genConnectgenConnect

Yahoo to Buy Tumblr; Future of User-Generated Content (VIDEO)

Ben Huh — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:30:45 +0000

Tumblr will soon have a new owner. The board of Yahoo! approved a $1.1 billion all-cash deal to buy the New York-based social blogging service, according to a AllThingsD.com. The deal is scheduled to be announced Monday.

Tumblr CEO David Karp will stay at Yahoo for four years at least and retain much control over the service, but Yahoo will take over advertising. It’s reported that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer decided that buying Tumblr was part of her strategy to move Yahoo forward, and to attract younger audiences with Tumblr’s user-generated content. Sites such as Tumblr have garnered the attention of fast-growing communities of users, which has helped pushed up the price of those companies as more established, traditional companies buy them up out of fear getting left behind as people’s online habits evolve.

WATCH: Newark Mayor Cory Booker on The Future of #Waywire

Ben Huh of I Can Has Cheezburger has created a network of user-generated platforms he believes are going to play a part in the transformative effect technology will have on culture as we know it. Watch Huh talk about how user-generated content will help transform our culture, and what’s next for I Can Has Cheezburger:

WATCH: Gary Shapiro and Ninja Innovation – Companies Need to Change or Die

“Revolutions are being supported by people – all they’re doing is sitting at home writing down thoughts,” Huh said about blogging, which didn’t exist in the mainstream 10 years ago and now it’s changing everything. “We used to think of Internet as a transactional tool … [but now] the vast majority of what’s really exciting about the Internet is – ‘how do we express ourselves?’”

Huh, an Internet culture connoisseur, purchased I Can Has Cheezburger - a user-generated content weblog featuring locates, or pictures of cats and other animals with captions for humor - from bloggers he met online in 2007. The group then turned the site into a network which now receives 375 million page views a month across its 50 sites, including I Can Has Cheezburger, FAIL Blog, The Daily What, Memebase and Know Your Meme.

WATCH: The Positives of Google+

Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social networking site that allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Like Facebook, wsers can follow other users’ blogs, as well as make their blogs private. As of May 19, 2013, Tumblr hosts over 108 million blogs.

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for more great videos from experts in technology and social media, charities and causes, sex and relationships, health and fitness, and more!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Tory Burch: ‘We Can Contribute’ and ‘Inspire Women’ (VIDEO)

Tory Burch — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:49 +0000

Tory Burch is not only a world-renowned designer and a mega-brand in fashion, but core to the DNA of her company is the component of giving back.

Watch Tory Burch talk about how she got started in fashion, how her company makes philanthropy a priority and the Tory Burch Foundation:

WATCH: Tory Burch With Vanity Fair – What Inspires Her

“When I launched it two years ago, it was really one of the greatest days of my life,” Burch said of her Tory Burch Foundation, which supports the economic empowerment of women and families. “I feel that we can contribute and we can help really inspire women, and getting women back into the workforce, helping them start their small businesses, and, of course, mentorship.”

WATCH on YouTube: Top Civic, Business Leaders Live Out Henry Crown’s Legacy

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for more great videos from experts in charities and causes, relationships, career and business, health and fitness, and more!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Matthew Accarrino on His Celebrity Chef Mentors (VIDEO)

Matthew Accarrino — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:15:38 +0000

Matthew Accarrino has worked with some of the best chefs in the business: Tom Collicchio, Charlie Palmer, Todd English, Thomas Keller, and more…

As head chef of SPQR, located in the Pacific Heights of San Francisco, he sees a little bit of all of those culinary pros in what he does in his own kitchen. Watch as Accarrino talks to Sissy Biggers with genConnect about his mentors, the food scene in San Francisco, and where, exactly, the name “SPQR” came from:

Matthew Accarrino

“Working for chefs – I see a little bit of me in my cooks,” Accarrino says, noting that there’s a little bit of all of his mentors in his cooking, as well.

Accarrino also talked about the colorful cooking scene in San Francisco – there’s certainly no shortage of great food anywhere you look.

WATCH: Chef Tim Love – Texas Cuisine Hits Culinary Big Time

“There’s so much great food in San Francisco. We’re really lucky – there’s a lot of talented chefs,” particularly those in their mid-30s, who are trying cutting-edge techniques and flavors, Accarrino says.

