Podcast appearances and mentions of Travis Park

"Learning to do, doing to learn"   Phil, alongside guest host Jamie Thibodeau, is joined by Dr. Travis Park to explore the National FFA Organization's mission and its connection to experiential education. Travis discusses the importance of agricultural education in developing leadership, personal growth, and career success among students. The discussion highlights the role of experiential learning in FFA programs, the leadership development opportunities available to students, and the empowerment of youth through peer leadership. The conversation concludes with insights on collaboration between FFA and experiential education organizations. FFA is an agricultural leadership organization for students. The mission of FFA is to develop leadership and career success. Experiential education is integral to FFA's teaching methods. Students engage in supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs). Peer leadership is a key component of FFA's structure. FFA chapters empower students to lead their peers. Leadership development occurs through conferences and workshops. FFA provides opportunities for networking and mentorship. Agriculture teachers play a crucial role in student development. Collaboration between FFA and experiential education can enhance learning. Learn more about the FFA - https://www.ffa.org/ Connect with Phil; Email - podcast@high5adventure.org Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/verticalplaypen/ Donate to the podcast - verticalplaypen.org Music and sound effects - epidemicsound.com  

In this episode, host Bob Rivard converses with special guest Trish DeBerry, CEO and President of Centro San Antonio. They discuss the evolution and revitalization of downtown San Antonio, its challenges amid corporate departures and COVID-19 impacts, as well as the future vision for urban development. Key Points Discussed: 1. Centro San Antonio's Role in Urban Development: Centro San Antonio oversees public improvement districts including iconic areas like the Riverwalk and Alamo Plaza while advocating for downtown business-community connections.     2. Trish's Journey: From her long-standing relationship with downtown to her political career and return to an executive role at Centro San Anronio. 3. Downtown Challenges: Addressing issues such as vacancy rates post-AT&T departure, USAA pullout, and the pandemic's effects on local businesses. 4. Clean & Safe Initiatives: Doubling down on safety measures by increasing bike patrol officers in downtown areas along with quality-of-life ambassadors addressing homelessness concerns. 5. Community Engagement: Efforts to rekindle a sense of community through events like Holidays on Houston Street that bring both locals and tourists into the city center. 6. Data-Driven Insights: Utilizing geo-software platforms like Placer.ai to analyze foot traffic data during holiday seasons for better planning. 7. Visionary Leadership Needed Post-Covid Era: The importance of having leaders who can execute a clear agenda for city growth akin to past successful mayoral visions. 8. Place Making Ventures: Exploring year-round activation possibilities in Travis Park beyond seasonal attractions like ice skating rinks; considering new ideas such as outdoor boxing or roller-skating venues. 9. Potential Major Developments: Conversations around bringing minor league baseball stadium closer to the urban core which could stimulate economic growth particularly on near west side hindered by current county jail location.     10.  Mental Health Focus: Recognizing mental health services' inadequacy is critical when discussing unsheltered populations within urban centers.       "Great cities have great downtowns... It's inherent upon everyone to continue investing in our cultural assets."             - Trish DeBerry   Centro San Antonio website   BigCitySmallTown website

