and research of endangered species and biodiversity protection," the diplomat said.From births and first steps to munching bamboo and playtime in the snow, the Giant Panda Cam at the Zoo has connected fans across the world to amazing moments featuring Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cubs, the Zoo said in a release.Since its launch, the Giant Panda Cam has had more than 100 million page-views, according to the Zoo statistics.原稿链接：https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/09/WS654c612ea31090682a5ed563.html

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Vice President of Marketing & Concessions Jaimini Erskine discusses the authority's major upgrades to Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. You can learn more about the DCA Reimagined Program here (link) https://www.flyreagan.com/travel-information/construction-projects/dca-reimagined

IN THE NEWS:Eleven senators are retiring. Five won't be returning because they lost the primary. Three senators are in hotly competitive races and might lose in November. Keep in mind that the Senate has only 40 members. That means we're expecting to see a turnover of 40 to 50 percent in the Senate.One out of four elections this November has no challenger, candidates running unopposed. Most of those are incumbents, but the list of unchallenged elections includes people who aren't even in the General Assembly yet.Dulles International Airport will be the site for like the largest renewable energy project ever developed at a U.S. airport with solar panels and electric vehicles. When all those solar panels are up and operational, Dominion Energy expects they will power 37,000 homes and businesses by 2026.At the Watercooler: AG Jason Miyares seems to believe local school boards are required to adopt the Governor's model policies, and Michael's presentation on the Byrd Machine will be on C-SPAN this Friday, September 1 at 8:30 PM.TRIVIA: When was the last time a Governor of Virginia became POTUS? Learn more at http://linktr.ee/JacklegMedia

Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia is about to take a major step forward for renewable energy. Michael Pope has the story.

 In this hour, Brian Walsh from The Capitol Access Alliance explains the current efforts in Congress to change the rule and increase the number of flights allowed out of Reagan National, aiming to provide consumers with more choices and inject much-needed competition into the marketplace. Then. Anna Bolhmann presents "Whats on the Web", sharing humorous anecdotes about tipping in America vs Europe and the culture around it. The second story talks about a pizza delivery app, Slice, looking to hire a full-time pizza influencer to create content celebrating pizza and pizzeria owners for a salary of $110,000 a year.  

In This Episode:In this episode of The Capital Runway, we sat down with Janene Shaw, the Terminal Operations Supervisor at Dulles International Airport. Janene has dedicated over 25 years to Dulles. Tune in and learn how her sister's Air Force career exposed her to airfields and instilled a deep understanding of aviation. Join us as Janene takes us through her various roles over the years that led her to becoming the airport's first female Duty Manager. Don't miss it this one!Have questions for us? We'd love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@thecapitalrunway.comFor more information, please visit our website at https://thecapitalrunway.com.Staff:Tanisha Lewis, VP of DISIJaimini Erskine, VP of Marketing & ConcessionsCharles Wilson, Co-host/Co-producerAmanda Ohbayashi, Co-host/Co-producer/Social media producerRyan Burdick, Editor/Co-producerBong Lee, GraphicsBrian McCoy, Digital Strategy/Co-producerSagia Depty, Marketing Lead/Co-producerAdam Lawrence, Web producer