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with top chefs and sommeliers from the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food Wine fest, as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Why Everyone These Days Is Taking It to the Cloud (VIDEO)

Peter Magnusson — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:30:49 +0000

Take it to the cloud! Not those puffy things in the sky, rather, cloud computing is the use of computing resources delivered as a service over a network. And these days, nearly everything is either on the cloud, or on its way there.

Watch Peter Magnusson, Engineering Director at Google, talk to genConnect at SXSW about the latest with Google Cloud, cloud computing trends with mobile, and how the cloud helps even to bridge the digital divide:

WATCH: Ninja Innovation – Companies Need to Change or Die, Says Gary Shapiro

About two years ago, Google started putting more of its products and technologies available on a uniform platform for third-party developers, innovators and entrepreneurs to build on – Google’s App Engine, which is Google’s cloud platform. Though Amazon, Microsoft and a few other providers also have platforms, “we’re sort of building the big engines that hundreds of thousands of applications are using.”

Cloud computing lowers many of the barriers of entry for businesses, particularly for small firms or entities. You just pay for those computing services you use and as your business takes off, you pay your provider – i.e. Google – more, but you’re also making more money, and you’re not taking as much risk.

WATCH: Networking Is Not a ‘Transactional Game,” With Porter Gale

“It’s contributing to the acceleration of app development, of leveraging information technology and it’s … reducing the digital divide as well, making it easier for individuals and countries and societies with less access to capital, less access to computing, to be on a level playing field of innovation,” Magnusson said.

Click here for more one-on-one videos with top movers and shakers at SXSWi on genConnect’s new YouTube channel. Subscribe now!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

The Secrets of Sex (YouTube VIDEO)

Dr. Sara NasserZadeh — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:03 +0000

When it comes to sex, there often can be many questions – and misconceptions – had by both men and women. Such as: How much is enough sex versus too much sex? How much foreplay should a couple engage in before doing the deed? What are your questions when it comes to how things can go successfully between the sheets?

WATCH: How Meditation Can Improve Your Sex Life (YouTube)

Watch Dr. Sara NasserZadeh and Dr. Alan Altman talk about the secrets and misconceptions of sex on genConnect’s new YouTube show, “Love Bytes,” below:

Want more great advice on sex, love and relationships from “Love Bytes”? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel here!

Follow us on:

How Parents Can Help Kids Avoid the ‘Self-Esteem Trap’ (VIDEO)

Polly Young-Eisendrath — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:30:57 +0000

Too many parents today have sky-high expectations of their children, which can only lead to disappointment both from parents and from children if they can’t deliver. So how can parents avoid overparenting and help encourage a healthy, encouraging relationship with their children?

Watch psychologist Polly Young-Eisendrath, author of The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance" target="_blank">The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance, talk about overparenting and the “self-esteem trap”:

WATCH: Tiger mom Amy Chua – Have Children Realize Their Potential

“The first thing is to, look at the big picture,” Young-Eisendrath recommends. “What is it you’re aiming for? Are you aiming to bring into the world a good citizen, with good character, someone who’s going to be happy, who’s going to fit in and roll with life. Or are you aiming to bring in someone who’s obsessively self-conscious and who’s always worried about being perfect, who might be seeking power and status but will continue to be pretty restless?”

As parents, we tend to look at our feelings and what other parents are doing, which leads us to be “trapped” in that cultural context of self-importance and perfectionism in this day and age, she added. We need to teach our kids to be in the “present” environment, instead.

“What we know now from a lot of research is, that doesn’t lead to happiness,” Young-Eisendrath continued. “It leads instead to a lot of over focus on one’s self, a lot of self-consciousness.”

Click here for more stories on parenting on genConnect.com

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Ninja Innovation: Companies Need to Change or Die (VIDEO)

Gary Shapiro — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:45:24 +0000

Innovate or die. That’s the message Gary Shapiro sends with his latest book.

Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), has observed the world’s most innovative businesses first-hand and in his new book, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses" target="_blank">Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses, he reveals the 10 secrets of “ninja innovators” like Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and many others. Watch Shapiro discuss his book, “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses" target="_blank">Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses,” and how companies have to embrace change – or else - with genConnect, below:

WATCH: Gary Shapiro – Innovation and the American Dream

“We love what we have but we don’t want to give it up but yet the human condition is one of change,” Shapiro says. In the business world, he said, many companies and employees think their success “is a given,” but “the reality is the exact opposite.”