Alicia and RJ break down the day's top stories: The city of San Antonio posts Clayton Perry's District 10 position online after he requested a sabbatical. Plans have been unveiled for a new elementary school in Uvalde. After Twitter rolls out it's $8 blue checkmark plan, one company is feeling the effects of trolls and fake accounts. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Travis Park. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A genomic whale of a story Things aren't always what they seem on the surface, especially when it comes to our oceans. So many mysteries hum below its watery surface. So, you may just have to use your ears when it's too dark to see exactly what's going on down there.Dr. Kaylee Byers looks into the ocean giants that lurk in the depths and the unique songs they share with us. She sits down with whale biologist Dr. Jennifer Allen on how whale songs are imparting a cultural exchange between populations that are hundreds of miles apart. Filmmaker Joshua Zeman shares his journey to find the infamously dubbed 'Loneliest Whale'. And Paeleobiologist Dr. Travis Park from the Museum of Natural History in London tells us how whales developed their unique singing superpowers by taking us back through millions of years of evolution. Finally, researcher Grace Baer brings us to a remote west coast station studying whale populations and the effects of ocean traffic noise.It's a whale-sized episode taking you on a listening journey into this wonderful watery world!Click here for this episode's Learn-A-Long!CREDITS: Special thanks to Captain Gaelen Krause of the Island Odyssey, for capturing recordings on his journey to search for whales along the British Columbia coast. Thank you to BCwhales.org, North Coast Cetacean Society, for providing hydrophone recordings in this episode. Credit to Joshua Zeman and Bleecker Street Media for providing audio clips from their documentary The Loneliest Whale: The Seach for 52. And finally, credit to Watkins Mammal Sound Database with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for access to their whale recordings.Resources:1. Southern Resident Killer Whale Research Project | Parks Canada2. Whales learn songs from each other in a cultural 'deep dive' | phys.org3. Whale-monitoring robots are oceanic eavesdroppers with a mission | Popular Science4. Whale Songs Are Getting Deeper | The Atlantic5. The search for the loneliest whale in the world | The Guardian6. The Loneliest Whale: The Search fro 52 | Bleecker Street Media7. BTS (방탄소년단) Whalien 52' MV | BigHit Entertainment7. Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database  | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution8. Underwater Noise Pollution Is Disrupting Ocean Life - But We Can Fix it | TIME9. Convergent evolution in toothed whale cochleae | BMC Evolutionary Biology10. Evolutionary Basis of High-Frequency Hearing in the Cochleae of Echolocators Revealed by Comparative Genomics | Oxford Academic11. Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes | Nature12. DNA Suggests Cultural Traits Affect Whale Evolution | Science13. San Francisco: Dead Whale Opens Seafood Season | Universal International Newswire14. Songs of the Humpback Whale | Roger Payne, CRM Records15. Whaling Commission | Associated Press Archive16. Monaco - International Whaling Commission | Associated Press Archive17. Bubble Net Feeding | BC Whales18. Cool Genomics Facts - Fact 4 & 5: Environmental DNA | Genome British ColumbiaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the weekend local officials, voting advocates and even sports figures gathered in Travis Park to call for change and gun control after the mass school shooting in Uvalde. Meanwhile, Congress says they are close to passing bi-partisan legislation. Meet one of San Antonio's smartest 14-year-old, Harini Logan who won the Scripps National Spelling bee. Would you get onboard a tesla tunnel from San Antonio to Austin? A New document shows that billionaire Elon Musk might. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Shed Geek Podcast, Shannon is joined by Travis Parks as they discuss the history of the BBQ, and speak with Luke Oldson and Michael Brooks. They discuss the origins of the OK BBQ and the events and competitions that draw the haulers and their families in.  If you don't regularly attend these events, just know that they are "Shed Geek Approved" and an absolute blast to be at.  Always good conversation, good competition, and good food. Travis discusses helping a fellow hauler out in his time of need and how to pull together for those customers that are up to no good.  Michael puts a new idea into perspective and reminds us to always seek God in our endeavors. The even was a huge success and part of JD Perry and Travis Park's efforts, and a ton of support from their sponsors. Congrats to everyone who took home a prize.The Geeks always want to give a huge shoutout to The Shed Haulers Brotherhood! We always love the opportunity to hang out at their events and are looking forward to the Annual National Shed Hauler Bash coming up on August 18 &19!To learn more about SHB Brotherhood or to join, click here.Also, find out how the podcast can be heard throughout the plain communities by dialing the number 330-997-3055. If the number is busy, just dial again!For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:High Barn: My Shed SolutionsMini Barn: NewFound RentalsMini Barn:  MIDCO

Dr. Travis Park, professor of Agricultural Education at North Carolina State University, discusses with The GenZ Show whether incoming students to college are prepared. Dr. Park provides tips for both incoming students and their parents on better preparing for the transition to college life. Dr. Park advises parents to have a long-term perspective toward their child's education while still in high school and allow for opportunities to fail so they can then learn to succeed. To connect with Dr. Travis Park: Professor, Director of Undergraduate Programs Director of Undergraduate Programs Ricks Hall 218 travis_park@ncsu.edu 919.515.9441

Listen to Sean Rima on demand. Topics include jury deliberations in Kyle Rittenhouse's case, and circling back to President Biden's comments on Rittenhouse, after calling him a “white supremacist”. The city's Christmas tree is scheduled to arrive today in San Antonio, and it will be misplaced this year, after it is placed in Travis Park. Senator Ted Cruz grilled Secretary Mayorkas over Biden's border crisis, as he tried to explain that the cages are not actually cages.