Lachlan Murdoch told Fox News boss Suzanne Scott to lower the boom on his good pal Tucker Carlson after a terse tête-à-tête with dad Rupert at Dulles International Airport in Virginia last Thursday, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Did your parents or grandparents ever tell you one of ‘those' stories. You know the ones – “Back in my day we used to walk 7 miles to school. It was uphill both ways. It was always raining, the snow was at least chest deep, and you were lucky if you didn't get heat stroke.” IT's kinda' fun to hear them tell their stories, but O. k. old timer – we get it – things were harder ‘back in the day'. Speaking of ‘back in the day' I've got a great experience to share. It was the early 90s, and I was working a Dulles International Airport fire department, in Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. It was about 7 in the morning and my 24-hour shift was over, so I was headed home. Home was a 70+mile drive – and it usually took a little over an hour. And, with a commute like that I didn't want to be running miles up on a new car, so I would keep my eye's open for what I hoped would be a reliable jalopy – wore out a few of them during that decade's long career. I hoped into my late 70's Subaru station wagon and headed home. This little Subaru hoopdy was really ugly. It was painted mostly a silverish and rather rock chipped blue - Except for the driver's door – which was an awful brown color. This little rattle trap had a very reliable (boxer style) 4-cylinder engine, good tires, and was about the size of today's 4 door RAZOR ATV. Fun to drive, though it was a bit embarrassing to be seen in.  Whether you enjoy this podcast or not, I'm sure you will enjoy my new book, “firehouse philosophy: embers of insight for an exceptional life“. Get your copy now! Search “firehouse philosophy” on Amazon.

December 19th Show Notes December 19, 1934 – The New York Yankees send five players to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League as partial compensation for the acquisition of Joe DiMaggio. The Yankees had previously paid $25,000 for the future Hall of Famer. DiMaggio will play one more season in the PCL before reporting to the Yankees in 1936. In ‘36, DiMaggio will hit .323 with 125 RBIs in helping the Yankees to a World Series title. December 19, 1976 — A single-engine Piper Cherokee plane crashes into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, home of the Orioles, injuring the pilot and three others. Minutes prior to the mishap, the plane had buzzed the stadium during the final moments of the Steelers' playoff victory over the Colts.   The pilot of the Piper Cherokee was 33-year-old Donald Kroner. Kroner served three months of a two-year sentence for malicious destruction of property and violation of aviation ordinances. Kroner had been arrested prior to the Stadium incident for making threats against former Colt Bill Pellington. This included Kroner being accused of dropping a bottle and toilet paper from his plane onto the roof of Pellington's Timonium restaurant. According to news reports, Kroner was upset over being thrown out of the restaurant. Kroner died in 2013. Kroner had been fired as an MTA bus driver the day before the crash. He also had been a flight instructor and, according to some accounts, had worked as an air traffic controller. In 1980, Kroner was charged with stealing a Greyhound bus from Dulles International Airport. December 19, 1990 — At a press conference, Tiger management and WJR announce 1991 will be Ernie Harwell's 32nd and final season in the broadcast booth. The dismissal of the Motor City's popular play-by-play announcer starts a furor among fans, which includes a threatened boycott of Domino's Pizza, a business of club owner Tom Monaghan, and the rise of the slogan, “Say It Ain't So, Bo”, which appears on bumper stickers and T-shirts all over Detroit, referring to Bo Schembechler, the team president and former University of Michigan football coach. "[Harwell's situation is] not going to change no matter how much clamor is made over it," said team president Bo Schembechler. The situation caused outrage so much that some made threats of violence against Schembechler. Some, such as Mitch Albom, blamed the situation causing as much negative feeling as it did on WJR executive Jim Long who was the one who pushed the quick, no severance pay removal of Harwell.[6] The movement in favor of keeping Harwell was so strong that even billboards in favor of his remaining were put up.[7] Rick Rizzs was hired away from the Seattle Mariners to replace Harwell in 1992, teaming with Bob Rathbun. Harwell worked a part-time schedule for the California Angels in 1992. The following year, the Tigers were purchased by Mike Ilitch, who made it one of his first priorities to bring Harwell back. In 1993, Harwell teamed with Rizzs and Rathbun on the WJR broadcasts, calling play-by-play of the middle innings in each game. From 1994 to 1998, Harwell called television broadcasts for the Tigers on PASS Sports and later WKBD-TV. In 1999, he resumed full-time radio duties with the team, swapping roles with Frank Beckmann (who had replaced Rizzs in the radio booth following the 1994 season), teaming with analyst Jim Price, and continuing in that role even as the team's radio rights changed from WJR to WXYT in 2001. During spring training in 2002, Harwell announced that he would retire at the end of the season; his final broadcast came on September 29, 2002. Dan Dickerson, who had joined Harwell and Price in 2000, took over as the Tigers' lead radio voice. Died: December 19, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA Dock Ellis, a solid pitcher for the Bucs, is best known for his performance on June 12, 1970, when he would forever etch his name in major league baseball history. That night Dock, despite the fact he walked eight batters, no-hit the San Diego Padres 2-0 on the strength of two Willie Stargell home runs. Also that night, which he admitted later on, was the fact that Ellis pitched his gem while on LSD. Welcome to the wild and bizarre world of Dock Ellis. He had a 14-3 record at the 1971 All-Star break, but famously said baseball wouldn't let two soul brothers – he and Vida Blue – start the AS game. Ellis ended up surrendering Reggie Jackson's titanic blast at Tiger Stadium. He was also the starter when the Pirates become the first team to start 9 black players. Ellis, never one to avoid controversy, also hit the first three Reds on May 1, 1974 because he felt his team was lackluster. Ellis will eventually end up a Yankee in ‘76 and win comeback player of year after winning 17 games. Doc Finished up with 138 wins vs. 119 loses and a 3.46 ERA. In 1955, he broke Ty Cobb's record to become the youngest player to win a batting title. Al Kaline was one day younger in 1955 than Cobb had been in 1907, when “The Georgia Peach” won his first title. Despite a history of injuries, he tied Tris Speaker's record of 100+ games in the outfield for 19+ seasons. A future Hall of Famer, Kaline was born on December 19, 1934, in Baltimore, Maryland. In his 22-year career (1953-1974), the outstanding right fielder had 3007 hits, 399 HR, 1582 RBI, 1622 runs, .297 BA, .376 OBP, .480 Slg., & .855 OPS. In the 1968 World Series, Kaline batted .379 with 11 hits, which included two home runs.   Playing his entire career with the Detroit Tigers, his nickname was Mr. Tiger. He was an All-Star in 15 seasons, won 10 Gold Glove Awards, won a batting title in 1955, and was a member of the 1968 World Series champions. His uniform #6 is retired by the Tigers. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980 (88.3% on the 1st ballot).

