Podcasts about Marriott International

ABOUT CLAIRE CODER:BIO: Claire Coder (Forbes 30under30) is a 28-year-old Thiel Fellow and founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On a mission to make the world better for people with periods, Aunt Flow stocks public bathrooms with freely accessible tampons and pads. Through Claire's leadership, Aunt Flow launched patented tampon & pad dispensers in 60k+ bathrooms and raised $17m+ in venture capital. Coder launched her first company at age 16, designed a bag for Vera Bradley that sold out in 24 hours, and has her own line of GIFs. After getting her period in public without the supplies she needed, at 18 years old, Claire dedicated her life to developing a solution to ensure businesses and schools can sustainably provide quality period products for free in public bathrooms. Since 2016, Aunt Flow has worked with thousands of businesses and schools, including organizations like Google, Princeton University, Netflix, and 30+ professional sports stadiums, to offer freely accessible period product dispensers, filled with organic cotton tampons and pads. Aunt Flow has donated over 7 million organic cotton tampons and pads to menstruators in need since 2021. Claire's ultimate goal in life is for any menstruator to walk into any bathroom and never need to worry if they start their period, because Aunt Flow period products are freely available!Claire's story has been featured in TeenVogue, Forbes, Fortune, and she starred in TLC's Girl Starter Season 1. Claire speaks regularly surrounding her advocacy work, starting a social enterprise and journey as a female founder. For more information, please visit LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairecoder/ Websites:clairecoder.com (Personal)goauntflow.com (Company)SHOW INTROWelcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 78 … and my conversation with Claire Coder the Founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On the podcast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgWhen Claire Coder was 18 years old she was at an event and she used a public restroom. While there, she discovered that she had unexpectedly started her period. And… she didn't have a quarter. Why she would have needed a quarter and what happened as a result of not having one is the subject of an exceptional entrepreneurial trajectory that has changed woman's public bathrooms around the country.We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *What if you had an amazing idea that you knew was a no-brainer, an idea that provided something deeply necessary, but it seemed that everyone had overlooked it.What if you had a moment of insight from a personal experience that chartered out a clear path for providing a product and service that seemed to satisfy the deeply under met needs of more than 50% of the population?And what if when you took this moment of clear mental insight to a group of venture capitalists explaining that this was not just an idea that would not only satisfy a certain customer need but that could be an extraordinarily profitable business operation but when you asked for their involvement, they simply said… “NO”.And what if you heard “NO” 86 times when trying to get people interested in supporting your idea. Would you give up? Would you have already given up after the 1st or 10th or 50th “NO”? And what if you happened to be an 18-year-old young woman with this vision and enthusiasm and the subject of your VC pitches dealt with menstruation and woman's public bathrooms... How far do you think that would have gotten you?I could focus in on this intro by talking about the thing that we don't talk about, at least as a guy I can't imagine me and my guy friends would have ever talked about…as a teen, young man or frankly even today.Which is to say… women and monthly periods. I could focus in on this somewhat taboo subject of a naturally occurring bodily function that we somehow sweep under the social discourse carpet, despite that more than 50% of the population has one every single month. Or I could talk about the strange discomfort that comes up because somehow, we've made this discussion something to be ashamed about or talked only about between mothers and grandmothers and their daughters. The strange irony here is that the other 49.53% of the North American population will end up living with, perhaps marrying and having children with the 50+ percent of the population who has their period every single month and yet, we'd prefer not to talk about it…But, if I did focus on those subjects, which by the way are not unimportant to talk about, it would potential we derail another story about a passion for entrepreneurship and the overwhelming need to address the needs of a population who are wholly unserved.It takes a lot of guts to be an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is not easy. In fact, there are a lot of people who would say you'd simply have a few screws loose to actually want to be an entrepreneur.It's highly risky and you carry an extraordinary amount of responsibility. Everything from fundraising and decision-making, planning operations, accepting both successes and failures.When the entire enterprise is your baby, and relies on you as the key driver of the big idea, it can be incredibly emotionally taxing. The working hours can be extraordinary too. If we think that an average work week is neatly packed into 40 hours, an entrepreneur may end up spending twice or maybe even three times that amount in trying to get their business off the ground...and there's constant pressure to keep on pushing forward. One success does not necessarily guarantee the next and so there's this cycle of continuing to push and to make forward strides create product extensions and to expand the brand footprint that is unrelenting. This is especially true if folks have lent you money to get your big idea off the ground.There's also a great degree of isolation that can emerge on the entrepreneurial path. You, and often you alone, are focused on birthing your brainchild, developing it and bringing it to market. This ‘child rearing', if you will, often happens in times of extraordinary uncertainty and ambiguity. In the current state of the world we live in today, ambiguity is the name of the game. What with the pace of change exponentially increasing, government shifting the rules of the game with tariffs and regulations, funding cuts and banning more that 250 words that according to PEN AMERICA are no longer considered acceptable including:advocacy, abortion, all-inclusive, biologically female, community equity, DEI, female, inclusive, sex, sexuality, vulnerable populations, and woman or women, just to name a few. So if your big idea is squarely focused on women, menstruation and period products, I would imagine it's tricky.So, this means that you have to be built for understanding the pace of change the ability to flex and move and be resilient when things don't happen to go your way. Like for example if you are launching a new product line and a COVID pandemic hits that effectively shuts your business down.You could stop and pack up shop and be done or you could be resilient and change direction asking ‘what do people need right now?, and turn what you thought was going to be a business into a completely different thing that was not at all what you had planned in the 1st place.As an entrepreneur, you also have to wear many hats. You are at the same time the company owner, marketing and sales rep. You're dealing with HR issues, product design and materials sourcing and assortment planning.You're often doing customer service and trying to keep them satisfied while dealing with shipments that go missing or supply chains that get disrupted, because of say tariffs, for example, when your products were coming from out of the country and all of a sudden now they are more expensive than you had anticipated.And you have to be good, I mean really good, at dealing with rejection and failure.Most entrepreneurs face repeated setbacks, investor rejections, failed launches or people who just don't get what you're trying to deliver - or straight out don't like what you're trying to deliver - and reject your product and actively work against you to shut you down.Resilience and a sense of purpose when faced with strong headwinds is an absolutely essential feature of being an entrepreneur.You want to become an entrepreneur? Then you had better show up at the game with a load of mad skills so that you can weather the multiple impending storms.Now… don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom. It's not all uphill struggles like Sisyphus pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down again.Entrepreneurship can be incredibly rewarding. It can bring something that you are passionate about into the world. Maybe it's something that had never existed before. Maybe it satisfies the need that is self-evident but others just haven't seen it yet. But to play in the arena of entrepreneurship you need to be able to recover from failures and keep moving forward regardless of whatever the setbacks were.Because they are inevitable.No one skates happily through entrepreneurship and starting a company without stuff just going off the rails from time to time. And that requires an amazing amount of intrinsic motivation and drive. You've got to be able to get up every morning and go get it. And you've got to be able to get up and do it without anyone behind you saying ‘go team go” pushing you to do it every single day.You might need an accountability buddy. That would be good.  But in the absence of that person or group, you need to be able to be incredibly disciplined and willing to get back in the ring every day.You also have to have a certain level of risk tolerance. In fact, I would say you probably have to have a very high level of risk tolerance. No one in the entrepreneurial world makes it by being a wallflower; by being risk adverse and not wanting to step out into traffic and navigate all of the oncoming traffic.And while dancing your way through the crosswalk in oncoming traffic, you have to be pretty flexible and be willing to pivot in an oftentimes volatile environment. You also have to believe in your vision and have a well-crafted strategy to get you to the top of the mountain.Successful entrepreneurs can generally see a much bigger picture than other people. They see opportunities where others simply see closed doors and that often means when hearing “no” you don't implode like the Wicked Witch of the West when water was thrown on her, but you ask questions. Not just questions about ‘why?' but also ‘why not?'.You have to be conspicuously curious and have a compulsion to keep on asking questions, never being satisfied with the status quo.Your interpersonal skills also have to be incredibly well honed. You have to be good at networking, slapping backs, shaking hands and making people feel like they're the only people in the room who matter to you. You've got to be good at networking and pitching and you have to be an incredibly good leader which suggests that you have to be an effective communicator and be emotionally tapped in. Your EQ, as well as your IQ, has to be highly tuned.You have to carry a certain level of confidence without being arrogant.You have to believe in your ideas while staying open to feedback; weeding out what is good commentary and bad commentary.…what allows you to maintain a connection to your brand story and the products or services you believe need to be brought to market while at the same time always finding a balance between taking in what people say as constructive criticism and dismissing other commentary that doesn't seem to fit or takes you off track and away from your vision.And all of this brings us to the story of Claire Coder who at 18 years old goes into a public bathroom at an event and discovers she started her period.In an effort to have period products that met her in her moment of need, she goes to a dispenser on the wall and discovers that in order to get a tampon or pad she has to have quarter and who really carries quarters around in their pocket anymore?  At that moment Claire is faced with accepting the only option available which is to go to the free roll of toilet paper on the bathroom stall and create a makeshift tampon.At that moment Claire decides that if toilet paper and paper towel are offered at no cost in public bathrooms why should tampons and pads cost $0.25.? and why is it that the box on the wall, that has likely been there for decades and that may likely not work in any case, an acceptable solution?Claire Coder was selected as one of Forbes 30under30 and is the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On a mission to make the world better for people with periods, Aunt Flow stocks public bathrooms with freely accessible tampons and pads. Through Claire's leadership, Aunt Flow launched patented tampon & pad dispensers in 60k+ bathrooms, 150 universities, 600 schools, 28 Fortune 500 company's offices and raised $17m+ in venture capital.After getting her period in public without the supplies she needed, at 18 years old, Claire dedicated her life to developing a solution to ensure businesses and schools can sustainably provide quality period products for free in public bathrooms.Since 2016, Aunt Flow has worked with thousands of businesses and schools, including organizations like Google, Princeton University, Netflix, and 30+ professional sports stadiums, to offer freely accessible period product dispensers, filled with organic cotton tampons and pads. Aunt Flow has donated over 7 million organic cotton tampons and pads to menstruators in need since 2021. Claire's ultimate goal in life is for any menstruator to walk into any bathroom and never need to worry if they start their period, because Aunt Flow period products are freely available! Claire Coder was the opening keynote presenter at SHOP Marketplace 2025 and I caught up with her after her presentation to have a chat…ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

In this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, I'm joined by Anna Berger, founder and CEO of Trayd—a game-changing construction payroll and compliance software. Anna shares how her career in marketing and personal roots in the construction industry inspired her to tackle the toughest back-office challenges specialty contractors face, from HR and scheduling to payroll and compliance. We dive into Anna's journey from working at top ad agencies and Marriott International to becoming a two-time founder and YC alum. She opens up about the challenges and wins of building Trayd, raising $4.5 million in seed funding, and the importance of customer retention and consistent branding in SaaS growth. If you're passionate about SaaS, vertical solutions, or just love a good founder story, you won't want to miss this conversation. Tune in to learn how Anna and her team are streamlining complex operations for contractors and driving rapid growth in an industry that's overdue for innovation! Show Notes: 00:00 Diverse Founder Background Advantage 03:31 Unified Construction Software Solution 06:38 Family-Driven Construction Insight 10:56 Startup Fundraising Journey 14:39 CEO Focus: Retention and Growth Metrics 16:37 "Dogfooding to Improve Customer Experience" Links: SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/trayd-raises-4-5-million-in-seed-round Anna Berger's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annajberger/ Trayd's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/traydinc/ Trayd's Website: https://www.buildtrayd.com/ To learn more about Ben check out the links below: Subscribe to Ben's daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben's SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben's SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Zach Mercurio is a researcher, author, and speaker specializing in leadership, mattering, and meaningful work. He is the author of the books The Invisible Leader and The Power of Mattering, and some of his clients include the U.S. Army, J.P. Morgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Marriott International, The Government of Canada, and The National Park Service. Zach also serves as one of Simon Sinek's “Optimist Instructors,” teaching a course with Simon on how leaders can show everyone how they matter. Zach earned a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change from Colorado State University, where he now serves as a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Center for Meaning and Purpose. In this episode we discuss the following: To show people they matter we can ask them, “When you feel that you matter to me, what am I doing?” And then do more of those things. We can show people they matter by providing evidence (e.g., pictures) of how their work benefits others. We can show people we need them by pointing out what wouldn't get done without them. Just because something is common sense, doesn't mean it's common practice. But by taking simple steps to notice and affirm people, even scheduling our good intentions, we can help people know that they matter and close the knowing / doing gap.   Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Marriott International plans to acquire CitizenM to expand its select-service and lifestyle hotel portfolio, expecting the deal to boost its 2025 net room growth and generate $30 million in annual fees. Expedia Group is laying off about 3% of its workforce, mainly in the product, technology, and finance teams, as part of a broader restructuring effort that began with its marketing team in March. Meanwhile, a rare atmospheric event triggered a major power outage across Spain and Portugal, severely disrupting travel and prompting emergency measures. Marriott to Buy CitizenM for $355 Million Expedia Restructures Product and Tech Teams, Will Lay Off 3% of Workforce Blackouts Across Spain and Portugal Hit Travel Connect with Skift LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/⁠ WhatsApp: ⁠https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/skiftnews⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/⁠ Threads: ⁠https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews⁠ Bluesky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social⁠ X: ⁠https://twitter.com/skift⁠ Subscribe to ⁠@SkiftNews⁠ and never miss an update from the travel industry.