Sara Helmy is CEO at Tribu (tribe in Latin), a 20-employee digital marketing and branding agency that prides itself on “building tribes for the brands that we serve.” Sara, with a passion for SEO, started the agency ten years ago with about $6,000, no outside funding, no debt . . . and for the first three years, doubled-down, boot-strapped, added things over time, and eventually morphed the agency into a branding powerhouse with close to $3 million in service revenue this year. Tribu serves a diverse group of clients . . . facilitating government-supported projects (like San Antonio's 300-year anniversary celebration), B2C (Devils River Whiskey), B2B, and healthcare . . . but most clients have one thing in common: They have high, ambitious growth goals . . . and they want to be disruptive in some sense. Tribu's view of “brand” is far broader than having a logo and a website. Sara includes in “brand” the assets a company creates and deploys, the nurturing, the daily “rock pounding,” the tribe growing, the follower building, and the activities compelling potential customers to sign up for email lists. Branding efforts may be for a brand that never existed before or for existing brands that are looking to “reinvent themselves.”  Sara says that branding (and rebranding) are more about identifying and extracting value that is already there, something unique that will resonate with customers, rather than in creating something new that didn't exist before. The invention part comes in creating a new way to communicate that message. When the agency works with a new brand, there is more freedom . . . but, without an existing customer base, Sara says, “You're a little bit more blind.” A brand may think it knows itself, but often, Tribu has to collect data from potential customers and focus groups to show companies how they are “seen.” Sara says “95% of good businesses are going to choose to honor their customers.” When a company already has an existing customer base, rebranding may be easier because customers will tell you who you are . . . but it is also harder because, if the business direction changes substantially, you risk alienating existing customers who got you to where you are.  In this interview, Sara offers two important business tips:  Invest in “A” players, because they are the ones who will solve your problems, help navigate, and help your agency grow. Plan, nurture, and control your culture . . . the health of your finances will often match the health of your agency culture. Sara can be reached on her agency's website at: Wearetribu.com – and from the beginning to this day, the onsite contact form goes straight to her personal mailbox! Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I am joined today by Sara Helmy, CEO at Tribu based in San Antonio, Texas. Welcome to the podcast, Sara. SARA: Thank you for having me, Rob. I'm excited to be here. ROB: It's excellent to have you here. Why don't you start off by introducing us to Tribu? What should we know? What is your specialty? SARA: Tribu means “tribe” in Latin. We pride ourselves on building tribes for the brands that we serve. More literally, I guess you could consider us a digital marketing and branding agency. We've been around since 2011, so this year will be our 10th year in November. We're very excited about that. In general, that's Tribu. We're a tribe of 20 people today. When we started, we started with about $6,000. No outside funding, no debt. Just doing really good work and climbing ladders. We're still a small agency. We'll do probably about $3 million in service revenue this year with our tribe. (That's what we call our team of 20.) But in 10 years, no outside funding, no debt. That's just been organic growth by serving a whole bunch of partners we're really thrilled and excited to have every day. ROB: Congratulations on 10 years, on $3 million, on 20 people. I'm sure there's days when that feels like a lot of responsibility. Dig a little deeper with the brands you serve. Is there a typical example you can give us of who you work with, what the scope of the engagement or the range perhaps can look like? SARA: Absolutely. We're actually a little bit everywhere when it comes to industry. We don't have a particular industry niche. But most everybody that we work with has really high and ambitious growth goals, and they want to be disruptive in some sense. So far, for us at times that's spanned government – it's a lot of B2C, B2B, healthcare. We're literally everywhere. What they have in common is they've got some project or some initiative that they consider disruptive and they really want to grow it fast. More specific examples. Devils River Whiskey was one that we worked with for very many years. Travis Park, which is one of the oldest municipal parks in the United States, was one that we rebranded and revamped. When San Antonio turned 300 years old, we helped them put on that celebration. Then we'll also serve the plastic surgeon who's got really high ambitious goals, or we'll partner up with a private equity who buys companies and turns them around and plug in as their marketing partner. So we're a little bit everywhere in that sense, but what they all have in common is they want to disrupt and they want to grow very fast. ROB: It seems like that branding component of what you do – I think a trick with branding agencies can often be the “What next?” I did the brand and then the engagement falls off. It sounds like you have this pairing of people who are using the rebrand as a jumping-off point to get more aggressive overall. SARA: Yes, I would say that's pretty accurate. It's either a ground-up brand that hasn't existed before, or there's a big rebrand initiative in there somewhere. One of the things we deal with all the time is that your brand is so much more than a logo and a website. Those are assets that you created, that you smartly deployed, but brands aren't created just when you create those things. They're created through nurturing, through pounding the rock every single day, growing a tribe, amassing a following, giving people a compelling reason to sign up for an email list. When we say brand building, we mean so much more down the line than just getting a new website or designing a logo. ROB: Sure. Brand is also partly who you actually are. It's who you actually are when you are out in the market. How do you take a client who is looking to rebrand and get past who they think they are or who they think they should be and get to who they actually can be and break through with that? SARA: I love that question. I think a lot of people think when you're rebranding or something, you're creating something new. In actuality, you're extracting, with a very good strategic understanding, what's compelling that lives there. A lot of times, a partner or business will come in and tell you all about their brand, all about what they do, all about their history. I think what we're doing is inventing the way that's communicated, but it's so much more than inventing things to invent things. You're extracting something that's there. Typically there's a differentiator. There's something unique about them, and it's just hidden. When we enter a rebrand, or when we decide we're going to brand something from the ground up for somebody, we're extracting more than we are inventing what's valuable there. What is there that would truly resonate with a tribe or an audience? Who is that audience, and where's the match? So it's more extracting. It's more strategic identifying of those things, and then you build a brand around that – the more traditional, well-known aspects of it, like what it looks like, the tone of voice, the colors and the typography, and our strategy for getting in front of this tribe, or what most people refer to as target audiences. ROB: Is there an aspect of that that is easier when there's also an existing customer base? Because in some cases then the customers actually tell you who you are. SARA: Yeah, it's easier and harder when there's an existing customer base, I think. Easier in the sense that you've got the best resource ever. You've got customers, and exactly what you said, you can ask them and they'll tell you. Harder in the sense that if the business's goals are to substantially change, you have to consider the existing customer. You can't just 180. You've got to love the people that got you where you are. So preserving equity and being mindful in how you do that sometimes makes those circumstances more complex than when you're starting something at the ground floor and you have a little bit more freedom to work with. But also, you're a little bit more blind because there's not a customer base that you can tap into at that point. ROB: How do you help someone when they have this conception of themselves and there's a better dimension of themselves that they actually need to be highlighting, because they really can't inhabit the brand of what they think they are? SARA: I think you show them. That's one of the most beautiful parts of the digital marketing world and living in the technology we live today. There's a way to show them. There's data, where maybe previously marketers had to fly a little bit more blind. It's super easy these days to ask a question and get a response. You don't necessarily have to always have a 10- or 15-person, immaculately sourced focus group, conducted very formally. So in that situation, you show them, and at that point you let the business decide. I think 95% of good businesses are going to choose to honor their customers. ROB: I get it. You mentioned 10 years ago, $6,000 to start; what led up to that moment, though? What led you to say, “I have this $6,000” – maybe you saved it up, maybe you didn't – “and I'm going to put it on the line to make Tribu happen”? What did that look like? SARA: What a bootstrap startup, right? I was young. I was 22 years old at the time. My father had passed away, unfortunately, probably two years before that. So I had learned life is short, and I was a little bit less scared of entrepreneurship failure potential as a result. Also, when you're young, it's easier to get something off the ground when you consider that you don't have a mortgage to worry about or a family to feed at that point. I happened to be working in SEO, and I absolutely love SEO. That's the service in this world where I got my start. I was fortunate to, at such a young age, be an operations manager for an SEO division inside of an agency. The entrepreneurial itch, the combination of losing my dad and realizing that life is short, finding an industry that I absolutely loved, a field of study I was completely passionate about – it collided. Also, because I was young, I just didn't really have that much money. Hello. [laughs] So $6,000 was what I could put in. I was fortunate enough that I had a little bit of a measly extra that I could live off for that first year, really. So it had to work within that year, at least enough to get me to the next year. That was pretty much the backstory of how Tribu started. ROB: When you're bootstrapped, it's a little bit harder to decide those moments when you're going to actually – you make decisions to invest in the business sometimes, especially in the services thing, no investors. You can take the money out or you can double down on certain aspects of the business. What were some