“If you keep doing what you’re doing … you will die because no business can survive by doing the same thing repeatedly,” Shapiro added. ”No matter who you are and what you do, you must be willing to embrace change.”

WATCH: Networking Is Not a ‘Transactional Game,” With Porter Gale

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

genConnect Experts to Hang Out With You Every Monday

genConnect Staff — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:30:18 +0000

Ever wish you could ask questions face-to-face with some of the best experts in relationships and dating, women’s health and fitness, food and wine, and career? Well now you can!

genConnect is pleased to announce that it will host a series Google+ Hangouts every Monday with some of the top experts in these fields – and more. Plus, subscribe to genConnect to find out more about Google+ Hangouts on other days as news breaks, such as our Hangout on May 15 with Dr. Julie Silver of Harvard Medical School – a cancer expert and breast cancer survivor who answered questions about Angelina Jolie’s mastectomy and cutting-edge rehabilitation measures that can increase one’s chance of survival of cancer. Watch that Hangout video here.

Here’s who’s coming up on our genConnect Google+ Hangouts during the next few weeks:

Dr. Marianne Brandon – May 20 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. Dr. Brandon is a clinical

Dr. Marianne Brandon

psychologist and Diplomat in sex therapy through AASECT. She is Director of Wellminds Wellbodies LLC in Annapolis, Maryland and the author of Monogamy: The Untold Story and co-author with Dr. Andrew Goldstein of Reclaiming Desire: 4 Keys to Finding Your Lost Libido.

Click here to RSVP and to participate

Paula Simpson with Andrea Warshaw Wernick - May 27 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. Paula Simpson is an internationally recognized as a nutrition & fitness expert with over 15 years of experience in formulation and program development for the Nutraceutical and Medical Aesthetic Industry. Paula has worked with many top celebrities and models over the years and currently is also a contributing editor and often sought by many of the leading health and beauty publications. She currently holds positions on the Medical Advisory Boards for New Beauty Magazine and is the Co-Founder and Formulator of GliSODin Skin Nutrients. Andrea Warshaw Wernick, who has been featured in NY Post’s “Women Who Are 63 but Look 45,” firmly believes that all women, regardless of age, deserve to look hot, feel hot, and be hot. She’s here to empower women to help them realize their dreams, whether launching a new career or finding a wonderful husband. Andrea is the founder of FabAtAnyAge.com and launched her own line of Fabulous makeup.

Click here to RSVP and participate

Ellen Dolgen with Dr. Josh Trutt - June 3 11:30 AM EST. Ellen Dolgen is an outspoken

Ellen Dolgen

women’s health and wellness advocate, menopause awareness expert, speaker, and author of Shmirshky: the pursuit of hormone happiness. Ellen’s weekly blog, Menopause Mondays, allows her an expansive platform from which she broadens her discussion of menopause, women’s health, and life as a menopausal (and fabulous!) woman. Her motto is: Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT! Dr. Josh Trutt is board-certified in emergency medicine and has practiced for 11 years in trauma centers and children’s hospitals in New York and Austin, in third-world countries, and in disaster relief (Hurricane Katrina and the Thailand tsunami). After completing his initial training in Age Management Medicine through Cenegenics Education and Research Foundation, Dr. Trutt went onto study the evidence-based protocols of Neal Rouzier, M.D. and opened Future Fit Medical Center in Manhattan.

Click here to RSVP and participate

Merri Lee Marks - June 17, 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. EST. Merri Lee Marks is a landscape designer, graphic artist and philanthropist, and will soon add “author” to her curriculum vitae. In her forthcoming book, The Giving Game: Surviving Philanthropy’s Schemers, Dreamers and Volunteer Vixens – Come Hell or High Heels, Merri Lee is the first to expose the existence of bullying and incivility in the philanthropic realm – an arena she contends has become a competitive sport, overrun by agenda-seeking, glory-hogging, desperate-for-attention-housewives who will do most anything to capture the prize: recognition and upward mobility. Drawing from over two decades of landscape design experience, Merri Lee is the owner and principal designer for MLM Designs, L.L.C. Her concept? “The Garden As Art.” She creates vignettes of plants that become live paintings or sculptures in the landscape.