Why stay at a hotel when you can live in one with loyalty perks? Last week during AAHOA's hashtag#AAHOACON25, I spoke with Bhavin Patel of Spark GHC to explore a bold new concept: Project Scarlet, where branded residences meet boutique hospitality.

This week, Sarah Nan DuPre and Leo Walton dive into what's driving a 24% boost in Easter travel bookings across Europe, with Italy and Greece leading thanks to warm weather and Jubilee-year demand. They discuss new EU regulations forcing cruise ships to pay for carbon emissions and what that means for over-tourism. The episode also covers Sonder Inc.'s financial struggles, its integration with Marriott International, and whether it can live up to guest expectations. Plus, how changing climates may be shifting peak travel seasons across Europe. ---- Good Morning Hospitality is part of the Hospitality.FM Multi-Media Network and is a Hospitality.FM Original The hospitality industry is constantly growing, changing, and innovating! This podcast brings you the top news and topics from industry experts across different hospitality fields. Good Morning Hospitality publishes three thirty-minute weekly episodes: every Monday and Wednesday at 7 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. EST and every Tuesday at 8 a.m. CET for our European and UK-focused content. Make sure to tune in during our live show on our LinkedIn page or YouTube every week and join the conversation live! Explore everything Good Morning Hospitality has to offer: • Well & Good Morning Coffee: Enjoy our signature roast—order here! • Retreats: Join us at one of our exclusive retreats—learn more and register your interest here! • Episodes & More: Find all episodes and additional info at GoodMorningHospitality.com Thank you to all of the Hospitality.FM Partners that help make this show possible. If you have any press you want to be covered during the show, email us at goodmorning@hospitality.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Sarah Nan DuPre and Leo Walton dive into what's driving a 24% boost in Easter travel bookings across Europe, with Italy and Greece leading thanks to warm weather and Jubilee-year demand. They discuss new EU regulations forcing cruise ships to pay for carbon emissions and what that means for over-tourism. The episode also covers Sonder Inc.'s financial struggles, its integration with Marriott International, and whether it can live up to guest expectations. Plus, how changing climates may be shifting peak travel seasons across Europe. ---- Good Morning Hospitality is part of the Hospitality.FM Multi-Media Network and is a Hospitality.FM Original The hospitality industry is constantly growing, changing, and innovating! This podcast brings you the top news and topics from industry experts across different hospitality fields. Good Morning Hospitality publishes three thirty-minute weekly episodes: every Monday and Wednesday at 7 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. EST and every Tuesday at 8 a.m. CET for our European and UK-focused content. Make sure to tune in during our live show on our LinkedIn page or YouTube every week and join the conversation live! Explore everything Good Morning Hospitality has to offer: • Well & Good Morning Coffee: Enjoy our signature roast—order here! • Retreats: Join us at one of our exclusive retreats—learn more and register your interest here! • Episodes & More: Find all episodes and additional info at GoodMorningHospitality.com Thank you to all of the Hospitality.FM Partners that help make this show possible. If you have any press you want to be covered during the show, email us at goodmorning@hospitality.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#180 Podcast Episode SummaryEpisode Title: Work Hard. Care Even Harder. The John Harper BlueprintGuest: John Harper, Co-Founder & President, Global Hotel AdvisorsHost: Bart Berkey, Founder of Most People Don't, LLCIn this deeply personal and inspiring episode, Bart reconnects with longtime friend and hospitality icon John Harper—a man whose leadership legacy stretches from early Hyatt days to key executive roles at The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott International, and now, as co-founder of Global Hotel Advisors.The conversation dives into the heart of what makes a leader truly respected: humility, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and a relentless drive to serve others. John shares not only leadership tactics but life lessons—from his father's immigrant story to coaching soccer, mentoring teams, and making the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship with purpose.Be the person who clears off someone else's windshield.– A snowstorm story from the early Hyatt days becomes a defining example of unprompted kindness and servant leadership.Work hard. Care harder.– John's drive came from his father's example: hustle paired with the ability to “turn it off” and be present with family. It's about intensity matched with balance.Great leaders adapt to their team—not just expect the team to adapt to them.– Success comes from meeting people where they are and building trust, not commanding compliance.Leadership is earned, not assigned.– Titles don't make people follow you. Trust, protection, and empowerment do.Operational excellence requires curiosity.– John's secret to growing was listening deeply—even in meetings where his own role wasn't central. Every detail, even chillers and boiler redundancy, became useful knowledge later.Push for the piano.– A wild idea to put a pianist at the Reagan airport gate taught John the importance of creating moments of luxury—and of not giving up too soon on big ideas.Sometimes, the boldest career move is the personal one.– Leaving Marriott wasn't driven by dissatisfaction—it was about personal alignment, balance, and doing what he always dreamed of.Service excellence starts with culture.– No matter the building, brand, or design, it's the people who make the guest write the thank-you letter. Invest in them.“Most people don't take advantage of what's happening around them. But if you stay curious, if you observe, you can grow faster than you ever imagined.”More about https://globalhoteladvisors.comConnect with John Harper here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-harper-8571804/Additional stories about PEOPLE THAT DO... https://mostpeopledont.com

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

In this episode of HR Like a Boss, host John Bernatovicz is joined by leadership and HR expert Dr. Mike Horne, author of The People Dividend. Together, they explore the shifting role of human resources as a force for alignment and engagement in today's organizations. From executive conflict resolution to the challenges of promoting technical experts into leadership roles, Mike shares how organizations can thrive by embracing humanistic values and purpose-driven leadership. Whether you're in HR, OD, or executive leadership, this episode offers grounded wisdom for creating high-impact, people-centered workplaces.ABOUT MIKE HORNEMike Horne, Ph. D., is a highly experienced global corporate human resources and organization development leader, distinguished executive coach, best-selling author, and sought-after speaker. He is dedicated to empowering aspiring leaders, executives, and teams to navigate transitions, excel in new roles, and increase their effectiveness and influence. He hosts The People Dividend Podcast, which ranks in the top 10% of all podcasts globally. Previously, for nearly three decades, Dr. Horne held pivotal human resources and organization development roles, including the Head of Human Resources for Gilead Sciences' Research Division, Global Leader of Talent and Development for Brocade, and Head of Organization Development for Genentech. Before these positions, he served 15 years in human resources leadership roles for Nortel Networks, Marriott International, Towers Watson, and NLRB. He is the chairperson for the graduate Human Resources and Leadership Studies programs at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. In November 2024, Dr. Horne released The People Dividend: Leadership Strategies for Unlocking Employee Potential, which outlines the “people dividend” philosophy and identifies key areas for investment, such as building trust, encouraging motivation, ensuring open communication, retaining employees, making better decisions, and enhancing the organization's reputation. He is also the author of Integrity by Design: Working and Living Authentically, which calls readers to their higher purpose and to the aspiration to work and live authentically.

Share Marriott's perspective on responsibility and oversight of tech and digital strategy, trends we see in the hospitality industry as it relates to the supplier side of the business. The podcast is hosted by Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA, aligned with Tammy Routh, who is President of the GBTA Allied Leadership Council and Senior Vice President of Marriott International.   Moderators and Speakers: Moderator – Suzanne Neufang, GBTA CEO Tammy Routh, Senior Vice President – Marriott International Drew Pinto - EVP and Chief Revenue and Technology Officer - Marriott International     Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License 

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdf

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdf

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

​In the case of McCrary v. Marriott International, Inc. (Case No. 1:24-cv-08054-MKV), the plaintiff has filed an opposition to Marriott's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Marriott was complicit in facilitating human trafficking activities on its properties, thereby violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Specifically, the plaintiff contends that Marriott had knowledge, or should have had knowledge, of the trafficking occurring on its premises and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it.The opposition emphasizes that Marriott's alleged inaction contributed to the plaintiff's victimization and that the claims are adequately supported to withstand a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff asserts that Marriott's motion overlooks the detailed factual allegations presented, which, if proven, demonstrate Marriott's liability under the TVPA. Therefore, the plaintiff requests that the court deny Marriott's motion to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to discovery and trial.​to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.72.0_2.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

United Airlines is raising fees for its credit cards and lounge memberships while adding new perks like rideshare credits and Instacart memberships, as it sees growing revenue from these services. Marriott International is expanding rapidly in the branded residences market, especially in the Caribbean and Latin America, though it faces stiff competition from other major hotel chains. Meanwhile, Minor Hotels is consolidating its eight brands under a single app and launching a masterbrand strategy to streamline loyalty programs and improve cross-selling. How Marriott Is Defending its Lead in Branded Residences United Airlines Raises Credit Card and Lounge Fees: Here's What to Know Minor Hotels to Unveil Masterbrand and Unify 8 Chains on One App Connect with Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/ WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/ Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social X: https://twitter.com/skift Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.

Marriott International sees India as a key driver of its future growth, with CEO Anthony Capuano emphasizing local leadership, expansion into secondary cities, and tourism development in discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson highlighted India's rapid aviation growth, with over 1,000 aircraft on order, a booming loyalty program, and plans to integrate AI for operational efficiency, positioning Indian carriers to dominate outbound travel by 2027. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering new travel restrictions affecting up to 43 countries, which may not significantly impact U.S. tourism immediately but could have long-term consequences for global travel policies. Marriott CEO on U.S. Recession Fears and India's Untapped Potential Air India CEO: 'The Power is in Our Hands' to Capture Outbound Travel Demand Trump Travel Ban 2.0: How Many U.S. Visitors Are at Stake? Connect with Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/ WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/ Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social X: https://twitter.com/skift Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.