of those bets you made early to invest in particular aspects of the business that were maybe some key decisions? SARA: In hindsight – I don't know that I was doing this then; it just seemed like what you had to do when you're bootstrapped. But I think we doubled down a zillion times. I paid our staff before I ever paid myself. There were several years in Tribu's early start that I would pull enough out in terms of – I didn't get a salary. I would distribute enough that I could eat a meal if I needed to. In the meantime, there were graphic designers who were employed and we were doubling down in the sense that the money was going to that. We doubled down when we purchased our own building, probably about four or five years in. I hope I didn't fail to answer your question, Rob, and go roundabout, but I think there was a series of doing nothing but doubling down in those first three years, probably, of Tribu's life. ROB: Sure. There's an extent to which every hire is an investment into the business. Some make you choke on payroll a little bit harder than others, when you're like, “We're going to hire somebody who makes what?” Then you have to say, “Yeah, I guess we're going to do that.” SARA: [laughs] Yep. ROB: How do you make the jump, or connect the dots, then, between SEO and brand? I might see a shadow of it, but it's not a common conversation, right? Most folks in SEO don't get really excited about rebranding, except for what keywords they're going to target. How did you get there? SARA: I love that question. Honestly, I think when you get really, really deep into SEO and you start trying to guess the algorithm and what Google's up to and what it's going to change towards and what's going to be their next move – the deeper you go, the more you find that the algorithm – my theory is that it's going to go towards what is genuinely, authentically inspiring to another human being. That's what we want to show in our result when someone enters in a query. And that's what led me to, okay, brand really, really matters from SEO, if that makes sense. I think that's where the connection was made. I also think good SEO strategies, good organics, really focus on – even though it's not stereotypical in an SEO's mind, engagement rate really matters. What's your popularity? That's a very big one in terms of SEO. In order to get there, sure, you can do all these little tips and tricks and technical hacks, and it's really good to know them, but in order to get there you've got to have some substance. You've got to have a good brand. That's where the interest came from. I also think previously, I was very rebellious when I was young. [laughs] I did not know that I was going to necessarily love a subject of any sort in school, but I absolutely loved creativity. I know this is marketing, but business and entrepreneurship is a very good way for a rebel to be a productive person to society. So you take that and you combine that with creativity and this fortunate thing that I landed in SEO, honestly, and it all hodgepodged, and that's how we went from SEO to brand. ROB: The connection's definitely there. There's all of the parlor tricks, and then there's the conviction that eventually what Google's going to keep doing is optimizing for giving people what they want. If that aligns to who you are – the essence of the brand is who you are, and the essence of SEO is what people want, and you put those together. It ties, but it's not often in the same conversation. I haven't heard it very much. It's fascinating coming through who you are. SARA: It makes it an interesting combination for Tribu, honestly. It's a cool combination for our partners to enjoy. There's that very technical, astute digital marketing aspect and strategy, but there's also that very award-winning, strong creativity coming out of Tribu. I feel like a lot of times when partners or customers in the marketplace hire agencies – not every agency puts them in this, but a lot of agencies put you into making a choice. Like, “I can hire really good strategy, really good technical stuff, or I can hire really creative stuff, but I don't know that the message is ever going to completely go as far as it could go.” We're not the only agency that does this, but we do pride ourselves on it at Tribu. We try really hard to be the agency where you don't have to compromise between creativity and strategy and the digital, technical stuff that helps brands really grow. ROB: Absolutely, for sure. It's very self-aware, and I think it's important for entrepreneurs to keep in mind their rebellious streaks. I went through a profile of one sort or another this past week, and basically, I scored ultimately on this axis where it's like “If somebody tells you to do something, you're probably going to do the opposite.” Another entrepreneur who was in that conversation – I think a lot of us, especially in the services world, have this acquisition fantasy that someone's going to show up someday and drop a big pile of cash on the front door and acquire your business. But most of the time, that actually ends up looking like an earnout. So someone I know who's in the middle of that had this rebellious streak, the want-to-be-the-lead-horse streak, and this particular analysis – they didn't know anything about what the person's experience was, but it said, “Something in your life is out of alignment here. At work, you are not being that lead horse that you usually are.” It was because they had a boss. Have you ever contemplated this sort of agency acquisition fantasy that some of us have? Or maybe you just realized that wouldn't go well? How do you think about it? SARA: I don't know. I hope I'm self-aware in that regard. What you just explained, I am so guilty of, which is like as soon as you add the boss on top of me, I'm a miserable person, even if the boss didn't tell me anything. [laughs] But yeah, in terms of Tribu's future, I don't know, maybe one day there will be an exit. I'm not ever going to say never. But we're not working towards that right now. That's not our strategy. That's not where our eyes are at. We're still at that phase in business where we're realizing our own best and obsessed enough with figuring that out for ourselves and especially for the people we serve. I think knowing about exit strategy, even not wanting to right now, is valuable in the sense that what you have to do to prepare for an exit makes you a better business. It makes you cleaner on financials. It makes you put together core processes that help everybody get more aligned. So we like to know about exits, and sure, we think about them sometimes because it makes you a better business, but we're not coming at it from the perspective of hoping for an exit. That's not in the plans right now. ROB: That's so key, and people don't realize it when they start to look at the checklists of especially what makes a services firm worth more than like 1x revenue on an earnout. It's all of those things. How well does this thing operate without you? How are the processes? How are the renewals? It's all of these things. Do you have a particular set of tools you have found work really well for you to store and maintain and update processes in a way that everybody knows where to look? Do you have anything that's working? SARA: We struggled with that for a couple of years when we started. Where we landed was Asana, which is our project management system. It's also where we store all of our core processes so that if you're working at Tribu, the program that everybody, regardless of your position, is working in is also the place where you can find all the core processes. That's pretty much what we landed on in terms of tools for that. We at one point had one-sheeters on everything we could think of in Google Drive, and then everybody would forget what one-sheeters existed. I don't know if that was too literal of an answer, or if that's what you meant by systems, but literally we decided to store them all in Asana. ROB: That's right. It's interesting at two levels. There's one that is the lesson that there is one place and that's where you go. You don't have to say, “Is this in Drive or in Gmail or in Dropbox?”, all the way down the line. I think it helps you realize why there's so many of these systems out there, but also why people switch. People switch when they can't find a way to invest enough in their PM tool to make it the source of truth. SARA: Yeah, honestly, in marketing, that's one of the things that's happening in general. There's so many tools out there, so many things you can use. I think in marketing in general, that's one of the things that makes it more fun – I like change – but it makes it harder to play. I mean, how much momentum and how deep can you get if you're changing the tool you're using every four months? We just made the decision that we don't need it to be the most perfect thing, but we need it to be a stable thing. We need it to be a constant thing. We need it to be a thing that maybe doesn't have every feature that we want, but is going to do the job really well. ROB: But commit to it. SARA: Yes. ROB: Sara, when you rewind this journey, these 10 years so far, what are some lessons you've learned that you might wish you could go back and tell yourself to do a little bit differently, if you were intercepting yourself in that moment of the business? SARA: Oh God, so many. I think we're a great business today, but we're definitely not perfect and we have our moments in history where we look back and go, “Uh, we should've thought about that one a little bit more.” I think the biggest takeaway is ‘A' players. Nothing replaces ‘A' players, whatever ‘A' players is to your agency. There were times where I think we compromised out of desperation. We grew too fast, like “We need to fill this role – someone get a body in there.” But we've I think learned the hard way that you never compromise on ‘A' players. You figure out whatever you have to figure out, but get the ‘A' players in because they're going to solve the problems. You get them in, you take care of them, and you trust them. They're going to solve the problems. They're going to help navigate. They're going to help grow. That was a big lesson learned for us, painfully at times, as we were getting to where we are today. Another lesson that I think goes along with that is – and it's the most stereotypical thing; you hear it all the time – but culture. Culture is the thing that has to be managed and taken care of and nurtured and planned and intentional and worked at. Don't just let it be a thing that roams free and gets away from you. Controlling that is so important. I've seen times in these short 10 years where I wasn't very proud of the culture we had at that moment in time, and I've seen times where I'm like, oh my God, how can I clone this cultural moment? You can basically put those times alongside our financials, and they match. [laughs] The good times, the finances look good; the times that culture's not so great, the finances don't look so great. So ‘A' players and culture. Those are things I would've – it's 20/20 hindsight, always, but I would've put more importance on those things earlier if I could go back in time. ROB: That's another area where I think we get tempted to fake it, on culture. You feel like you need to make up some values or something like that. But it doesn't