In This Episode: You've asked to hear from other airports on the podcast – and this episode, you get to hear about three! First, co-hosts Mary Griffith and Jake Potter welcome Amanda Ohbayashi, who handles digital marketing for Washington Reagan (DCA) and Dulles (IAD) airports, to learn about aviation in the nation's capital. Then, Stephanie Kitts joins to recap her tenure leading social media for Albuquerque Sunport (ABQ) – and share things to check out while in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Jake and Mary answer questions about CLEAR and new international service at RDU. Episode Guests: Amanda Ohbayashi is digital marketing specialist for Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, where she connects flyers to the Washington, D.C. area's two major airports, Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. Stephanie Kitts is creative services manager at The Quotient Group, leading marketing efforts for a variety of aviation clients. Kitts recently served as digital content coordinator for Albuquerque International Sunport, where she managed social media and other creative and digital content for New Mexico's capital airport. Send Us Airmail! We want to hear from you – drop us an email at communications@rdu.com to let us know what you'd like to hear on The Fly Angle. Be sure to include your name and other details about yourself and we might feature your Airmail in an upcoming episode. Music “Moment” — Amine Maxwell Music provided by Audio Library Plus

It's a day D.C.-area residents and more specifically Dulles International Airport travelers have been waiting on for years, if not decades. The Silver Line extension opened up to rail passengers — four years behind schedule. The six new rail stations connect the Metrorail system to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia. WTOP's Nick Iannelli went to the opening ceremony and tells us how these new Metro stations will impact the region. Plus, we hear how WTOP's Jessica Kronzer got tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour.

It's a day D.C.-area residents and more specifically Dulles International Airport travelers have been waiting on for years, if not decades. The Silver Line extension opened up to rail passengers — four years behind schedule. The six new rail stations connect the Metrorail system to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia. WTOP's Nick Iannelli went to the opening ceremony and tells us how these new Metro stations will impact the region. Plus, we hear how WTOP's Jessica Kronzer got tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour.