ABOUT CHARLES LEON:CHARLES' LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chleon/COMPANY WEBSITE: charlesleon.uk CHARLES' BIO:Writer and Illustrator of Sketch Journals, including The Kew Sketch Journal. International Speaker and Trainer on the Creative Process and how Applied Innovation actually works. With more than 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to helping Organisations and Individuals overcome Innovation Stagnation and achieve Creative Breakthrough.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 77… and my conversation with Charles Leon. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org On this episode I connect with Charles Leon who has 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind.We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *When I was nine years old my mom put me in a after school art program in a small little studio a few minutes walk from my school. Every Thursday afternoon, after my regular school classes were done, I would walk down the street, sit in an art studio and learn how to paint in oils. For the next 10 years this was a welcome change in my daily routine that became in some sense a safe place. A place where all the world's troubles or the typical challenges I was having as a teenager would disappear and I would spend a couple of hours focused on painting. My mom had recognized early on that I was pretty handy with a pencil and very interested in creative expression. She did her very best to make sure that I was continually engaged in creative processes whether it was doing Ukrainian Easter eggs or sketching and drawing or baking creative Christmas cookies.She was always there pushing the go button on creativity. As it turns out, she was actually a pretty good artist herself and later in her life she began doing decorative painting which she became exceptionally adept at and the house was full of wonderful pieces of her craftsmanship.My interest in art followed me through the first few years of high school and finally landing in a place where it was just time to decide where I was going to university and to which program I would go.My mom, recognized that I was firmly sitting on either side of the creative and scientific fence, 1 foot firmly in both worlds, and she suggested architecture since it seemed to combine both of my interests.While I was studying to be an architect I took every single drawing and painting course that I could possibly take, whether they were weekly freehand drawing studios or evening classes or sketching schools.These courses during my university years were a safe place there I had more confidence than in doing pretty much anything else.But it really wasn't until those years in university under the tutelage of a great art teacher Gerry Tondino that I really began to understand drawing and painting.It wasn't so much that I was learning technical aspects of drawing or painting but that I was more learning how to see rather than simply look at things.Gerry would say, ‘once you learn to see and draw what you actually se, rather than what ou think you see, the drawing takes care of itself.'I had deep respect for Gerry Tondino and I think I really finally learned how to deeply appreciate the world around me to see the color, texture and value relationships. To understand how objects exist within a context and it wasn't specifically the thing you   looking at but everything around it that helped to define its edge.In college I would continue to take afterschool watercolor courses thinking that it was more convenient than painting in oils since there was a technical challenge of oil painting taking much longer to dry.There was something about the immediacy of watercolor that I liked. You had to think fast and plan. Watercolor was the process of painting in the shade and shadows leaving the white of the paper as the light and highlights. In oils, or now acrylic which I use almost exclusively, you are starting from the dark tones and building in layers to bring out the light.In watercolor there was equally some unpredictability and a learned skill of being able to get certain effects like running a clean wash of graduated blue for a sky over a background or how some pigments we opaque and others transparent, or how colors would interact with each other as water spread across the paper.I was taking workshops once and the teacher said to me “well it's clear you can draw and you've got, you know, a good hand, but I guess the question really is what do you want to say with the work that you create”That was a whole different way of thinking that I'd never really spend time with prior to that moment. I painted and drew simply because it was fun.What did I want to say?...And so I began to think pretty significantly about what message I wanted to convey or rather what stories the things that I drew or painted I might want to share with other people.It was interesting when I began to study architecture and think about design of places and things that I was drawn to the same question about what the architecture meant and what stories it would hold over the years that people would use it.I was always fascinated with traveling and standing within old buildings and wondering what the people wore when they were visiting here hundreds of years ago.What would they talk about. What was the news of the day or the politics what secrets were being not told as people visited and who came and went from within a building's walls.As I moved along my career, thinking about the stories that buildings would hold, it's perhaps not surprising that I somehow serendipitously end up in the world of brand experience place making,that the places that I would create for retailers would be imbued with a brand narrative and that somehow the buildings, stores or hotels would need to be able to demonstrate that subplot about who the intended user was, what their story was and how the place was a physical expression of both the person and the brand.Another experience while an architecture school was with a visiting professor and while I don't remember the exact project we were working on, I do remember her saying a phrase including the word “hodological”Hodological refers to the study of pathways or connections. It's used in fields of neuroscience sometimes thinking about the pathway and connections between neurons and synapses how signals move from one place to the other how information is shared across brain functional areas – In psychology it talks about things like paths in a person's life space and in the world of philosophy it might be considered to take in things like the interconnection between ideas a pathway between thought exercises and where one thought leads to another and what conclusions we might draw from that that decision making treein terms of geography it's really is about actual paths, walking paths for example, connection paths between geographic locations thing like trade route pathsThe interesting thing about the word hodological is not just that all these years later I clearly recall that word but that it also seemed to me that the idea of ‘transition' - moving from one place to the other - was very much a part of experience - that we don't stand still in buildings or public squares or on streets, we move and as we move, we naturally have a different experience at every moment.Sure, there's a gestalt experience of being in Times Square for example but every time we take a step our perspectival view of the context around us ends up changing and every moment technically speaking is also new,We're are clearly taking in some constants in sensory input but our point of view within that context ends up changing.I love this idea of walking through space and experiencing it differently with every step. Every step is a different vantage point to learn something new to see something from a different angle. In a broader sense, my fascination with the nature of change totally aligns with the idea the early -learned term – hodological.Pathways of change. Change through experience or experience through change. We may think that buildings don't change, but they do, albeit in some cases slowly. And over their lifetime they may be experienced be multitudes each one leaving and taking away a story.Transitions are important. I might suggest that all the good stuff happens in the in betweenness of moments in time, places and things. Transitions are where learning lives.Transitions become important as experience makers. So, things like stairs become fascinating places for architectural study. It's not surprising that many of the great architects also spend time designing stairways so that transitions between floors were less about a practical matter of moving your body up to a different level, but could be seen as an opportunity to experience new things along the way. An experiential moment that requires the person's commitment, to willingly give them self over to the idea of change. Cities have memories and our bodies have memories of cities. Buildings have memories and our bodies have memories of buildings.I have expressed before that I believe that there's very much a ‘give and make' of experience - that we interact and share with the built environment around us and it affects us as well. We and the environments we spend time in are deeply connected and our experience lives within us, within our bodies, not just within our heads. Our experience of building leaves within us a body memory, a narrative residue of how we felt while in one place or another.If you look at buildings overtime and understand that they've been used for years, they too have held countless numbers of stories of people that used them. Where they came from. Where they would go back to. Maybe they were transitioning through for a moment. Maybe they were lost and ended up taking a wrong turn and discovering something new.Those stories of buildings are interesting because it gives a life to architecture beyond stone, steel and glass. And this is where my guest Charles Leon comes into the story. Charles is a writer and illustrator of Sketch Journals, including The Kew Sketch Journal. He is an international speaker and trainer on the Creative Process and how Applied Innovation actually works. With more than 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind, Charles brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to helping organizations and individuals overcome Innovation Stagnation to achieve Creative Breakthrough.During the COVID pandemic Charles had a challenge simply staying inside while all of us were held up in our homes for months. With sketchb  ook in hand, Charles saw London England as a hodological space – one to be experiences not in the scientific, objective and measurable sense of streets of a certain distance ad width, buildings of a certain height, pathways connecting purpose driven users or as seen from a 3d person sense but more in the Jean-Paul Satre sense aptly described in Satre's essay, "Sketch for a Theory of Emotions," where his city was to be experienced in a lived-existential subjective sense. One in which he would travel daily, which sketchbook in hand, not always sure about the destination but certain that the path would be one of discovery, connection, and collecting through drawing and painting the memories of the buildings he encountered along the way.The output of these wanderings yielded 5 volumes in drawings and paintings of learnings about the buildings, their architectural details as well as the stories they revealed from within their walls…                 *                                  *                                  *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Pippa speaks to Dorcas Dlamini Mbele, Area Commercial Director for Marriott International – Sub-Saharan Africa about a rise in people booking bravecations and heritage holidays. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kicking off this new season, host Hao Tran sits down with John Woolley, General Manager of JW Marriott Phu Quoc—one of the most prestigious luxury resorts in Vietnam and the region. Recognized as the best JW Marriott in the world in 2022, this extraordinary resort stands out with its uniquely imaginative architecture, inspired by a fictional university and designed by the renowned architect Bill Bensley.With over 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality, John Woolley has held key leadership roles within Marriott International across the globe. From serving as Area Director of Sales & Marketing in South Asia and the Caribbean to playing a pivotal role in launching the European Convention Network, he has been instrumental in strengthening Marriott's presence in the international hospitality landscape.Before taking on his current role, John was General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Bali (2020-2023) and spent four years leading Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak Resort. Under his leadership, these properties saw remarkable growth in both business performance and guest satisfaction, further establishing his reputation as a leading figure in luxury hospitality.What insights will John Woolley bring to this episode? Tune in now to find out!—Thank you JW Marriott Phu Quoc for accompanying Vietnam Innovators. JW Marriott is an ideal sanctuary for those seeking relaxation and personalized service, with every moment crafted to create lasting memories. https://bit.ly/jwmarriottphuquoc—Listen to this episode on YoutubeAnd explore many amazing articles about the pioneers at: https://vietcetera.com/vn/bo-suu-tap/vietnam-innovatorFeel free to leave any questions or invitations for business cooperation at team@vietcetera.com—If you come across something intriguing, kindly consider making a donation.● Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vietcetera● Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/vietcetera

ABOUT NATALIA OLSZEWSKA:NATALIA'S LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-olszewska/COMPANY WEBSITE: improntaspace.com EMAIL: gardener.natalia@gmail.comNATALIA'S BIO:Natalia is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. She adeptly connects these two realms, striving to improve our built environment by making it more human-centered and conducive to well-being. Furthermore, Natalia is an accomplished researcher and practitioner in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture, specializing in evidence-based and neuroscience-informed design. She garnered invaluable experience during her tenure at Hume, a pioneering architectural and urban planning firm founded by Itai Palti, where she led the 'Human Metrics Lab.' Natalia lent her expertise to design projects for prestigious clients such as Arup, Skanska, HKS Architects, EDGE, the Association of Children's Museums, the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, Google, as well as numerous individual clients.Her interdisciplinary approach transcends boundaries, allowing her to craft built environments that foster individual well-being across various dimensions - social, psychological, and cognitive. Natalia's co-founding role at IMPRONTA, a consultancy specializing in health and well-being design, underscores her commitment to leveraging neuroscience and applied sciences in architecture. Since 2020, she has also been contributing to the NAAD (Neuroscience Applied to Architecture) course at IUAV University in Venice.Natalia's educational journey is characterized by a distinctive blend of backgrounds, encompassing medicine from Jagiellonian University and Tor Vergata, neuroscience from UCL, ENS, Sorbonne, and neuroscience applied to architectural design from Università IUAV.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 76… and my conversation with Natalia Olszewska. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgOn this episode I connect with Natalia Olszewska is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *For a while now I have had a fascination with the connection between buildings and brains. While I loved psychology, and studied it before getting into architecture school, it occurred to me in the middle of the 20-teens that buildings, or the environments we design and build, have a direct effect on our psychology. There are places in which we feel good or bad or uneasy or exhilarated, or a sense of awe or agitation. There are places where we feel calm, and others that make me feel ill at ease. And all of those feelings have a body sense to them as well. Heart rises or decreases. I sweat more or less. My chest feels tight or relaxed.  Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and other neurochemicals and hormones are released and coursing through my body as I experience places. And many of these hormones and neurochemicals being released into my blood stream I have little control over. My brain-body reacts to environmental stimuli and biochemistry does its thing.Buildings may make me feel certain way, induce certain emotions, that we may think are just about your thoughts, brain activity, but at the core, our body too is in a relationship with conditions in the environment.We feel architecture with our bodies, we don't just intellectually experience them in our heads. The experience of buildings, and our emotional reactions to them, is as much a ‘bottom-up process' - our body's sensory processes taking in stimuli from the environment - as a ‘top-down' process – our brains processing that sensory information and making decisions about who we should behave in response to them.Our bodies and brains are in continual dialogue with the world around us. In fact, through a process of neuro plasticity, our brains are wired partly in response to our experiences. Yes we are hard wired through our millions of years of evolution to have what we consider innate responses to the environment and then there are those neuronal connections that area direct result of experiences in the here and now. As you listen to this podcast, your brain is creating new wiring shaping the neural pathways that allow for learning and behaviors.And as we repeatedly experience something, those pathways are reinforced facilitating understanding. Those pathways recognize patterns in our experiences, and they are codified so that when we experience them again our brains are not continually trying to decipher every element anew. If it weren't for our brain's ability of recognize patterns and anomalies in them, we would live a life of extreme ground hog day and would likely be immobilized with the processing necessary to analyze every element we encounter every moment of every day. Over millions of years some of these patterns have become deeply ingrained in our neurobiology. They are part of our brain structures that allow us to react instinctually. You might say that some of them operate ‘below the radar' of our conscious awareness. But because they are not front row center in our awareness doesn't mean that they don't have an influence of our mindbody state.Colors, lighting, materials, geometries, visual patterns and spatial arrangements, to name of few, have an effect on us. We might not necessarily pay attention to these elements of our environment as we move through it, but they have an effect on us. We may not consciously feel the influence of these things, but the effects are there, nevertheless. Acute angles, loud sounds, bright fluorescent lights, certain colors and texture patterns, repetitive and banal patterns, things devoid of detail and out of scale with our human body all have an effect on our sense of well-being. University of Waterloo cognitive neuroscientist Colin Ellard has worked for more than three decades in the application of psychology and neuroscience to architectural and urban design. His work illustrates the impact of ‘boring buildings' on how we feel and our sense health and well-being. We humans, it turns out, function and feel better in environments of physical and visual intricacy. We seek our variety and complexity, layered environments that pique our curiosity and sense of intrigue. And yet…far too many of our built environments at simply banal.Ellard says the  - “The holy grail in urban design is to produce some kind of novelty or change every few seconds,” “Otherwise, we become cognitively disengaged.”Imagine for a moment what is happening inside our mind-bodies when we live 8 + hours in a sea of detail-less white cubicles under a blanked of fluorescent lights. We might think this is an efficient office space, but we are creating brain numbing environments and at the same time asking people to reach optimal performance in the workplace. We may wish hotels guests a good night sleep on a heavenly bed and then we fill the room with light that completely counteracts the production of melatonin telling our brain that it is still daytime and to stay alert.And… we have built city block after city block of repetitive, banality. Efficient to build, very economical yes, but a boredom inducer for the brain.Now this doesn't mean that every environment needs to be a rollercoaster for the senses nor be pristine and bucolic. In fact, some environments are better because they are well…messier. Charles Montgomery, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design suggest that successful design is about “shaping emotional infrastructure.” Montgomery argues that some of the happier blocks in New York are “kind of ugly and messy.” The energy of New York can be both energizing and exhausting.It would be perhaps unfair to heap the responsibility for inhabitants' psychological and physical well-being entirely on buildings but given that we now spend the overwhelming proportion of our days enclosed in them, it stands to reason that they have a clear effect on how we feel. For whatever it's worth, Aarhus, Denmark is the world's happiest city, according to the London-based Institute for Quality of Life's 2024 Happy City Index. The Institute for the Quality of Life identified five categories it believes have the most direct impact on happiness, including citizens, governance, economy, mobility and environment.Based on these factors, Aarhus, Denmark, achieved the highest score, particularly excelling in governance and the environment. I think Copenhagen also held the title at some point I believe due to its building stock being human scale, detailed and varied engendering intrigue and visual delight.And this is where this episode's guest Natalia Olszewska comes into the story.Natalia went to medical school but always had a fascination with architecture. When on a trip to the Venice Biennale it clicked for her that she could combine both of these interests considering that neuroscience could be linked to how buildings make us feel.The rest as they say is history…Natalia adeptly connects these two realms, striving to improve our built environment by making it more human-centered and conducive to well-being. Natalia is an accomplished researcher and practitioner in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture, specializing in evidence-based and neuroscience-informed design.Her interdisciplinary approach transcends boundaries, allowing her to craft built environments that foster individual well-being across various dimensions - social, psychological, and cognitive. Natalia's co-founding role at IMPRONTA, a consultancy specializing in health and well-being design, underscores her commitment to leveraging neuroscience and applied sciences in architecture. Since 2020, she has also been contributing to the NAAD (Neuroscience Applied to Architecture) course at IUAV University in Venice a city that is most definitely not boring…                 *                                  *                                  *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

In the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. (Civ. Action No. 24-cv-8054), Plaintiff Candice McCrary has filed a response to Marriott International, Inc.'s letter motion dated January 21, 2025. Marriott seeks permission to file a motion to dismiss McCrary's Complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a) and 12(b)(6), arguing that the Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.In her response, McCrary contends that her Complaint sufficiently outlines the allegations against Marriott, providing adequate detail to meet the pleading standards required by Rule 8(a). She argues that the Complaint presents plausible claims for relief, thereby satisfying the criteria to withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). McCrary requests that the court deny Marriott's request for leave to file the motion to dismiss, asserting that the case should proceed to discovery and be evaluated on its merits.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.39.0.pdf