work until it's real, and you can't keep the ‘A' players until that part's real also. A question that comes to mind right where we are right now, October 2021 – I'm sure you spent at least some, if not a lot, of last year working apart where maybe you were accustomed to working together. How do you think about spreading, driving, reinforcing culture when you're not in the same place, and maybe the patterns that helped form it before aren't available? SARA: How do I answer that? There's so much to say there. That's such a great question. That was actually something that in some ways we did so excellent last year, and in some ways we did so poorly. It was such a year of learning. One of the things I think we did excellent in terms of “How did we do that and retain it?” was just surprises. When you're inside an office, operating in a good culture, there are pleasant surprises that happen in your day that you don't necessarily think about because that's just your day. That's just every day. So being intentional about creating those surprises when we were all apart from each other, whether that was mailing everybody a cookie kit or something that they didn't know was going to come, but they can do with their kids and send pictures and create conversation about that maybe had nothing to do with work, but to make up for that passing hallway conversation that you miss out on – those are things I look at last year and I'm like, that was pretty cool that we did that. Patting ourselves on the back, that was smart. There are other things that I look at that we did last year as we were learning to navigate remote where, now that we've been doing it longer, I'm like, we should've done that better. Like making time to say, “How are you?”, not “How's this project?” And then also – and this one surprised me – I think most executives were worried about productivity drops. We had a productivity skyrocket. People could not turn it off. So something that I didn't learn, because I was actually expecting in part an opposite result, but we had to help our team turn it off. That was a surprise to us and something I think we would've done better, or do better now, honestly. When you've got Slack going and everybody's remote, it's so easy for someone to send you a Slack message at 8:30, 9:00, and it's totally fine to let that wait till the next morning, but you just don't want to do that to your peer, your coworker, your friend. And then eventually it just never stopped. So that was a surprise to us. ROB: Definitely, my own habit, I'm a sloppy Slacker. I tell everybody involved with me, look, if I don't send you this Slack message right now, I'm going to forget this thing, and it's important, but you should not respond to it if it's the weekend, if it's the evening. SARA: Of course you can read it, right? [laughs] ROB: You should just hold it right there, and when you get to work on Monday or in the morning, pay attention then. Please do not – unless I tell you “Do this now,” which just doesn't happen – because if something's on fire, they're already responding to it. They understand urgency. That false urgency is potentially pretty dangerous. Sara, when you think about what's coming up for Tribu and the kind of work that you all do, what are you excited about? What's next? SARA: Again, bootstrapped, organic growth. We've had to add things over time. We recently this year formally added videography and production in-house. We were collaborating with an awesome group of freelancers and many people before to fill those needs. I'm very excited about having that in-house. It makes everything else we're already offering much more powerful. And then in general, the industry, what's coming up that I'm super excited about – and I think all of us at Tribu are – things like TikTok. Not necessarily that there's a new social media platform. It's more so the format change that a platform like TikTok is driving – that informal, very human, fun, relatable, just people being goofy. That type of content. That's just so exciting that brands are going to get to play in that space. As the world's moved – we talked about it when we were talking about SEO – whatever's really core and authentic to a human's heart, to those tribes, seems to be the good business move in terms of brand building as well. So to see that that's an opportunity for brands to have more fun and be lighthearted and participate in those types of conversations, to show more of their human side because of platforms like TikTok and the formats they're encouraging, that I'm very excited about. I think we all are at Tribu. ROB: It's a great point. It's almost like TikTok broke all of us, in a way, because you could kind of pretend that every channel was the same if you really were committed to it, and it just breaks the narrative. I think it helps you be who you need to be on Twitter versus LinkedIn versus Facebook. It fractures everything by making more than one message. I think it helps people get channel-specific, even if they're not even touching TikTok, because sometimes it might not make sense. Maybe it always makes sense if you can figure it out. I don't know. SARA: If you're on alcohol, they don't let you play on it right now. So sometimes even if it did make sense, it's not an option yet. [laughs] But yeah, for sure. You said it so spot-on. TikTok really is breaking that format, and it's going to inspire a lot of channel specificity in marketing, which we're excited about. ROB: Especially with that video capability. Sara, when people want to find you and Tribu, where should they go to connect with you? SARA: Oh, thank you. Wearetribu.com. A little fun secret is that as we've scaled, the one thing I refuse to change is that that contact form goes straight to my inbox. So if ever anybody wants to send in a message, I'd love to hear from anybody. ROB: Fantastic. We'll get the site dialed into the show notes as well. Sara, congratulations on everything so far. Looking forward to what comes next as well. Thanks for coming on and sharing with us. SARA: Thanks for having me. ROB: You bet. Be well. Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. My guest today is Michael Fox. Michael and I go way back and I've wanted to have him on the show for a long time. Fox is the Founder and Owner of the booking agency Fox Performances, LLC. Fox previously worked as the Midwest Agent at International Music Network. (Side note, you can check out Episode 12 of Speaking of the Arts in which we featured the founder of International Music Network, Scott Southerd). In his tenure there, Fox booked National tours for Buena Vista Social Club, Wayne Shorter, Terence Blanchard, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Dianne Reeves, among many, many others. In addition to booking artist tours, Fox also works as a consultant for San Antonio Parks Foundation to help curate Jazz S'Alive, an annual two-day jazz event in Travis Park. Fox has also served on panels at the Arts Midwest and APAP conferences as well as a handful of colleges, speaking about the cultivation of Global Music audiences, activism in art and artist representation. Fox holds a Master's degree & Artist Diploma in Double Bass from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Our conversation covers a variety of topics including Michael's own unique approach toward running his booking agency and what he is looking for in terms of prospective clients. Thanks for listening everyone and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Gavin Rogers has been a pastor at Travis Park church for many years. He has been actively involved in serving immigrant communities, the homeless community and bringing attention to many other social issues in our city. He also runs the very successful Pub Theology that was once an in person meeting but has moved online. We did a joint podcast and it was great fun. Transcript: [silence] Gavin: Good evening friends on Facebook. We are having a special Pub Theology with our good friend Justin Hill with the Alamo Hour Podcast. Welcome, Justin. Justin Hill: Hey man. Thanks for having me. Gavin: If you're confused, what this is going on, Justin Hill runs a podcast called the Alamo Hour. It's a destination podcast for those who want to take an in-depth look at different people, places, events, and happenings in San Antonio, Texas. He's a local attorney and this podcast is going to dive deep into the city that we all love so much. He hosts that about every week. You can listen to his podcast on YouTube or various podcast channels like Apple and SoundCloud and all those things. Justin is a graduate of Texas A&M University graduated in 2004, we just learned that we're the same age. We have merged platforms today. The Alamo Hour and Pub Theology are of the same broadcast. Welcome, Justin. Justin: Hey man. Thanks for having me. Since we're kind of co-host, I will [inaudible 00:03:58] Gavin is associate minister at Travis park church. To me, I always like to have people on that I think a little bit more about than the resume. To me, you've always run a really good live as you speak way of life with all of your social justice stuff. I look up to you in terms of you put your money where your mouth is, but really your time where your heart is. I appreciate that. I think you do so much for people, but you're also the host of Pub Theology. Pub Theology is a dialogue group that usually meets at The Friendly Spot, but because of COVID we're meeting online, you talk about faith, the community in San Antonio, creating common good and I love the slogan, “Different brews and different views. All perspectives welcome.” Gavin: What are you drinking today, Justin? Justin: Well, I've got a sparkling water from Kirkland, but I also have a Saint Arnold's art car, IPA. Gavin: Good Texas beer. Right now-- I've never had this one, the Freetail Bat Outta Helles. Pub Theology themes, so there's a hell theme there, but it has a San Antonio scene there. Justin: [unintelligible 00:05:01] Dortch Law and I drank other people's beer the whole time and he seemed offended, but he didn't bring me any beer to drink so I did [unintelligible 00:05:11] Gavin: That's fair. It's good. Now, I really respect you, Justin, you've been serving in around town at various events and been supporting political candidates you are involved in everything I know about. You're also good friends with my good friend, Phil Walkins, who goes to our church and a great local attorneys in town. The stuff that you promote it always connects with me. I think a lot of the people who listen to Pub Theology and probably Alamo Hour. You started this Alamo Hour maybe at the start of 2020? Justin: At the start of the shutdown. I didn't want to do it, and all of a sudden I had time on my hands, so I was able to do it. I had started buying the equipment, troubleshooting, but then once the shutdown happened, I didn't have an excuse anymore. Gavin: Wow. That's great. Who has been your favorite guest so far? Now I've had maybe like 20, maybe 15, 20 episodes. Justin: This is 25. Gavin: Oh, wow. That's great. Yes. Justin: I like the meaty dense stuff. I've had some really interesting-- These epidemiologists, including Dr. Rohr-Allegrini from here in San Antonio, Dr. Lesch is a Syrian expert. Some of those things have been really interesting. A surprise one is I had a guy who was the Texas League...