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Esther Kim, Officer-in-Charge of Aircraft Services for the 89th Aerial Port Squadron, talks about working with the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense personnel to help process Afghanistan evacuees as part of Operation Allies Refugee (OAR) and Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). Kim and a team of over 20 Port Dawgs, assigned to 89th Airlift Wing, supported a short-notice tasker to go to Dulles International Airport, Va., Aug. 23, 2021, to help set up initial operations to process evacuees as they arrived in the U.S. from overseas. Dulles was initially the only reception hub for Afghan evacuees first arriving in the U.S. where they were processed and treated before being transported to temporary housing locations at military bases across the U.S. (U.S. Air Force video by Tech. Sgt. Kentavist P. Brackin)

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, May 26th, 2022. Have you signed up for our upcoming conference in Knoxville TN? Early bird pricing will end before you know it, and by the way, if you’re a club member, you’ll get $100 off, so sign up now, at flfnetwork.com/knoxville2022 I want to start your day off with some positive news… Birth rates, went up last year, for the first time in nearly a decade. https://nypost.com/2022/05/25/us-birth-rates-increased-in-2021-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/ Couples seemed to have been busy during the pandemic… and it makes sense… what else is there to do when you’re forced to stay inside by a tyrannical government? For the first time in seven years, birth rates in the United States increased – albeit by only 1%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics revealed there were 3,659,289 babies born in 2021, the first rise in births since 2014. Past years had seen a steady birth decrease of 2%, according to ABC News. The data comes after births dropped 4% — dubbed the “baby bust” — in 2020 during the pandemic. But now that society is bouncing back… if you can call it that… people are once again starting families. Mothers, ages 35 to 44, gave birth the most of any age group — with a nearly 3% increase — which comes after a trend of women hesitant about having children. In a state-by-state case, the Northeast region was amongst the boom of births. New Hampshire came out on top, with a 7% yearly birth-rate increase, trailed by Connecticut (6.5%), Vermont (5.2%) and New Jersey (5.09%). While only New Mexico saw a 1.9% percent fall and Hawaii only 1%, no other states saw a birth decrease greater than 1% from 2020 to 2021. While the CDC doesn’t list an explanation for the boom, some respondents in a Pew Research Center poll cited medical issues (19%) or not knowing the “state of the world” (9%) as reasons for not having more or any children. A New York University study released in September 2021 demonstrated a similar trend: Fewer women wanted children, all thanks to the pandemic… I’d also like to add that women this day and age, are being encouraged to pursue careers as opposed to becoming mothers… one of the most incredible miracles we witness in this day and age, is a woman’s ability to create life….. But then again, I’m no Biologist. In 2021, fertility rates were up. The number of live births per 1,000 women between 15 and 44 years of age was 56.6, an increase from 56 the year prior. While the total fertility rate was 1,663.5 births per 1,000 women, it still isn’t enough to reach “replacement levels,” or the level the population would need to essentially replace itself. According to ABC News, that number is 2,100 births per 1,000 women. Some more good news… teen pregnancies were down by 6%. Pregnancies amongst 15- to 17-year-olds decreased by 8% and those amongst ages 18 to 19 fell by 7%. Speaking of babies… More baby formula is heading to store shelves as early as this weekend https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/health/formula-supply/index.html From CNN, More baby formula is expected on store shelves as soon as this weekend through a variety of government efforts. On Wednesday, 60 tons of formula landed at Dulles International Airport in Washington from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the second shipment from Europe as part of the Biden administration's Operation Fly Formula. That effort was started to address the nationwide shortage that was exacerbated by the closure of formula maker Abbott Nutrition's plant in February after several inspections by the US Food and Drug Administration found "insanitary conditions." Chris Calamari, who leads Abbott's nutrition division, apologized for his company's role in the shortage Wednesday at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. "On behalf of everyone at Abbott, I want to express our