In the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. (Civ. Action No. 24-cv-8054), Plaintiff Candice McCrary has filed a response to Marriott International, Inc.'s letter motion dated January 21, 2025. Marriott seeks permission to file a motion to dismiss McCrary's Complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a) and 12(b)(6), arguing that the Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.In her response, McCrary contends that her Complaint sufficiently outlines the allegations against Marriott, providing adequate detail to meet the pleading standards required by Rule 8(a). She argues that the Complaint presents plausible claims for relief, thereby satisfying the criteria to withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). McCrary requests that the court deny Marriott's request for leave to file the motion to dismiss, asserting that the case should proceed to discovery and be evaluated on its merits.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.39.0.pdf

In the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. (Civ. Action No. 24-cv-8054), Plaintiff Candice McCrary has filed a response to Marriott International, Inc.'s letter motion dated January 21, 2025. Marriott seeks permission to file a motion to dismiss McCrary's Complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a) and 12(b)(6), arguing that the Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.In her response, McCrary contends that her Complaint sufficiently outlines the allegations against Marriott, providing adequate detail to meet the pleading standards required by Rule 8(a). She argues that the Complaint presents plausible claims for relief, thereby satisfying the criteria to withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). McCrary requests that the court deny Marriott's request for leave to file the motion to dismiss, asserting that the case should proceed to discovery and be evaluated on its merits.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:gov.uscourts.nysd.630450.39.0.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

ABOUT LOUISA WHITMORE:TIK TOK: LOUISA'S BIO:Louisa Whitmore is an architecture content creator on TikTok with over 350K followers, as well as the host of the cable television documentary series “The Nature of Design.” A former commentator for the USModernist podcast, Whitmore has also worked as a live radio host and PSA producer at CHMA 106.9FM, the local radio station at Mount Allison University, where she's currently an honors student studying international relations and French. She enjoys telling stories, and is passionate about sustainable design.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 75… and my conversation with Louisa Whitmore. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgLouisa Whitmore is a TikTok creator phenom whose content is about architecture. With almost 400 thousand followers her no holds-barred, straight from the heart and to the point commentary about the buildings she loves and loves to hate, brings a user experience point of view and accessible critique into the mainstream.We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                  *                                  *                                  *The great thing about doing this podcast is it gives me an opportunity to rethink some of the assertions that have held to be true and cross check whether in fact they are immutable or whether there is room for challenging myself and maybe digging into some subtleties and nuances… and seeing things a different way.Like for example the idea of criticism – who does it and its value…I have to admit I haven't been particularly fond of the idea of critics for a very long time. This would be generally true of the kind who dole out the negative kind of commentary.Years ago when commenting on something, I think it was some art piece, and my son said to me “…dad why is it that you never really say you hate anything…”which I sort of thought was kind of funny then. I think I responded “…well because I don't really hate anything… I try to always view things from the other side - a different point of view. I try to get beyond the visceral reaction and look to design principles and comment from a place of applying principles to the work and see how they line up…and then make a comment that is based yes on whether I simply like it, the colors, shapes, energy, feeling , may be a message it is trying to impart AND  whether I can see the value in it based on principles determined to be generally accepted by experts in the domain…” so yeah I don't really hate things…If I apply the idea of casting judgement on art, music, architecture… it got me thinking… again…What is the value of judgement? Is it to determine the appropriateness of something to a particular context or challenge?I have my favorite architects and artists and musical performers, I like different styles and periods. But I don't listen to heavy metal (though my sons love it). I don't know that I can say that I hate it. Perhaps I just don't understand it and maybe if I did, it still wouldn't jibe with me.It just doesn't go in my body well. It's a sensory mismatch.I don't hate it – It makes me agitated. So, I just don't listen to it. And I guess you could say the same thing for certain genres of art.For example… I'm not particularly crazy about a lot of contemporary art.I have a hard time understanding a performance artist dipping her hair in paint and swinging aloft from a rope while her hair drags across a canvas and the painting while on lookers wrapped in dimly lit light bulbs stand slightly by  selling for millions of dollars… it isn't something I quite get. And I know that authorized replicas of the Marcel Duchamp sculpture called the “Fountain” - which is a urinal - sell for somewhere between 3 and $4 million each and here's the kicker... apparently because the original has been lost the financial the value of the original piece is unknown and might be considered as being priceless. I don't know… it sort of leaves me just trying too hard... knowing I'm falling profoundly short of ascending to the intellectualized rarefied air that somehow makes this sort of thing makes sense. And I also suspect that if I'm voicing these concerns or questions that I am likely to get a lot of people commenting that my remarks point out my ignorance, that I just don't understand and I would …well…agree with them.I'm ok with that. Really.And I think I'm not alone in this category of not understanding contemporary art and the extraordinary prices that contemporary art paintings fetch at auctions and then again maybe if I did, I still wouldn't spend $25 million on a Rothko painting.The thing about critics, I think, is that we entrust these individuals with being in the know, of having deep insight, knowledge or experience into the making of the art. That these are people who understand its value and relevancy to culture and somehow able to unfold the deep meaning in the work whatever format the creativity comes in and to bestow upon us their opinion as if it is fact.The challenge of course is that I think there may be an ignorance in the public and that the deeper inner meaning of things is somehow held in reserve for the creators of the work or select few who follow it.But I've always had a challenge with the idea that the critic seems to have the extraordinary power to completely destroy the creative work as well as raise it to high levels of adulation and praise.I think that in some ways we have come to trust to the critic as certainly knowing more than we do and therefore what they say about a particular piece of art or architecture should be taken as truth and the presumed value of the creation lies in whether their commentary is positive or negative.How many people have not gone to see a movie because it only got 2 stars… and who said it should only have two stars?Maybe I would have found the comedy hilarious… but not the critic.I often don't even check reviews by the masses on restaurant or hotel booking sites and if I do read the reviews, I do it very carefully. I look to see what it was that these people did or didn't like. What it was that made their experience a must see or a definite red tomato. Personally, I dig to see if there is anything at a lower level that suggests what was driving the positive or negative review? What it was in this message that this particular critic is trying to convey?I've often thought that to be able to criticize art or other forms of creative invention you'd have to understand what it was the maker was intending to convey.You'd have to understand the basic ideas, for example, of composition to be able to determine whether a Jackson Pollock or a Kandinsky or a Basquiat was worth all the fuss and on what basis you were making the comments about the work.I guess it's not all critics that I have a problem with but maybe more those who simply present negative opinions. And it's not like I should even care that critic X didn't like thing Y. It was their opinion. Okay so they have an opinion. The challenge is the uninformed may come to accept the opinion as fact and turn away from somethings simply because some one says its not good.I guess the role of the professional critic is to study and assess the value of a creative work and pass judgment on the product based on facts and logical assertions. This is kind of like knowing a bit about composition before offering an opinion the write something off.It seems to me that the idea of a critic is to connect ideas, arrive at reasonable conclusions and perhaps open avenues for discussing new directions and fostering an awareness of ideas and cultural trends.It also seems to me that the role of the critic is to challenge our general assumptions about things to get us to look more deeply at our assertions and to get us to not simply accept things at face value but to continue to search for excellence, challenge the status quo, in all of the things that we bring into the world so that we don't fill it with the mundane or banal.There's something about the critic as ‘educator' - increasing our collective level of understanding of things, pointing out where things might likely be improved and offering positive commentary on what might be a series of next steps in order to develop the output and make it better - that I align with.And I know that the idea of making it ‘better' is full of all manner of subtext and necessity to consider contextual considerations… ‘better' for whom, for what and why?And maybe this is where I mostly land on the idea of the value of the critique is that of using constructive criticism for the value of enhancing people's understanding of a particular subject or giving the creator tools to go back to the drawing board, so to speak, and make it better.Jazz master saxophonist David Liebman wrote a concise piece on his website called “The Critic Dilemma: Criticism vs. Review”. He describes many of the same ideas about who's making he comments, are they objective facts or subjective opinions, and why should we trust one critic's opinion over another? Liebman differentiates between critique and a review:“…When the writer's opinion and taste is the focal point, this constitutes a critique. On the other hand, a review should be the dissemination of information with the desired intention being elucidation. The idea is that with this information, the listener is equipped to form his own opinion…”.And this is where this episode's guest Louisa Whitmore begins to fit into the story.When Louisa was 16 years old she began to share architecture commentary on Tik Tok. She blew up the social media sphere with posts that were personal and occasionally pointed. She came at her critiques of buildings not from the expert or architectural practioner point of view but from that of the user, the general public mindset.She didn't profess to be a building expert, to have deep knowledge in construction but rather to simply be part of the general public who experienced the built environment every day but who had little to nothing to do with how buildings got there in the first place.Her negative commentary on 432 Park Avenue - the luxury condo building designed by Rafael Viñoly and SLCE Architects – lit up the digisphere with 100s of thousands of followers lining up behind her to voice their impressions of this building. Most of them not very good I might add. Which was actually ok since there was a ton of press – not particularly good I might add – about problems with the building. Now, Louisa didn't know about these issues about the engineering, the building swaying (which would be natural by the way) and other problems but felt vindicated nevertheless with the press that effectively substantiated her intuitive feelings about this super-tall condo on the Central Park's edge.I see her posts more like David Leibman's construct of the ‘Review' – “…that with this information, the listener is equipped to form his own opinion…”.And opinions her followers had. 1000's of them.In the spirit of “…the dissemination of information with the desired intention being elucidation…” Whitmore turned her attention to projects thatfocused on Biophilia and how buildings with ample integration of plants seemed to simply feel better. Her noteriaty on Tik Tok, articulate whit, intuition and ability to articulate the ‘person on the street's' perception of the built environment, landed her the role as host of “the cable television documentary series “The Nature of Design”.Over the course of a number of episodes Whitmore tours properties talking about biophilic principles and with the support of a variety of experts ranging from architects to neuroscientists she dives into the science of how buildings with a biophilic approach effect our well-being…Whitmore is called a teenage architecture critic. While her rise on social media platforms may have been based on the building she loved to hate, it seems that she is using her notoriety to review and elucidate…. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Marriott International, Inc. has requested a pre-motion conference with Judge Vyskocil in anticipation of filing a motion to dismiss Plaintiff Candice McCrary's Complaint in the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. Marriott states that despite seeking the Plaintiff's consent for the motion, no response was received. While Marriott expresses sympathy for the abuse described in McCrary's Complaint and acknowledges the seriousness of allegations involving gender-motivated violence, it argues that it is not a proper party to the claim. Marriott asserts that the Complaint fails to meet the notice pleading standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), describing the allegations as too vague.Furthermore, Marriott contends that McCrary's claim relies on the 2022 amendment to the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law (VGMVPL), which cannot be applied retroactively to conduct that occurred before the amendment. Citing the recent decision in Doe v. Combs (2024), Marriott notes that corporate defendants cannot be held liable under this statute for actions predating 2022. Since the alleged conduct against Marriott occurred in 2004, it argues that the claim should be dismissed for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Microsoft Word - Letter re_ Request for Pre-Motion Conference (Marriott _ McCrary).docx

In this episode, we dive into Marriott International's journey of resilience and reinvention over the past few years. Ty Breland, EVP and CHRO of Marriott — a 27-time Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® winner — shares insights on how workplace flexibility and a redefined leadership mindset have driven significant business success. This evolution has led to higher engagement scores, lower turnover, and increased revenue, benefiting associates, the company, and customers alike. You'll learn how Marriott's innovative job sharing and scheduling approach has created a more engaged and committed workforce. Ty also shares advice for HR colleagues on the importance of having a seat at the table, balancing work and life, and staying present. Don't miss the company culture event of the year! Enter the code "Better" and get $200 off the Great Place To Work For All Summit: For All Summit 2025 | Great Place To Work® Subscribe to the Great Place To Work company culture newsletter. Want to join our Great Place To Work community? Learn more about Certification. For a transcript of this episode, visit Marriott's Ty Breland on Workplace Flexibility | Great Place To Work® Fortune article: People-first culture is vital to Marriott's 25-year run as one of the 100 Best Companies | Fortune Download Marriott's report for an in-depth look on how it transformed the associate experience.