In a matter of first impression, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in the consolidated case of McMahon v. Fenves, concerning the removal of historic Civil War and World War I monuments to American veterans from the University of Texas at Austin and Travis Park in San Antonio. The Court cited lack of standing that precluded its jurisdiction over the controversy under Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife. The issue of standing is itself of interest, because the question in this context concerns who has authority to control societal memory. Plaintiff-Appellants initially cited to state law cases from Hawaii, New Mexico, and Maine that provide a public-interest exception to general standing requirements. This exception provides for standing to any member of the affected public in a matter of general public interest. Plaintiffs in the instant case argued that the public interest to protect core political speech should provide standing. Plaintiffs contended that political speech is a general good that should be given an exception to the general standing requirements, as political speech enjoys protections in all other areas of law that should, here, be recognized in the protection of historic monuments that communicate political speech. While federal and state constitutions protect core political speech, the question arises as to what protections, including constitutional, should exist to protect historic political speech meant to be expressed in perpetuity. The Fifth Circuit, as an intermediate appellate court, has reasonably applied a temporally narrow interpretation of standing of historic political speech that does not include successor associations to intended beneficiaries, nor successors to testamentary beneficiaries. However, in an era unprecedented in American history in which historical memory is continually challenged, the preservation of societal memory may well deserve an exception to the general standing requirements under Lujan. Featuring: -- David D. Vandenberg, Staff Attorney, Eighth Texas Court of Appeals