extraordinary disappointment about the shortage. We are deeply, deeply sorry," Calamari said. Oh that’s alright Calamari, while our economy has been floundering, it’s good to know that we still have the money to send $40 billion to Ukraine right? Abbott said Tuesday that it plans to restart work at its Sturgis, Michigan, plant on June 4, with the first batches of new formula expected to be available to consumers on or around June 20. When the plant is up and running, it will be able to increase capacity by 40%, according to Calamari. On Wednesday, Calamari outlined Abbott's additional plans to boost supply by bringing in more formula on nearly 50 flights a week to 12 airports across the country. Abbott has also converted some of its manufacturing facilities to make formula and is working with US Department of Agriculture WIC agencies to make sure program participants get formula for free, Calamari said. "By the end of June, we expect we will be supplying more formula to Americans than we were in January, before the recall," he said. More formula from companies made overseas is scheduled to arrive in the coming days, according to US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. First lady Jill Biden and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy were on hand to greet Wednesday's shipment. Home. It’s where you build your legacy. Where traditions are started, seeds are planted, meals are shared, stories are told. Home is where you prepare to go out into the world. Finding the home that’s perfect for your family is a big job. Story Real Estate is Moscow’s top real estate team. They give people real estate advice all over the country. Family homes, investments, land, new construction, or commercial— they know real estate. If you’ve thought about a move to Moscow or anywhere in the country, reach out to get connected with a Story Real Estate agent. Wherever you’re going, they can help guide you Home. Visit storyrealestate.com. United Airlines fires employee left bloodied after airport brawl with ex-NFL player Brendan Langley https://www.foxnews.com/sports/united-airlines-fires-employee-airport-brawl-nfl-brendan-langley The United Airlines worker that was left bloodied after getting into an altercation with former Denver Broncos cornerback Brendan Langley at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last week has been fired, according to the airline. A United Airlines rep told the New York Post on Tuesday that the employee, who has not since been identified, was terminated by the company after a video surfaced on social media showing him involved in a physical altercation with Langley on May 19. A two-minute-long video posted to Twitter shows the two men exchanging blows. The employee appears to fall over a baggage check-in desk before standing up with a bloodied face. He again approaches Langley before other employees step in to separate the two. Now… I don’t know if you guys had seen the video, but I’ve left a link in the show notes, where you can watch it and decide for yourselves… when I look at it, it looks as though the airport employee is really agging the NFL player on… Airport fight between United agent and ex-NFL player passenger goes viral The airline released a statement Monday condemning the incident. "United Airlines does not tolerate violence of any kind at our airports or on board our planes and we are working with local authorities to further investigate this matter." United Airlines… if we need the seating, you’ll get a beating. Speaking of fighting, Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up for your annual subscription at: flfnetwork.com/product/fight-laugh-feast-magazine/ https://thehill.com/news/administration/3501051-biden-approval-rating-at-lowest-point-in-reuters-ipsos-polling/ Biden approval rating at lowest point in Reuters-Ipsos polling President Biden’s approval rating fell to 36 percent in a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday, marking its lowest point to date in that particular poll. The poll found Biden’s approval rating fell 6 percentage points from a week earlier, and it dropped from 76 percent to 72 percent among Democrats in that same span. The low point for Biden in the Reuters poll came less than a week after he hit a new low in the Associated Press poll, which found the president’s approval rating sat at 39 percent. Both polls reflect a consistent trend of Biden’s approval rating mired in the high 30 percent to low 40 percent range in recent months. Voters have consistently given Biden poor marks on his handling of the economy, which aides argue is strong despite persistent concerns about inflation. When confronted with bad polls, the White House has insisted its agenda benefits the American people and that officials must do a better job communicating that. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, share itm as that really helps grow our show… you know what else does? Becoming a club member. For just $10 a month, you could really help us build out a future TV Network, seeking to spread the glory of Jesus Christ abroad. Sign up at flfnetwork.com/membership. And as always, if you want to advertise on CrossPolitic. Email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic news, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, May 26th, 2022. Have you signed up for our upcoming conference in Knoxville TN? Early bird pricing will end before you know it, and by the way, if you’re a club member, you’ll get $100 off, so sign up now, at flfnetwork.com/knoxville2022 I want to start your day off with some positive news… Birth rates, went up last year, for the first time in nearly a decade. https://nypost.com/2022/05/25/us-birth-rates-increased-in-2021-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/ Couples seemed to have been busy during the pandemic… and it makes sense… what else is there to do when you’re forced to stay inside by a tyrannical government? For the first time in seven years, birth rates in the United States increased – albeit by only 1%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics revealed there were 3,659,289 babies born in 2021, the first rise in births since 2014. Past years had seen a steady birth decrease of 2%, according to ABC News. The data comes after births dropped 4% — dubbed the “baby bust” — in 2020 during the pandemic. But now that society is bouncing back… if you can call it that… people are once again starting families. Mothers, ages 35 to 44, gave birth the most of any age group — with a nearly 3% increase — which comes after a trend of women hesitant about having children. In a state-by-state case, the Northeast region was amongst the boom of births. New Hampshire came out on top, with a 7% yearly birth-rate increase, trailed by Connecticut (6.5%), Vermont (5.2%) and New Jersey (5.09%). While only New Mexico saw a 1.9% percent fall and Hawaii only 1%, no other states saw a birth decrease greater than 1% from 2020 to 2021. While the CDC doesn’t list an explanation for the boom, some respondents in a Pew Research Center poll cited medical issues (19%) or not knowing the “state of the world” (9%) as reasons for not having more or any children. A New York University study released in September 2021 demonstrated a similar trend: Fewer women wanted children, all thanks to the pandemic… I’d also like to add that women this day and age, are being encouraged to pursue careers as opposed to becoming mothers… one of the most incredible miracles we witness in this day and age, is a woman’s ability to create life….. But then again, I’m no Biologist. In 2021, fertility rates were up. The number of live births per 1,000 women between 15 and 44 years of age was 56.6, an increase from 56 the year prior. While the total fertility rate was 1,663.5 births per 1,000 women, it still isn’t enough to reach “replacement levels,” or the level the population would need to essentially replace itself. According to ABC News, that number is 2,100 births per 1,000 women. Some more good news… teen pregnancies were down by 6%. Pregnancies amongst 15- to 17-year-olds decreased by 8% and those amongst ages 18 to 19 fell by 7%. Speaking of babies… More baby formula is heading to store shelves as early as this weekend https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/health/formula-supply/index.html From CNN, More baby formula is expected on store shelves as soon as this weekend through a variety of government efforts. On Wednesday, 60 tons of formula landed at Dulles International Airport in Washington from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the second shipment from Europe as part of the Biden administration's Operation Fly Formula. That effort was started to address the nationwide shortage that was exacerbated by the closure of formula maker Abbott Nutrition's plant in February after several inspections by the US Food and Drug Administration found "insanitary conditions." Chris Calamari, who leads Abbott's nutrition division, apologized for his company's role in the shortage Wednesday at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. "On behalf of everyone at Abbott, I want to express our extraordinary disappointment about the shortage. We are deeply, deeply sorry," Calamari said. Oh that’s alright Calamari, while our economy has been floundering, it’s good to know that we still have the money to send $40 billion to Ukraine right? Abbott said Tuesday that it plans to restart work at its Sturgis, Michigan, plant on June 4, with the first batches of new formula expected to be available to consumers on or around June 20. When the plant is up and running, it will be able