Marriott International, Inc. has requested a pre-motion conference with Judge Vyskocil in anticipation of filing a motion to dismiss Plaintiff Candice McCrary's Complaint in the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. Marriott states that despite seeking the Plaintiff's consent for the motion, no response was received. While Marriott expresses sympathy for the abuse described in McCrary's Complaint and acknowledges the seriousness of allegations involving gender-motivated violence, it argues that it is not a proper party to the claim. Marriott asserts that the Complaint fails to meet the notice pleading standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), describing the allegations as too vague.Furthermore, Marriott contends that McCrary's claim relies on the 2022 amendment to the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law (VGMVPL), which cannot be applied retroactively to conduct that occurred before the amendment. Citing the recent decision in Doe v. Combs (2024), Marriott notes that corporate defendants cannot be held liable under this statute for actions predating 2022. Since the alleged conduct against Marriott occurred in 2004, it argues that the claim should be dismissed for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Microsoft Word - Letter re_ Request for Pre-Motion Conference (Marriott _ McCrary).docxBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Marriott International, Inc. has requested a pre-motion conference with Judge Vyskocil in anticipation of filing a motion to dismiss Plaintiff Candice McCrary's Complaint in the case McCrary v. Sean Combs, Marriott International, Inc., et al. Marriott states that despite seeking the Plaintiff's consent for the motion, no response was received. While Marriott expresses sympathy for the abuse described in McCrary's Complaint and acknowledges the seriousness of allegations involving gender-motivated violence, it argues that it is not a proper party to the claim. Marriott asserts that the Complaint fails to meet the notice pleading standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), describing the allegations as too vague.Furthermore, Marriott contends that McCrary's claim relies on the 2022 amendment to the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law (VGMVPL), which cannot be applied retroactively to conduct that occurred before the amendment. Citing the recent decision in Doe v. Combs (2024), Marriott notes that corporate defendants cannot be held liable under this statute for actions predating 2022. Since the alleged conduct against Marriott occurred in 2004, it argues that the claim should be dismissed for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Microsoft Word - Letter re_ Request for Pre-Motion Conference (Marriott _ McCrary).docx

Relebogile Mabotja speaks to Dorcas Dlamini Mbele the Area Commercial Director for Marriott International – Sub-Saharan Africa about the 2025 Travel Trends Report.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sustainability in golf is no longer just a buzzword; it's becoming a defining principle for the future of the sport. As challenges around resources and environmental impact grow, leaders in the industry are stepping forward with innovative approaches. Among them is David Robinson, Senior Director of Golf Grounds at Marriott International, who oversees a global portfolio of over 50 courses and has a unique perspective on how to balance tradition, performance, and responsibility. David brings decades of expertise in agronomy and a visionary mindset to his role. He's driven by a belief that the courses we enjoy today should be left in even better condition for future generations. His work emphasizes efficiency, creativity, and technology to address modern challenges in ways that make sense for both the environment and the bottom line. This conversation highlights Marriott Golf's proactive initiatives, from smarter water use to reducing inputs like chemicals and energy. David explores how innovative irrigation systems, turfgrass advancements, and automation are creating more sustainable, cost-effective, and reliable outcomes. His perspective shows how practical solutions can yield lasting benefits. David's leadership is a reminder that sustainability isn't about compromise; it's about opportunity. By focusing on smarter, data-driven practices and working with top partners in the industry, he's helping shape a future for golf that's both responsible and exciting, one decision at a time. Topics covered: David Robinson's Career and Role at Marriott Golf [00:00] Defining Sustainability at Marriott Golf [4:39] Tackling Carbon Footprints and Water Management [6:22] Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Portfolio [12:33] Partnerships and Cutting-Edge Technology [15:42] The Vision for the Future of Golf Course Irrigation [17:59] Personal Inspiration and Legacy [33:00] Resources & People Mentioned GEO Foundation – Leading tool for carbon footprint analysis in golf Audubon International – Environmental certification standard adopted by Marriott Golf USGA Green Section – Research leader in sustainable turfgrass and water management Connect with Our Guests LinkedIn: David Robinson Connect With Golf Sustainability LinkedIn  Facebook  Instagram X (Twitter) Email Subscribe to Golf Sustainability Apple Podcast  Spotify  Note: Timestamps provided are approximate. Thank you for listening to the Golf Sustainability podcast. If you found this episode interesting, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review! For more insights and updates on sustainable energy solutions, visit our website and follow us on social media. Audio, Video, and Show Notes by - PODCAST FAST TRACK

ABOUT TREVOR BULLEN:LINKEDIN PROFILE:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-bullen-6b55b615/DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: https://www.linkedin.com/school/dunwoody-college-of-technology/TREVOR'S BIO:Trevor is the Dean of the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology. He is an award-winning architect with over 25 years of professional experience. He has significant international experience; working on a wide range of architecture, landscape architecture and planning projects in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States. In addition to his role as Dean, Trevor has taught architectural design at the Boston Architectural College, the City College of New York as well as the University of Minnesota and is a frequent guest critic at schools of architecture nationwide.Prior to joining Dunwoody, he was a Senior Associate and Director of Operations at Snow Kreilich Architects, the recipient of the 2018 AIA Architecture Firm Award. From 2000 to 2016, he co-founded and led an architecture and planning studio on the island of Grenada, completing more than 30 built projects. The work of his firm has been published extensively in journals and books as well as being exhibited at the 2021 Architecture Biennale in Venice. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 74… and my conversation with Trevor Bullen. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgTrevor is the Dean of the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology. He is an award-winning architect with over 25 years of professional experience who believes that design and teaching architecture is synonymous with discernment.We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *When I think back to my architecture education, it seems like another universe to today's practice. And then again, in some ways it is much the same.Architecture school was 4 long years of hard work and all-nighters that, at the time, we wore as a badge of honor. It seemed that there was never enough time to do what we were being asked to accomplish. Or maybe I was trying to do more than was necessary to fulfill the learning objectives. I certainly felt I had a lot to prove since it had taken me a couple of years to finally get accepted into the program after not doing particularly well at calculus and linear algebra in junior college. I also took extra math in fifth grade. Yeah… math wasn't my thing.Or at least it wasn't my thing until I had a good tutor in second year who helped me understand that I was visual spatial learner and if I could draw or make models of the problems they would all make sense. Seeing algorithms… my eyes would roll back in my head.Anyway…I stuck with it, took every drawing class I could, loved design studio and managed the engineering. I was proud to graduate from the McGill School of Architecture school, go on to study for my licensing exams - another series of all-nighters – pass and be able to enter the profession of reserved title and call myself an “Architect.”I was proud to wear the traditional pinky-finger white gold ring with 7 notches in it representing the 7 Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin. Ruskin was an English polymath – a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. The Seven Lamps were seven principles which Ruskin viewed should be reflected in a building: Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. The white gold ring was a tradition of McGill 4th year architecture graduates, as symbols of having legitimately put the time in, done the work on the design thesis and survived it. In those days we drew our projects by hand and built models in the workshop. We got our hands dirty. There were 4 years of design studio projects that, in the real world, would take months or more, and we were trying to get them done in weeks. Back in those days, the mid 80's, Computer Aided Design was emerging as a new tool. I remember that we had to take a class in computer programming – I think it was Fortran or something – and we had dinosaur computers that some students were playing around with to create drawings.In the mid-80's email didn't exist, or not to students in any case,Cell phones had just arrived with the Morotrola DynaTec 8000 which was the size of a brick and weighed almost the same, We used this thing called a fax machine that magically sent images across the telephone wires and could print it out on the other end on thermal paper (which you didn't want to leave on the window sill, because it would fade away),The blue print shop was an ammonia fumigated workplace where diazo prints, as they were technically called,  were actually blue hence the term “blue prints.”We used pencils or ink pens on paper or mylar, and if you screwed up you actually used an eraser to rub the error out and you drew it again.I remember one of my first summer jobs in an architecture office, I was quickly assigned renderings due to my love of drawing. I had made some mistakes when plotting out a perspective using the Plan Projection Method, and I was erasing what I had drawn. One of the principals came by my desk, stopped, watched and then remarked “hey… we hired you to draw not erase…” and then walked away.Nice…Our go to reference books were by Francis D.K Ching – ah… the drawings and hand lettering in “Architecture Construction Illustrated”, or “Form Space and Order”And… the social media, google, Ai and computer generated 3D modeling didn't exist.It wasn't until around 2005 or so that Facebook became popular and the iPhone came out in 2007.Then the world seemed to shift on it axis and life as we know it was on the path towards Artificial General Intelligence and all of the miraculous - and scary - things we are now so familiar with shaped our everyday lives. The world sped up and the way I learned in university was both a thing of the past and then again it wasn't.Many of the ways architecture is taught are similar to my experience. Courses are taught as individual, disaggregated subjects, that graduates have to piece together in actual life experience. A wholistic approach to learning the discipline of architecture is not generally the norm. Which when you consider all of the components of a building it is a challenge since everything is connected to everything and the amount of ‘everything' in a building can indeed be overwhelming if you try to consider it all at the same time.The number of professional and skilled labor disciplines is enormous. And most of us simply see buildings as ‘fait a complis' – completed works - with no idea what actually had to be wrangled to go from concept to completed construction.Going back to social media and the internet for a moment, students now have never known a time without ubiquitous access to the world's information through the internet. The tools for designing buildings have changed.One could say it is easier to some degree now. Computer programs manage all of the interrelationships between engineering, architecture, building systems, interior design elements, as well as the cost estimating, construction management and more.It is also easier to rely on tools to think for you and disconnect you from discernment – one of the key features of the architects' role in puting a building together.And this is where my guest on this episode comes into the frame. Trevor Bullen is the Dean of the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology. Trevor is an award-winning architect with over 25 years of professional experience. He has significant international experience, working on a wide range of architecture, landscape architecture and planning projects in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.In addition to his role as Dean, Trevor has taught architectural design at the Boston Architectural College, the City College of New York as well as the University of Minnesota and is a frequent guest critic at schools of architecture nationwide.He believes in introducing real world problems into the architecture curriculum so that students begin to understand the relationships between theory and practice as well as that good projects are built on good relationships between architects and their clients.He suggests to students that new tools should not supplant their discernment – That key to their success as a professional will be their ability to consider the multitude of factors in building design, determine what matters and to not let the remarkable tools that are afforded us through the development of computer aided design relace their voice.Trevor pushes the idea that great advances in visualization with Ai should not be and end in itself but a means to that end. The tools should be a part of the process not the end point in the evolution of a concept and that their personal voice, point of view, vision should not be lost in the use of the app.And in Trevor's experience, oh what a voice students of today have. Projects are influenced by subjects of racial equity, restorative justice, indigeneity, political orientations, sustainability and climate change and more.And this, it seems to me, is what architecture has always been partly about – the 3-dimensional representation of cultural ideologies. Architecture and ideas are inseparable. Buildings stand as testaments to what we believe, want to influence and aspire to. They are much more than the materials that bring them into being or the space planning at accommodate human interactions. They are epicenters of human relationships imbued with stories and meaning. That said, it brings to mind the famous quote by Marshal McLuhan - "The medium is the message." McLuhan suggested that the way information or an idea is communicated, like in a television broadcast, newspaper, social media post or I dare say architecture, has as much impact on the message itself as the content of the message.I think that this suggests that the form of communication, even if the form of architecture, significantly influences how the message is perceived by the audience.In architecture parlance – I think Mies van der Rohe phrased it as “Form Follows Function.” If beyond utility, architecture is made to convey ideas, then its Form, Space and Order are brought together as a 3-dimension embodiment of them.Thinking back to my architecture education, the tools of today's professional practice have drastically changed and some of my classmates when on to other careers other than being architects, but the education we got then gave us a understating of the interconnectedness of things and the ability to solve multilayered challenges while wielding stone, steel, glass, light all forged into a unified whole by learned discernment. Teaching discernment is not just in the service of good building design and construction, it is a life skill as emerging students navigate the volatile, unpredictable, complex and often ambiguous world that face them beyond their architecture degree.             *                         *                         *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

​Debbie Marriott Harrison shares the remarkable life and legacy of her father J.W. Marriott, co-founder of the world's largest hotel conglomerate. Known for his unparalleled business success, Bill Marriott's journey has been deeply rooted in his faith, humility, and a commitment to serving others. From placing over 1.3 million copies of the Book of Mormon in hotel rooms to fostering positive relations for the church worldwide, his influence extends far beyond the hospitality industry. We delve into how his faith has guided him through pivotal moments, including a near fatal boat accident and near-financial collapse during the real estate recession and what he hopes his legacy will be.BioDebbie Marriott Harrison was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the DC area. Her parents are John Willard Marriott, Jr and Donna Rae Garff. She had 3 younger brothers. Debbie raised 5 children and when the youngest was a Junior in High School she went back to work at Marriott International as the leader of the Government Affairs Office as one of the lobbyists for the company. After her brother Stephen passed away in 2013, she took over his job as the Culture Officer and was in charge of the Business Councils. She retired from Marriott in 2019 but still serves on the Board of Directors for Marriott International. She is a trustee on the J Willard and Alice S Marriott Foundation, the Bill and Donna Marriott Foundation, Bridges from School to work and the Wilmer Eye institute board, associated with Johns Hopkins.One of her passions is being an advocate for those suffering from mental health issues and she has been a member of several mental health nonprofits over the years including the National Institute of Mental Health.She is married to Ron Harrison. They have served as Mission leaders in the Brussels Belgium Netherlands Mission from 2000-2003. She worked in the Young Women's organization for over 33 years and is continuing to be the ward organist and temple prep teacher in her ward. Ron and Debbie have 5 adult children and 16 grandchildren.