In a matter of first impression, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in the consolidated case of McMahon v. Fenves, concerning the removal of historic Civil War and World War I monuments to American veterans from the University of Texas at Austin and Travis Park in San Antonio. The Court cited lack of standing that precluded its jurisdiction over the controversy under Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife. The issue of standing is itself of interest, because the question in this context concerns who has authority to control societal memory. Plaintiff-Appellants initially cited to state law cases from Hawaii, New Mexico, and Maine that provide a public-interest exception to general standing requirements. This exception provides for standing to any member of the affected public in a matter of general public interest. Plaintiffs in the instant case argued that the public interest to protect core political speech should provide standing. Plaintiffs contended that political speech is a general good that should be given an exception to the general standing requirements, as political speech enjoys protections in all other areas of law that should, here, be recognized in the protection of historic monuments that communicate political speech. While federal and state constitutions protect core political speech, the question arises as to what protections, including constitutional, should exist to protect historic political speech meant to be expressed in perpetuity. The Fifth Circuit, as an intermediate appellate court, has reasonably applied a temporally narrow interpretation of standing of historic political speech that does not include successor associations to intended beneficiaries, nor successors to testamentary beneficiaries. However, in an era unprecedented in American history in which historical memory is continually challenged, the preservation of societal memory may well deserve an exception to the general standing requirements under Lujan. Featuring: -- David D. Vandenberg, Staff Attorney, Eighth Texas Court of Appeals