to increase capacity by 40%, according to Calamari. On Wednesday, Calamari outlined Abbott's additional plans to boost supply by bringing in more formula on nearly 50 flights a week to 12 airports across the country. Abbott has also converted some of its manufacturing facilities to make formula and is working with US Department of Agriculture WIC agencies to make sure program participants get formula for free, Calamari said. "By the end of June, we expect we will be supplying more formula to Americans than we were in January, before the recall," he said. More formula from companies made overseas is scheduled to arrive in the coming days, according to US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. First lady Jill Biden and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy were on hand to greet Wednesday's shipment. Home. It’s where you build your legacy. Where traditions are started, seeds are planted, meals are shared, stories are told. Home is where you prepare to go out into the world. Finding the home that’s perfect for your family is a big job. Story Real Estate is Moscow’s top real estate team. They give people real estate advice all over the country. Family homes, investments, land, new construction, or commercial— they know real estate. If you’ve thought about a move to Moscow or anywhere in the country, reach out to get connected with a Story Real Estate agent. Wherever you’re going, they can help guide you Home. Visit storyrealestate.com. United Airlines fires employee left bloodied after airport brawl with ex-NFL player Brendan Langley https://www.foxnews.com/sports/united-airlines-fires-employee-airport-brawl-nfl-brendan-langley The United Airlines worker that was left bloodied after getting into an altercation with former Denver Broncos cornerback Brendan Langley at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last week has been fired, according to the airline. A United Airlines rep told the New York Post on Tuesday that the employee, who has not since been identified, was terminated by the company after a video surfaced on social media showing him involved in a physical altercation with Langley on May 19. A two-minute-long video posted to Twitter shows the two men exchanging blows. The employee appears to fall over a baggage check-in desk before standing up with a bloodied face. He again approaches Langley before other employees step in to separate the two. Now… I don’t know if you guys had seen the video, but I’ve left a link in the show notes, where you can watch it and decide for yourselves… when I look at it, it looks as though the airport employee is really agging the NFL player on… Airport fight between United agent and ex-NFL player passenger goes viral The airline released a statement Monday condemning the incident. "United Airlines does not tolerate violence of any kind at our airports or on board our planes and we are working with local authorities to further investigate this matter." United Airlines… if we need the seating, you’ll get a beating. Speaking of fighting, Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up for your annual subscription at: flfnetwork.com/product/fight-laugh-feast-magazine/ https://thehill.com/news/administration/3501051-biden-approval-rating-at-lowest-point-in-reuters-ipsos-polling/ Biden approval rating at lowest point in Reuters-Ipsos polling President Biden’s approval rating fell to 36 percent in a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday, marking its lowest point to date in that particular poll. The poll found Biden’s approval rating fell 6 percentage points from a week earlier, and it dropped from 76 percent to 72 percent among Democrats in that same span. The low point for Biden in the Reuters poll came less than a week after he hit a new low in the Associated Press poll, which found the president’s approval rating sat at 39 percent. Both polls reflect a consistent trend of Biden’s approval rating mired in the high 30 percent to low 40 percent range in recent months. Voters have consistently given Biden poor marks on his handling of the economy, which aides argue is strong despite persistent concerns about inflation. When confronted with bad polls, the White House has insisted its agenda benefits the American people and that officials must do a better job communicating that. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, share itm as that really helps grow our show… you know what else does? Becoming a club member. For just $10 a month, you could really help us build out a future TV Network, seeking to spread the glory of Jesus Christ abroad. Sign up at flfnetwork.com/membership. And as always, if you want to advertise on CrossPolitic. Email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic news, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