This week on The Delighted Customers Podcast, I'm thrilled to welcome Jeff Dickshinski, a Senior Product Designer and Design Lead at Microsoft. With a career spanning digital product development, creative management, and UX design for public-sector and Fortune 100 companies, Jeff brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. At Microsoft, he leads the creation of mission-critical products for U.S. government and enterprise customers, leveraging human-centered design and UX research. In this episode, we examine the shift from engineering-focused solutions to user experience-driven design. Here are four key takeaways:

In this episode of The Speed of Culture, Matt Britton speaks with Peggy Roe, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Marriott International. Peggy shares insights on the evolution of the hospitality industry, emphasizing the impact of customer loyalty and the role of first-party data in personalizing guest experiences.Follow Suzy on Twitter: @AskSuzyBizFollow Peggy Roe on LinkedInSubscribe to The Speed of Culture on your favorite podcast platform.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at suzy@suzy.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ABOUT MARDI NAJAFI:LINKEDIN PROFILE:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardi-najafi-rdi-idc-772b1328/MARDI'S BIO:Mardi Najafi is an award-winning, multidisciplinary designer with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the design world. A visionary leader in the field, Mardi believes that design has the power to evoke emotion, create unforgettable experiences, and leave a lasting impact. His work spans a diverse range of high-profile retail environments, from intimate boutiques to large-scale, branded experiences for some of the world's most iconic companies, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Virgin Mobile, Telus, Loblaws, Penguin Random House, Keilhauer, and Versace. His global portfolio reflects his ability to blend innovation and cultural context, with projects across Paris, New York, Toronto, and beyond.As the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design, Mardi is passionate about pushing the boundaries of design to craft immersive, transformative environments that captivate audiences. Known for his attention to detail and his ability to seamlessly merge art and commerce, he excels at creating spaces that are not only visually striking but also deeply meaningful and engaging. His work continues to redefine the retail landscape, setting new standards for brand experiences that resonate long after customers leave.Beyond his design practice, Mardi is an active voice in the industry as an accomplished speaker, educator, and panelist. He is deeply committed to fostering innovation, sharing his expertise with the next generation of designers through mentorship and his involvement in various professional advisory committees. A lifelong advocate for education, Mardi has taught at prestigious design schools around the world, inspiring students and shaping the future of the design community.In 2023, Mardi was honored as the first Canadian inductee into the Retail Design Institute's prestigious Legions of Honor, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the field. He is also currently serving as the President of the Retail Design Institute Canada, where he continues to shape industry standards and advocate for the advancement of design excellence. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 73… and my conversation with Mardi Najafi. On the podcast, our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgMardi Najafi  is the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design.We discuss his life of growing up the son of an Iranian diplomat, a professional path through the fashion, exhibit design and retail industries and how teaching is about giving back to young designers in their fledgling careers…We'll get to all of that in a moment but first, a few thoughts…             *                         *                         *There are interviews that I have done over the past 73 episodes that have been specifically about a person's work, There have been those that have been about a brand or product category, Or the study of neuroscience and its role in experience making,  We've delved into art and creativity, leadership, climate issues, and many other subjects.And there are other interviews that I have done that focused in on a person's career path, how their experiences brought them to where they are today. In these cases, I often find that my guest and I identify how serendipity stepped in front of them as they careened through a career, how taking the road less traveled lead them to creative professional journeys that were unexpected, and how a shift in their mindset resulted in profoundly rewarding roles at companies or with personal and professional relationships. I love discussions about serendipity – how our life paths seem to be guided by novel circumstances that were unforeseen, yet when confronted with them, we found a moment to step aside from our pre-determined story, one that we might have created with specific objectives, a place to be at some future moment, and in the midst of new circumstances, a choice was to be made about what the next move would be without really knowing where it would lead.There seems to be some magic in this process – a sense of wonder that keeps the creative spirit alive. There is also a good dose of courage needed at the nexus of ‘now and next, when a calling summons new thinking and a re-evaluation of our pre-suppositions about how things are supposed to be now, or in the future, need re-evaluation.I think it is often the case with creative paths or projects.To start out knowing where you are going would suggest that you have you have already been. To start out with the end in mind creates a path of production, of doing, rather than one of seminal discoveries along the way.There is something in the unknowing that I believe maintains the creative path as an adventure, one where in the doing of the thing we are continuously discovering rather than just in production mode.In the discovering, we remain engaged, learning, exploring and the path is laid out as we move along it. However… being in a place of unknowing, can be fear inducing since I think we so often like the assuredness of the pre-determined and predicable.I have found this particularly true in teaching at universities in design fields. Students don't like the unpredictable so much. Many prefer the determinism of knowing where their projects will eventually end up. But I think in taking this approach we short circuit the opportunity to discover something new – something we could not have predicted but when discovered, results in a sense of awe that shifts our perspective and maybe our purpose. And I think it takes courage to follow a set of rules about designing something, call it strategy, and let the rules of the strategy guide the process. As we pursue the path of the work the rules help to guide decisions that make the next step self-evident. Then the next, and the next and so on, until a conclusion to the process meets the requirements of the design brief.Assuming the strategy is well founded, you can rely on the rules to guide the process and decision-making. Along the design path, all decisions can be cross-referenced against the strategy and the outcomes that don't align with the determined set of rules can be set aside in a preference for the ones that best exemplify them.Then there is the emergence of circumstances that throw you a curve ball – conditions shift within which you have little control – and your path necessarily changes. The resilience and the flexible mindset that is required in these moments are factors that influence your ability to adjust – to find yourself in a place of positive transformation or maybe to simply survive.I have found that the key to positive transformation is to keep saying yes to serendipity. To loosen the rigidity in my mindset and welcome the unexpected. It can be a struggle because I have generally been geared to knowing where I'm going. I don't mind saying that I have long preferred the predictable over the mercurial. It is at times not easy, but these moments of re-alignment with new realities can be the success factor supporting our determination to keep going and to leverage the “new” for the purpose of re-making ourselves. I think that in this, there is a sense of agency. I think that we are, in fact, in little control of anything but for our own reactions to adversity or the everchanging circumstances of life.Perhaps this is the proverbial ‘making lemonade out of lemons.' When life gives you lemons… you know… make lemonade.And this is where the life path of my guest in this episode comes in. Mardi Najafi has had a colorful host of experiences influencing his professional path.Having grown up the son of an Iranian Diplomat, he was schooled in multiple countries including Iran, France and Russia. He was conscripted into Iranian military service and made a friend with whom he, after his release from service, created a business bringing watches into Iran. That adventure eventually allowed him to earn enough money to buy his father's release from prison and ironically lead to a career in design.After a building a successful professional track record working in Europe, he landed in Canada where he fostered his interest in retail design. In 2023, Mardi was honored as the first Canadian inductee into the Retail Design Institute's prestigious Legion of Honor, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the retail design field. He is also currently serving as the President of the Retail Design Institute Canada, where he continues to shape industry standards and advocate for the advancement of design excellence.Mardi Najafi is an award-winning, multidisciplinary designer with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the design world. A visionary leader in the field, Mardi believes that design has the power to evoke emotion, create unforgettable experiences, and leave a lasting impact.His work spans a diverse range of high-profile retail environments, from intimate boutiques to large-scale, branded experiences for some of the world's most iconic companies, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Virgin Mobile, Telus, Loblaws, Penguin Random House and Versace.Mardi is deeply committed to fostering innovation, sharing his expertise with the next generation of designers through mentorship and his involvement in various professional advisory committees.After having a few conversations with Mardi, I would say he lands squarely in the camp of actually following Robert Frost's ‘Road Not Taken' welcoming the discovery born of life's moment of significant change - even when it is uncomfortable.             *                         *                         *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Having lived across continents—from Hong Kong to Houston and Singapore to Pakistan—Aliya Khan's upbringing instilled a appreciation for culture, architecture, and art.After studying architecture at Pratt Institute in New York, Khan began her career in residential design before transitioning to the hospitality industry, working for Starwood Hotels & Resorts (now Marriott), helping launch brands like W Hotels, Aloft, and Le Méridien.Today, as vice president of global design strategies for Marriott International's lifestyle brands, Khan has redefined the design language for Aloft, Moxy, AC Hotels, and Westin.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

This Day in Legal History: WTC Bombers ConvictedOn November 12, 1997, Ramzi Yousef and two of his accomplices were convicted for their roles in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, marking a significant legal milestone in U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The bombing, which took place on February 26, 1993, involved a truck bomb detonated in the North Tower's underground parking garage, killing six people and injuring over a thousand. The attack was an early sign of the growing threat of international terrorism on American soil, with Yousef aiming to collapse one tower into the other to maximize casualties. Yousef, the principal architect of the attack, fled the country shortly afterward but was eventually captured in Pakistan in 1995. His trial underscored the challenges of prosecuting acts of terrorism under U.S. criminal law and introduced the public to federal strategies for dealing with international terrorists within the American justice system. Prosecutors successfully argued that Yousef's attack was part of a larger, ideologically driven campaign against the United States, setting a precedent for treating terrorism as a criminal offense rather than solely a military threat.The conviction of Yousef and his co-conspirators in a civilian court demonstrated the U.S. government's commitment to using its judicial system to address terrorism, despite criticisms from some who argued for military tribunals instead. Yousef was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was placed in the federal "supermax" facility in Colorado, where he remains to this day. This case highlighted the importance of international cooperation in tracking down fugitives and the evolving strategies to counter terrorism through legal channels in the years before 9/11.The FTC's draft settlement with Marriott International over a series of data breaches highlights the agency's growing support for "right-to-delete" policies, mirroring a trend in state-level privacy laws. This agreement, targeting breaches from 2014 to 2020 affecting 344 million customers, would require Marriott to provide U.S. customers with a way to request deletion of their personal data. Unlike the FTC's traditional "notice-and-choice" model, this approach shifts responsibility to companies to manage and remove collected data when requested. Experts say the Marriott settlement may be a sign of future federal data privacy directions, especially since the FTC has recently applied similar requirements in cases with companies like Chegg Inc. As right-to-delete policies expand, companies face challenges navigating varying state privacy laws, with 20 states already enacting or soon implementing data privacy regulations. Ensuring compliance across different jurisdictions requires complex data mapping and collaboration between legal and technical teams to track, delete, and prevent reintroduction of sensitive data. Additionally, reducing retained data may impact marketing strategies that rely on long-term customer data. Marriott's settlement and the FTC's recent blog post signal the importance of limiting data collection to only what is operationally necessary, reinforcing the idea that uncollected data cannot be stolen.FTC's Marriott Data Breach Order Echoes States' Right to DeleteRyne Miller, formerly the U.S. general counsel for FTX, has joined New Jersey law firm Lowenstein Sandler as a partner to lead its new commodities and derivatives practice. Previously with Sullivan & Cromwell, Miller advised FTX through its bankruptcy proceedings following the crypto exchange's collapse and founder Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud conviction. Though Sullivan & Cromwell faced allegations related to FTX's misconduct, Miller was not named in any subsequent litigation. After leaving FTX, Miller founded Miller Strategic Partners, providing regulatory advice in traditional and digital finance. At Lowenstein, Miller will head the commodities and derivatives group and co-chair its crypto practice, aiming to capture the recent surge in U.S.-based crypto interest. His experience, including past work for SEC Chair Gary Gensler at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, aligns with Lowenstein's strategic expansion in financial services, fintech, and investment management.Ex-FTX US Legal Chief Joins Lowenstein, Eying Crypto ResurgenceJack Teixeira, a 22-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, faces sentencing for leaking highly classified military documents online, with prosecutors seeking a 17-year prison term. Teixeira, who held a top-secret security clearance as a low-ranking airman, shared sensitive information with a group on the messaging app Discord, reportedly discussing topics like Russia's war in Ukraine, Israel, Syria, and Iran. He was warned by his superiors twice in 2022 about mishandling classified information, yet he continued to access and share sensitive intelligence. Prosecutors argue his actions represent one of the most significant breaches of the Espionage Act in U.S. history. Teixeira's defense team requested a shorter, 11-year sentence, arguing that his intent was to inform his online friends about global events rather than harm the U.S. and citing his struggles with autism and social isolation. In separate military proceedings, Teixeira also faces charges for obstructing justice and failing to follow orders.Pentagon leaker Teixeira faces sentencing, US seeks 17-year prison term | ReutersSteve Bannon, former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, is due back in court ahead of his Dec. 9 trial in New York state on fraud charges linked to a 2019 fundraising campaign for Trump's border wall. Prosecutors allege Bannon deceived donors, raising over $15 million while secretly diverting funds to the campaign's CEO, Brian Kolfage, despite promises that all donations would go directly to construction. Bannon, who was previously pardoned by Trump on related federal charges, faces charges in New York state court where presidential pardons do not apply.Bannon has pleaded not guilty, with his lawyers arguing that he only reimbursed Kolfage for expenses. Kolfage, who pled guilty to federal fraud charges, is currently serving a 4¼-year sentence. Recently released from a four-month federal prison sentence for contempt of Congress after refusing to testify before a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Bannon has resumed hosting his podcast and claims his legal troubles are politically motivated.Fresh off prison release, former Trump adviser Bannon due back in court | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

In today's episode, we're diving into the powerful and practical strategies for addressing unconscious bias in a polarized world. We're joined by DEI expert Sara Taylor, who offers a down-to-earth guide on how to recognize and confront our own biases, both as individuals and within organizations.Sara walks us through how to slow down our thought processes, question our assumptions, and become more mindful of the filters we apply in everyday situations. She shares relatable examples and actionable tips to help us ask the critical questions: “Do I know that what I'm thinking is actually true?” and “Why might I be reacting this way?”In this episode, we explore how developing a culturally competent mindset—along with a shared language for discussing bias—can create positive, lasting change. Whether you're looking to create a more inclusive workplace or make a difference in your community, Sara's approach offers a hopeful, non-judgmental framework that empowers everyone to act.Tune in for insights that go beyond individual change to explore how organizations can scale up cultural competence and transform systems. With Sara's guidance, we'll discuss how we can all contribute to building a more just and equitable world.About Sara TaylorSara Taylor is a diversity and inclusion strategist, bestselling author, and renowned speaker, known for her work in cultural competence and organizational inclusion. She founded deepSEE Consulting in 2002 to help organizations enhance their diversity strategies and develop cultural competence across all levels. With extensive experience working with global clients like Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Marriott International, Sara has led impactful diversity initiatives for companies and government agencies alike. She is the author of Thinking at the Speed of Bias and the bestselling Filter Shift, and has contributed articles to Forbes and Diversity Woman magazine. Sara's expertise is grounded in her background as Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Ramsey County, MN, and as a Leadership and Diversity Specialist at the University of Minnesota. She holds a master's degree in Diversity and Organizational Development and splits her time between Minneapolis and the Dominican Republic with her husband, Miguel.FOLLOW THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP PODCAST ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theexecutiveleadershippodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theexecutiveleadershippodcast/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-executive-leadership-podcast/4o mini Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Brian is joined by Page Petry, founder and principal at Page Petry Consulting. Prior to starting her consulting firm, Page served as the Chief IT Officer of the Americas at Marriott International. In addition to her many industry projects, Page is also a big supporter of the education of students with a focus on STEM. Tune in to hear who Page Thanks for helping her along the way.