Listen to Ware and Rima on demand. Topics include Rep. Lyle Larson asks Mayor Nirenberg to reconsider grabbing funds from Edwards Aquifer Protection program, more impeachment drama, Travis Park confederate statue damaged, and President Trump on prayer.

Listen to Ware and Rima on demand. Topics include Rep. Lyle Larson asks Mayor Nirenberg to reconsider grabbing funds from Edwards Aquifer Protection program, more impeachment drama, Travis Park confederate statue damaged, and President Trump on prayer.

Listen to Trey Ware on demand. Topics include Rep Larson sends a letter to Nirenberg, senate impeachment hearing starts next Tuesday, and we speak to two members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy who tell us that the Confederate statue removed from Travis Park is in city storage and has been damaged.

Listen to Trey Ware on demand. Topics include the left spending the weekend siding with Iran, Ricky Gervais slaps Hollywood elites upside the head at Golden Globes, where is the Travis Park confederate statue, and Jason Garrett is officially out.

- Texas Tech's big upset win - (8:39) Troy Aikman on the Cowboys and being a GM - (24:10) Maddy Skyeline: Maddy Skye of the SA Express-News joins to talk about the ice rink in Travis Park and pop up bars

Maddy Skyeline: Maddy Skye of the SA Express-News joins to talk about the ice rink in Travis Park and pop up bars

Listen in as Dr. Travis Park talks to the Owl Pellets team about students from minority populations and how we can best serve all students. 

Listen to the Sean Rima Show on demand. Colin Kaepernick is a no show at an exhibition just for him. Kanye West brings in the Jesus love with Joel Osteen. And Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree... why are you in Travis Park?

Listen to the Sean Rima Show on Demand. Julian finds his latest marginalized group to get behind to boost his numbers. The missing Confederate Statue from Travis Park gets returned... to its owners. And has the NBA gone full commie?

San Antonio Express-News staff staff writer Scott Huddleston describes the history behind the tree lighting ceremony at Alamo Plaza that was interrupted last year with a move to Travis Park, one that even after construction is completed may not be undone. Find more details at https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Uncertain-future-for-Alamo-Plaza-s-Christmas-13393865.php?utm_campaign=podcast

Travis Park. We discuss love for music, family and life. We all feel the pressure of life and the mental limitations that bury our potential to live the life we truly want... Travis has a great story to inspire you to keep moving forward and believe in yourself. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/remix5280/support

Anth and John will don the mark and snorkel and range across a wide ocean of ideas... from the extent of Australian marine debris to Indo plastic and loadsa other news to Dr Travis Park joining us live to talk about the evolutionary origin of whales and finally we tackle the real question of "can aquaculture save us?" - a dilemma to be thought through....Anth and John will don the mark and snorkel and range across a wide ocean of ideas... from the extent of Australian marine debris to Indo plastic and loadsa other news to Dr Travis Park joining us live to talk about the evolutionary origin of whales and finally we tackle the real question of "can aquaculture save us?" - a dilemma to be thought through....

It's Dr Beach and Anth in the fishbowl. Travis Park talks his research and BLue Whales. David Provis on recent NOAA on climate and Quinn Oliver chats Blue Carbon with the crew. Enjoy!

We celebrate the New Year by having a discussion about the evolution of feeding strategies, in particular sucking whales. Also, Amanda is a bad "parent", James spreads new Elk related lies, and Curt is happy he's at least being remembered. References: Vullo, Romain, Ronan Allain, and Lionel Cavin. "Convergent evolution of jaws between spinosaurid dinosaurs and pike conger eels." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61.4 (2016): 825-828. Marx, Felix G., David P. Hocking, Travis Park, Tim Ziegler, Alistair R. Evans, and Erich M. G. Fitzgerald. "Suction feeding preceded filtering in baleen whale evolution" Memoirs of Museum Victoria 75 (2016): 71-82.

Jazz singer Ken Slavin is an icon on the San Antonio music scene. His vocal style has been compared to Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. The cabaret crooner has been caring for his mother who has Stage 4, metastasized renal cancer. Ken is also a noted PR professional who has represented companies, non-profits and governmental agencies large and small. Ken has several long-running gigs at hotels and nightspots around the area, and has performed at most major concert venues in the region including the Empire Theatre. You might hear Ken at one of the great jazz festivals in town including nationally renowned “Jazz’SAlive” at Travis Park, where he has made three main stage appearances. He’s also performed privately for Grammy Award-winners Vikki Carr and Helen Reddy. Ken started his career as a reporter at the San Antonio Light. He has a bachelor’s degree cum laude in English Communication Arts from St. Mary’s. He has at times dabbled in radio news reporting and anchoring as well as travel writing. Originally aired on Caregiver SOS: On Air presented by the WellMed Charitable Foundation on Aug. 9, 2015, in San Antonio, TX on 930 AM KLUP “The Answer.” With co-hosts Carol Zernial and Ron Aaron. For more about CaregiverSOS, visit caregiversos.org Like CaregiverSOS on Facebook, www.facebook.com/CaregiverSOS

On this week's podcast artist Tim Sharp and his Mother Judy Sharp talk about Judy's book "Double Shot of Happiness" which recalls the tale of Tim growing up with autism, Writer/Director Brendan Cowell and actor Patrick Brammall talk about their upcoming film "Ruben Guthrie", Biggsy drops by to review Barbara Ehrenreich's "Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World" and Travis Park from Museum Victoria talks about Scienceworks and Dinosaurs.