John McClane is back as the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.  This time corrupt military operatives have taken control of Dulles International Airport in order to rescue a drug lord being brought into the country for his trial!  McClane has to think quick while also dealing with men in charge who want to do things their way in their jurisdiction.  It's a good bet that McClane will find a way to stop the bad guys and save the die in this sequel to the first film.  Bruce Willis stars in Die Hard 2 for this week's feature film! Duel Of The Nerds gets salty once again in a epic battle and we talk what we watched this week in Download This.  Plus the latest news and a preview of next week's film, Fight Club. Visit us for all episodes & more at the www.therebelradiopodcast.com Please leave us a 5-Star review on iTunes! You can also find us on Spotify iHeartRadio Follow us on Facebook Twitter @rebelradiopod

After a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration's mask mandate, most major airlines have dropped their requirements, but public transit in some cities are keeping their rules in place, causing confusion for travelers. Shomari Stone reports from Dulles International Airport outside of DC with reaction to the mixed messaging. Plus, Johnny Depp takes the stand in his own defense in his defamation trial against his former wife Amber Heard, claiming that he never used physical violence against her. And the Kardashians appear for jury selection in a $100 million dollar defamation suit. Also, Netflix reports it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter – the first time the company has reported a subscriber loss in more than a decade.

The Two Bobs episode 179 for Monday, April 11, 2022: What are The Bobs drinking? Rob enjoyed a Double Chocolate Stout from Rogue. https://www.rogue.com/products/double-chocolate-stout Robert took down a KBS Hazlenut from Founders. https://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/kbs-hazelnut/ Follow us on Untapped at @PhilRoberts33 and @robertk328 or we'll let your church know you're on OnlyFans. For the first time ever we were in the same room when we recorded this episode! This week's CRAZY NEWS is crazier than Dulles International Airport. Rob may be sitting at a gate waiting for his flight home as he's typing these show notes. A man on a Southwest flight joined the mile-high club with himself in front of another passenger before “cleaning up.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/antonio-sherrodd-mcgarity-masturbation-southwest-airlines_n_624b6d1de4b007d38459de11 A woman attacked a couple with a samurai sword after being refused a threesome. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10695925/Crazed-woman-attacks-couple-Samurai-SWORD-refuse-threesome.html A Bay Area woman who was arrested for stealing a car drove a stolen car to her court appearance.https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/woman-arrested-for-car-theft-drove-another-stolen-car-to-court-appearance-dublin-police/ You're not going to believe this but a woman in a Florida Walmart was tased after wielding a knife at people.https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/watch-florida-deputy-shocks-woman-wielding-knife-in-store/ A Mormon woman left the church to join OnlyFans. https://nypost.com/2022/03/29/i-left-the-mormon-church-to-join-onlyfans-and-im-having-the-best-sex-of-my-life/ A man who kept having his work lunch stolen hid ghost peppers in his pizza. https://dailynewsreported.com/romance/tired-of-his-co-workers-eating-his-lunch-man-grinds-up-ghost-peppers-onto-his-pizza-to-exact-revenge-on-the-thieves-what-happens-next-is-pure-chaos/ Please share the show with your friends, and don't forget to subscribe! Visit www.thetwobobs.com for our contact information. Thanks for listening! Leave us a message or text us at 530-882-BOBS (530-882-2627) Join us on all the social things: Follow us on Twitter Check out our Instagram Follow Rob on Untappd Follow Robert on Untappd The Two Bobs Podcast is © The Two Bobs.  For more information, see our Who are The Two Bobs? page, or check our Contact page.  Words, views, and opinions are our own and do not represent those of our friends, family, or our employers, unless otherwise noted.  Music for The Two Bobs was provided by JewelBeat.  

Gunna scores his second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as 'DS4Ever' debuts, Adele‘s “Easy on Me” notches a ninth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Vic Mensa was arrested at Washington, D.C.'s, Dulles International Airport on Saturday (Jan. 15) on drug charges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas! Another Guilty Pleasure? John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Directed by Renny Harlin; Stars Bruce Willis. Here's a little bonus episode for all of you! Thank you for listening to us and we'll see you in the new year. Yippie Ky Yay --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/guiltypleasurecinema/support

On October 9, 2019, two Soviet-born Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested in Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. It would soon turn out that these two men had been involved for months in Rudy Giuliani's quest to find dirt on the Biden family.In this episode of The Asset, host Max Bergmann outlines the origins of Trump's conspiracy theories surrounding Ukraine and Biden and explores the involvement of Parnas, Fruman, and exiled Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash in pushing these theories.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.