APAC stocks began the week mostly positive but with the gains capped ahead of this week's major risk events including the US Presidential Election.PredictIt odds shifted over the weekend in favour of a Harris election victory; NYT/Siena final polls showed the race was deadlocked in 6/7 battleground states.European equity futures are indicative of a steady cash open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future +0.1% after the cash market closed higher by 1.0% on Friday.DXY is softer vs. peers in a scaling back of the USD supportive "Trump trade"; JPY and antipodeans have been the main beneficiaries.OPEC+ agreed to delay the December oil output increase by one month, according to a Reuters source.Looking ahead, highlights include EZ Sentix Index, Manufacturing PMIs, US Employment Trends, US Durable Goods, Australian PMIs (Final), Comments from ECB's Elderson, Supply from EU & US.Earnings from Volvo Car AB, Ryanair, Kingspan, Fidelity National Information Services, NXP Semiconductors, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Diamondback Energy, Palantir Technologies, Marriott International & Fox.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

European bourses generally trade very modestly in positive territory, alongside slight gains in US futures.PredictIt odds shifted over the weekend in favour of a Harris election victory; NYT/Siena final polls showed the race was deadlocked in 6/7 battleground states.USD is on the backfoot as a shift in polling in the US election towards Harris has seen a scaling back of "Trump trades" across the board.USTs benefit from a scaling back of the Trump trade, whilst Bunds lag; reports suggesting that China's NPC is reviewing local government debt swaps weighed on the complex.Crude benefits amid reports that OPEC+ agreed to delay the December oil output increase by one month; base metals move higher in anticipation of the ongoing China NPC meeting.Looking ahead, US Employment Trends, Durable Goods, Australian PMIs (Final), Comments from ECB's Elderson, Holzmann, Supply from the US. Earnings from Fidelity National Information Services, NXP Semiconductors, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Diamondback Energy, Palantir Technologies, Marriott International & Fox.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

ABOUT TARA HAASE HIEMINGA:LINKEDIN PROFILE:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-haase-hieminga-48124621/TARA'S BIO:Tara Haase Hieminga is the Elevated Shopper Experience Global Lead at Mondelez International. With more than 12 years at Mondelez he has previously held roles such as Senior Manager Shopper Marketing & In-Store Merchandising, Sr. Manager Design & Digital Engagement. Prior to Mondelez, Tara was at Kraft Food Group as the Design Strategy Leader and before that, she worked for Mars as the Brand Manager, Candy and In-Store Marketing Manager for Snackfoods.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 72… and my conversation with Tara Haase Hieminga. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgTara Haase Hiemanga who is the Global Lead for Elevated Shopper Experiences at Mondelez.She is using an understanding of neuroscience to enhance customer experiences across a number of the Mondelez brands. What brands are those, well there is a pretty big list but let me just say a few of my favorites – OREO, Toblerone, Cadbury, Wheat Thins and I could go on…We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *Back around 2008, 9 and 10 my wife was studying interpersonal neurobiology with Dr. Dan Siegel. I used to come downstairs and listen to her and all the videos she was watching and various conversations she was having and I was often saying ‘wow that really replies to the work that I'm doing in trying to create retail stores.'As I listened it became clearer and clearer to me that I could perhaps rely on the lessons of understanding neuroscience as being the core driver to customer experience rather than simply thinking of it in terms of psychology, demographics and culture.What fascinated me then and still continues today is the idea that – there was something beyond simple psychology that we would be able to use to design better stores something that would relate to almost all humans in terms of how they understood environments specifically how they would look through product assortments, identify key item presentations, understand graphics, and how color, pattern and texture would all come together to either hinder or help decision making in the shopping aisle.Interestingly, back in the day, it took me a little while to get into architecture. I'd had a great time in junior college but my grades weren't great so I ended up enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in psychology which I was fascinated in anyway because I wanted to understand human dynamics but, I also had a sense that there was something deeply rooted and not just how buildings looked from the design point of view and but how they made people feel from an embodied / sensory point of view. And so, when I finally got into architecture a lot of my thinking about design was about how these places that we were creating would have qualities about them that would make people feel a certain way.I sometimes used to say that I didn't care whether you loved it or hated it (of course I hoped you loved it) but I wanted to make sure that you felt something as you were experiencing some place. And that later in my retail design career that you were satisfied with the experiences as well as the things that you bought in the store.In 2012 I did a presentation at global shop that was ostensibly about emotions and how we had to begin to understand that creating stores was about building emotional relationships and long term connections and then the awareness of how empathy played into this equation.This single presentation was a turning point in my career because someone came up to me at the end of it and said “…that idea should be a book.”And so, taking that as a sign…I was on my way to immersing myself for the next couple of years in writing “Retail (r)Evolution: why creating right brain stores will shape the future of shopping in the digitally driven world. “In the book I really dug into the nature of shopping as a cultural phenomena; it's power across the ages to tie together ideas and commerce the growth of shopping places around the world from the intersections of silk trade routes to the mega malls of North America and I also dug into brain science. In fact over a third of the book deals with understanding functional areas of the brain and how if we we're able to appreciate more how our gift in perception through our body was directly tied to our emotional connections and long term memory could be used - that all shoppers and retailers would be better off.I tried to explain it this way: imagine you're in your car - what I'd like you to do is write down 5 things that make the engine of your car run now if you're actually in your car while listening to this, do not start to write down these five things but hold them in your head as an idea what are the five things that make your car engine run? OK got 5 of them?Now, I want you to think about your brain and think of five things that make you run - through your engine - in other words your brain. The strange thing is and I've done this at multiple presentations around the world people are more apt to be able to describe 5 things that make the engine of their car run where they might spend 2 hours a day in rather than being able to identify more than two things that make themselves run ( the functional areas of their brain) that they spend 24hrs a day in.I also put forward the following proposition:- if we understood that all of our behaviors, thoughts and feelings are run by our brain-body connection, how is it possible that we could be designing stores and not have any clue about the very thing that is so influential in making decisions in the shopping aisle and our willingness to maintain relationships with the brands we love?So, it became a little bit of a career mission to bring the understanding of neuroscience to the retail design masses hoping that they would understand the power of the brain-body and design and creating effective selling spaces.Now, the other influence here was the emergence of digital technologies and how that was fundamentally changing the way our brains were being wired. With the idea that the more you use a functional area of your brain the more you maintain its wiring between neurons and the less used something is the more though the brain goes on a wonderful topiary garden creating extravaganza trimming away neural pathways that are not being used. This whole subject is referred to as “synaptic pruning” and fits together neatly with an idea around “neuroplasticity” - how your brain changes over time in relation to the things that you're exposed to in the patterns of behavior you engage in.So my premise then was: - if you are increasingly not using certain areas of your brain related to the exercise of empathy in face to face embodied interactions with other people like we continually do by communicating through our digital devices, what does that mean for the pathways for empathy in our brains and how we communicate with others?If stores were about empathic engagement, we might have a significant challenge ahead of us. In other words, if we are communicating less and less in embodied, face-to-face ways, what happens to the neural pathways built for empathic connection if we are using them less? Does synaptic pruning play a role here eventually diminishing our ability to engage in empathic extension?This became particularly interesting when you began to look at an entire cohort of emerging customers whose lives were very much directed by their interaction through social media that works and the digital devices they held in their hands. That is the subject of a bigger and equally interesting conversation which I'll save for another podcast but for now let's continue to focus on trying to understand what actually motivates people in the shopping aisle there have been fantastic studies that I came across the work of Baba Shiv and how decision making was made in the shopping aisle in relation to the potential for customers cognitive overload how they decided to choose one thing or another or the work of Sheena Iyengar who did a famous study of jams and the idea that a huge selection did not infact increase more purchases and satisfaction in the products chosen.There are now a heft of studies that are available that continue to reinforce the fact that people's behavior in the shopping aisle is not fully conscious. Much of it happens below the conscious awareness radar.We are driven by our emotions and our collective history of hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution that gear our brains, regardless of culture, religious or sexual orientation political affiliation or where you live in the world, that we all to some degree are reacting from the same baseline of brain activity in the brain's functional areas that we all have.Over the past 10 years there have been a number of organizations that have emerged focusing on the relationship between neuroscience and the built environment.The ANFA - the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture would be one of them.Another would be the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association whose conferences around the world bring together neuroscientists, designers, architects, retailers and brands to talk about the influence that neuroscience could play in creating more effective shopping places.So, I am a huge advocate for trying to understand how we work and the neural mechanisms that influence our behavior beyond our psychology. The whole idea here is that if we knew a little bit more about how your brain worked, you might likely not do some of the things you do as an architect or designer creating retail or brand experience places thinking it matters when in fact it's completely off of the awareness radar and probably has little influence on how people react while in stores.And so we come now to my interview with Tara Haase Hiemanga who is the Global Lead for Elevated Shopper Experiences at Mondelez.So… when I say Mondelez you may not know the parent brand but I'm quite sure that you know some, if not all, of these brands and products that might be in your diet every single week.The Mondelez brands include: Cadbury chocolate and Dairy Milk, Chips Ahoy cookies, Clorets, Halls, the famous Oreo cookie, Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers, Tang apparently the drink that the astronauts used to have back in the day, Wheat Thins and Toblerone.Do you know some of those brands? Yeah I thought you probably did. Last spring I was attending the SHOP Marketplace event and onto the stage comes Tara Haase Hieminga and a consultant from the company Sellcheck.They proceeded to talk about how they were using neuroscience to enhance shopper experiences across their assortment of products. Now if you've ever walked down the snack aisle at your local grocery store, I am quite sure that you are familiar with the sea of merchandise that exists there.Hundreds of brands all selling within the same category and the question is how does a brand stand out or how do you as a consumer, if you don't already know your brand that you want to buy, decide to buy anything?If you follow the neuroscience, it can be quite a challenge for the brain to unpack most of what's in that shopping aisle. On the other hand, if you consider neuroscience you can begin to understand how people make decisions about what they want to buy and be able to do things in terms of your packaging, your product positioning, shelf graphics, the language you use on your packaging to enhance the likelihood that customers will give you deeper consideration and maybe buy more than they anticipated.And that's exactly what Tara, Sellcheck and Mondelez is doing across their portfolio brands. They have begun to see the incredible impact of implementing neuroscience principles to the design of their packaging, point of purchase presentations and shelf displays so that the customers that they have, or ones they hope to acquire, will be attracted to their product, understand the messaging and end up with more than one bag of snacks in their shopping cart.I wish that Tara and I would have had hours to discuss the intricacies of neuroscience and shopping behavior and how it relates to the design of products and in store presentations.This is a subject that I believe all of us should have intimate knowledge.Since I have never met a retailer who wanted to have a bad experience for their customers, I would suggest that implementing a deep understanding of our innate neurobiological hardware is critical.             *                         *                         *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters by Sara Taylor Amazon.com Deepseeconsulting.com A practical guide to tackling unconscious bias in a polarized world. Learn to recognize your unconscious bias and create positive change. Respected DEI expert Sara Taylor presents a down-to-earth guide on how to tackle unconscious biases and foster true equity in our rapidly changing world. Through relatable examples and practical strategies, readers learn to deliberately slow down their thought processes and become aware of their filters in various situations. Taylor encourages readers to question their own assumptions by asking, "Do I know that what I'm thinking is actually true?" and "Why might I be reacting this way?" The book demonstrates the importance of a clear set of competencies, skills, and strategies for addressing unconscious bias. By developing a culturally competent mindset and using a shared, holistic language to discuss these issues, readers gain the tools to understand, discuss, and implement change both at home and in the workplace. This approach avoids blame or shame, making it accessible and empowering for everyone. The book's insights extend beyond individuals; it demonstrates how organizations can scale up cultural competence to transform their structures and systems. With a strong sense of hope, readers are empowered to make a difference, creating a more just and equitable world for all. About the author Diversity and inclusion strategist, renowned for her visionary work in culture competence, nationally recognized speaker, and bestselling author Sara Taylor is dedicated to changing the world through the workplace by making organizations across the globe more effective and inclusive and their leaders more culturally competent. She founded deepSEE Consulting in 2002 to provide insightful consulting and strategic diversity training, paired with measurement tools to build individual and organizational cultural competence. In her deepSEE Consulting role as President, Sara has worked with hundreds of national and global companies and their executives, including Chief Diversity Officers, Organizational Development and HR leaders as well as staff at all levels throughout the organization. She helps them to understand the full complexities of today's diverse workforce and to build the competencies necessary to create inclusion and equity. Her clients over the years have included reputable companies such as Walmart, 3M Company, AARP, Cleveland Foundation, Coca-Cola, Marriott International, General Mills, United Way Worldwide, National Credit Union Administration, Ingersol-Rand, Seagate Technologies, Thompson Reuters, Thrivent Financial, among others. Prior to deepSEE Consulting, Sara was the Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota, where she established a new department to lead D&I efforts for 5,000 employees. She began her career as a Leadership and Diversity Specialist at the University of Minnesota, where she developed state-wide diversity and leadership programs, created and managed a grant program to fund community-based diversity initiatives, and directed the activities of diversity and leadership educators. Sara's forthcoming book, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters (Berrett-Koehler), helps individuals tackle their unconscious bias and empower organizations to scale cultural competence to transform their structural and systematic landscapes to become more effective and equitable. She previously authored the 2017 bestselling book Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World, which is used by numerous individuals and organizations across the globe to increase success and create greater effectiveness. She has been an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Twin Cities Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioners, Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota,

Send us a textWelcome to What's Up in Business Travel for Week 41 of 2024.  This is a weekly podcast from BusinessTravel360,  where we update you on what's up this week in the world of business travel.  This podcast is great for those who need to know what's happening all in under 15 minutes.Topics covered during this podcast -Marriott to pay a $52M fineBoeing announces layoffsDelta's Q3 profit falls below $1BNational tops J.D. PowerAmerican rebuilds sales staffEU plans for a Flight Emissions LabelSkyTeam partners with Eurostar and TrenitaliaAmerican Airlines and Hyatt alter their partnershipAeroplan & Marriott Bonvoy add Status-MatchPark Hyatt debuts in LondonHyatt Studios pipeline reaches 4,000 roomsJapan Airlines rolls out free inflight wifiUnited adds 8 new destinationsUber launches shuttle b/w NYC and LaGuardiaTune in every Monday morning to get your weekly update.  We hope you will make this a regular part of your week and listen in while you on the move or sitting back and sipping your coffee.You can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, iHeart, Pandora, Spotify, Alexa or your favorite podcast player.This podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

ABOUT RON THURSTON:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rthurston/Websites:Retail Pride book: https://www.amazon.com/Retail-Pride-Celebrating-Accidental-Career/dp/1544515928OSSY: https://www.useossy.comRetail In America podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/retail-in-america/id1618323713 Ron Thurston's Bio:Ron Thurston's life mission is to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.With over three decades of leading retail stores and operations for top American brands like Gap, West Elm, Apple, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron has honed an extensive skill set in retail strategy, management, and innovation.In January 2024, Ron co-founded OSSY, a forward-thinking retail recruiting agency. This venture is dedicated to addressing the biggest hiring and recruiting challenges in retail, reinforcing Ron's unwavering commitment to the industry.As the best-selling author of RETAIL PRIDE, Ron inspires retail professionals to embrace their unique career paths. He also hosted the RETAIL IN AMERICA podcast and tour, journeying across the nation in an Airstream trailer during 2022/2023 to uncover and highlight the remarkable stories and individuals in retail.Ron also serves on the Advisory Boards of several rapidly growing retail tech companies, including Ometria, Butterfly, and YOOBIC, lending his expertise to drive their success.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 71… and my conversation with Ron Thurston, retail veteran, best-selling author, podcast host and man on a mission to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this 70th episode I talk with Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach. Ron Thurston has spent years opening stores for major internationally recognized brands and knows a thing or two about a career in retail. In our talk we dig into the shifting the mindset of retail being an accidental career to one of choice, about with you should be proud. We'll get to all that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…              *                         *                         * Throughout my career in the retail design world I have often heard this statement “I never planned to be in retail”.And it's often said with some slight lilt of apology, that in a way somehow as an architect it was somehow not taken quite as seriously as the design of public buildings or housing or other things that architects with a capital “A” do.What's more, when I entered into the retail design world, quite by serendipity I might add, I came into the design of stores by way of visual merchandising. I was the resident architect of a small 4 personn design and visual merchandising consulting firm on 36th street just east of Park.Working with a couple of seasoned pros, I learned that visual merchandisers were often regarded simply as window trimmers and I don't think quite got the respect that they were due for the power they had in shaping the retail experience for customers. Often seen as the silent seller, visual merchandising was a key component to how the customer journey unfolded in a shopping experience. Mannequins and other displays in the store added that extra flavor to the store as a stage set in which the merchandise was the principal actor.Architecture wasn't unimportant, but it wasn't the be all and end all of the in-store experience. You could have terrific architecture but if you couldn't get your assortment planning right department layouts an in store messaging you were likely not to perform quite as well.It was through my first employer and mentor Joe Weishar of New Vision Studios in New York that I began to really understand the power of visual merchandising in the store designers toolboxand that it couldn't be simply left to be an afterthought but had to be integral to the initial strategic design thinking of how a store would be laid out. Where those special moments of surprise and delight would occur often had little to do with architecture but a lot to do with theatrics, art, marketing, graphics – in short, storytelling.Going back to that comment a moment ago about serendipity finding me and putting me firmly in the world of retail design, it does very much align with the often heard message that “I didn't plan to be in retail.” It is in fact true, that one now is an architecture I had no awareness and probably no interest in designing stores for a living.But, that said, I actually had no shame about being in retail.Retail combined all the things that I loved:stage set design, industrial design architecture, marketing, consumer behavior, trend analysis, fashion and advertising - all of these disciplines came together in the experience that a brand or retailer would provide for their customers.The fact of the matter is, that the exchange of goods and services otherwise know as ‘retail,' is one of the key cornerstones of cultures around the world. Exchange has always been tied with ideas and that makes it extremely powerful. And, these ideas change over time influenced by the comings and goings of merchants and trends and technologies. It seems to me, and this comes from someone who was educated trained and licensed as an architect, that retail locations are probably more frequented by the general population than are the major civic buildings that would have been typically called “architecture” in the past.Think about it, when was the last time that you went to a post office, a library, an Opera House, a government building, a church, synagogue, or mosque or a courthouse?When did you last walk the campus of a university or visit a museum?And I am sure that there are some of you who will say well I did all of those yesterday but I'd also hazard a guess that they would be in the minority.now, when was the last time you went to a store a shopping mall a department store or used your phone to buy something from Amazon or some other online company?The point here is that shopping is so deeply ingrained in our everyday lives that it's inextricably tied to how we come to understand the world around us. Shopping places therefore are important and even though many people who work in the retail space find their way there as a transition between the end of one semester and the beginning of another.Students or younger members of our society are not the only people who find meaningful work in retail and who ultimately end up building their entire careers around working for retailer or brand or some company in the design and construction industry who's connected to designing and building stores.And somehow our society has often placed a judgment on what type of retail you might likely be engaged in. I have often heard the position that price point of product is somehow equated to pride in a sales associate's work or price of products being a precursor to better service but this should not be the case. Experiences in retail stores should not be better if the products it sells are expensive. Service should be excellent across the product price spectrum of retail experiences.In fact we've all probably had experiences where being in high priced stores did not render necessarily better service.The point is that you need to strip away what you sell and deliver high levels of experience regardless of the product or the service that you're providing to your customers.Providing great service often has to do with how people connect to others and the level of emotional intelligence that sales associates bring to their job every day. Which also suggests that the way we train sales associates in customer interaction protocols might likely be less about the rubric of sequential steps on how to connect – first you do this, say that, then do this, and say that – but might likely be more effective if you train on why we all need emotionally resonant, empathic connection – how empathy is built into our collective DNA.And this is where my guest, Ron Thurston comes into the story.Ron suggests that empathy, curiosity and focus translate into every job in retail. He believes that we need to teach human connection rather than sales training. I would bet that most of us can spot the ‘sales pitch' a mile away. We could almost speak the script because we have been exposed to it too many times.Ron Thurston's life mission is to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.Core to his philosophy is to stop referring to your career in retail as “accidental” because you diminish you own power. Its ok to say “I choose to be the best sales associate, leader or stock person and I am proud of my role in the world of retail.”With over three decades of leading retail stores and operations for top American brands like Gap, West Elm, Apple, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron has honed an extensive skill set in retail strategy, management, and innovation.In January 2024, Ron co-founded OSSY, a forward-thinking retail recruiting agency. This venture is dedicated to addressing the biggest hiring and recruiting challenges in retail, reinforcing Ron's unwavering commitment to the industry.As the best-selling author of RETAIL PRIDE, Ron inspires retail professionals to embrace their unique career paths. He also hosted the RETAIL IN AMERICA podcast and tour, journeying across the nation in an Airstream trailer during 2022/2023 to uncover and highlight the remarkable stories and individuals in retail.I was happy to catch up with Ron Thurston after his key note presentation at the SHOP Marketplace event and sit down for a great talk…             *                         *                         *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Please welcome Chris Baer to the Clocking Out podcast. Chris Baer is the founder of the Mandala Institute, an organization that helps leaders create humanistic and innovation culture in teams and companies. He is an expert on innovation strategy, engaging and growing talent through coaching, as well as design methodologies.Chris is also a co-founder of Sunstone Therapies, an early-stage medical company dedicated to alleviating emotional distress in patients through trial psychedelic therapies. Chris also played a key role in the creation of the Bill Richard's Center for Healing, a state of the art facility designed expressly for psychedelic therapy in the medical setting.Prior to Mandala and Sunstone, Chris served as Vice President of Global Leadership Development and Learning Experience at Marriott International overseeing talent and executive development. In other Marriott roles, Chris led customer experience initiatives encompassing brand and digital consumer product development. Contributions included brand creation (Moxy), brand revitalization (Marriott Hotels), and customer experience strategy and execution (the Ritz-Carlton), as well as the development of Marriott's enterprise innovation framework.Prior to Marriott, Chris led an international marketing firm, and consulted to Fortune 100's on digital strategy, product management and user experience.Formally trained as an industrial designer at RISD, Chris employs design methodologies to business challenges and has brought design thinking to executives and their product teams globally.Chris holds a leadership coaching certification from Georgetown University's Institute for Transformational Leadership (cohort 45), and coaches top executives seeking to bring forth transformation within themselves, their enterprises and beyond.An internationally acclaimed artist, Chris is also a contemporary abstract painter and creates works in glass and mixed media.Chris lives in Washington DC with his family.Visit: www.Mandala.InstituteConnect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdbaer/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Mandala-Chris-Baer Follow Careerminds: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/careermindsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/careerminds/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareermindsYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@CareermindsVisit Raymond's website: https://www.raymondlee.co/Order Clocking Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Career Transitions: https://www.amazon.com/Clocking-Out-Stress-Free-Career-Transitions/dp/1586446541 Follow Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondmlee/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raymondlee.coTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clockingoutpodX: http://twitter.com/hrentrepreneurYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@clockingoutwithraymondlee/videosBecome a guest on Clocking Out: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSTQmww_Gvld1zfLzTmS16PDfZvltFna7Gh6iSYehL-maUvA/viewform

Today we're exploring the dynamic intersection of healthcare, privacy, and patient experience with Tracey Schroeder, Chief Communications & External Affairs Officer at Inova Health System. Tracey brings a unique perspective from her transition from the hospitality industry with a role as Vice President and Global Head of Consumer PR at Marriott International to healthcare with her current role at Inova. Tracey Schroeder is Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer at Inova Health System. Tracey leads communications, marketing, physician relations and government affairs for Inova Health System, inclusive of brand development, internal communications, physician communications, media relations, social media, and digital strategy. Tracey leads a team of 70 individuals supporting Inova, a $6 billion health system in Northern Virginia. Inova sees over two million unique patients a year across five hospitals and 200 outpatient sites. Prior to joining Inova in 2021, Tracey served as Vice President, Global Consumer Public Relations at Marriott International leading public relations for Marriott's 30 brands and consumer-facing initiatives across customer experience, digital, experiential, and global marketing partnerships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Porsche Pettiford celebrated 30 years with Marriott International in September 2023, and is well known for her strong relationships, breadth of knowledge and expertise in Hospitality, Sales, Marketing, Operations and Owner Relations. In her current role as Vice President, Hotel Openings, Transitions and Operations Support Resources, she leads Marriott International's US, Canada and CALA new build hotel openings processes, hotel transitions consisting of ownership, brand and management changes to existing operating hotels, and a large task force organization dedicated to filling operational leadership vacancies in operating managed and franchise hotels. Her team is composed of 300+ full time and flex associates that on average open 350+ new build hotels, transition 400+ hotels and take in over 2,000+ requests for hotel operations task force annually. Listen NOW to discover, "How To Maintain A Standard of Excellence" PS. To access your copy of Eric Twiggs' book "The Discipline of Now:12 Practical Principles To Overcome Procrastination." click or paste the link below: Click here: https://www.ericmtwiggs.com/discipline-of-now --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/30minutehour/support