Check back on genConnect regularly for more details on these and future Google Hangouts!

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel to get more expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Angelina Jolie’s Mastectomy: ‘There’s a Lot of Pain Behind That’

Julie Silver, MD — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:30:29 +0000

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie has everyone talking about cancer. The award-winning actress and humanitarian told the world this week that she has spent the past few months recovering from a double mastectomy after learning she is a carrier of a dangerous cancer-causing gene. After losing her mom to cancer, Jolie wasn’t taking any chances – and she wants women everywhere to stand up to cancer with courage. The news has once again sparked the conversation about the importance of screening, prevention, and recovery.

genConnect and cancer expert Dr. Julie Silver of Harvard Medical School – a breast cancer survivor herself – hosted a Google Hangout on Wednesday, May 15 to talk about Angelina Jolie’s news, mastectomies, the importance of cancer rehab and support groups, and prehabilitation – a cutting-edge approach Dr. Silver says should be considered “in anticipation of” upcoming surgery and other cancer treatments.

Missed the Hangout? No worries! You can watch the video below:

Dr. Julie Silver, MD, is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and an award-winning author of many books, including: You Can Heal Yourself; After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger; and What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope. She is the Chief Editor of Books at Harvard Health Publications, the consumer health publishing branch of Harvard Medical School, and is the co-founder of Oncology Rehab Partners, which has developed the STAR Program® Certifications – a best practices and evidence-based model for oncology rehabilitation care. Her work in cancer rehabilitation has been recognized by the American Cancer Society, and she was awarded the prestigious Lane Adams Quality of Life Award. She was also chosen by Massachusetts General Hospital for THE ONE HUNDRED award that is given to 100 people in the United States who are making a significant difference in cancer care.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women, aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, and one of the leading causes of death. Ovarian cancer affects about 20,000 women in the United States, and is the eighth most common cancer.

Follow us on:

Goldie Hawn To Be Honored for Work on Kids’ Brainpower

Melani Walton — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:34:32 +0000

What do Madeleine Albright, Tipper Gore, Billy Jean King, Sally Rise and Barbara Bush have in common?

They are all recipients of the Arizona Foundation for Women’s (AFW) Sandra Day O’Connor Award – an award bestowed upon those who who make a difference in the lives of women and children. This year’s award recipients – actress and philanthropist Goldie Hawn, Co-Founder of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) Ernie Allen, and philanthropist and domestic advocate Missy Anderson - will be honored Friday, May 17, during the 17th Annual Sandra Day O’Connor Awards Luncheon in Arizona, when nearly nearly 1,000 guests join AFW to recognize their efforts.

Hawn will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work with MindUP and The Hawn Foundation. Allen will be honored with the Voice for Women Award for his work at the IICMEC, while Anderson will receive the Marilyn R. Seymann Award for her work as a community philanthropist. Diane Halle is the Honorary Chair for this special event, and Harvey Mackay is featured as a special guest.

WATCH: Goldie Hawn on How MindUp Transforms Kids’ Ability to Learn

Melani Walton

The luncheon will be co-chaired by Melani Walton – philanthropist and wife of Walton heir and Walmart CEO Rob Walton; the two run the Rob and Melani Walton Fund of the Walton Foundation – and Arizona philanthropist Dionne Najafi.

The AFW promotes innovative solutions to fulfill the unmet needs of Arizona’s women and children and focuses its work in three areas: Safety, health and economic empowerment (SHE). AFW leads the community in research, advocacy, program development and grant making.

About the Award Recipients…

Goldie Hawn - Academy Award-winner Goldie Hawn has dedicated much of her life to women’s health issues, animal welfare, young people’s social and emotional health and well-being.

The Hawn Foundation applies the research of leading neuroscientists, educators and researchers to create educational programs that support the social and emotional development of children. The result is MindUP™, an evidence-based curriculum and teaching model that helps children understand their emotions, reduce anxiety, and improve academic performance.

Ms. Hawn has authored best-selling books to inspire children and parents alike, including, A Lotus Grows in the Mud; 10 Mindful Minutes; Easy Steps to Joy and Mindfulness for Parents and Children.

Ernie Allen - Ernie Allen is a world leader in the fight against child abduction, sexual exploitation, sexual violence and human trafficking. He is the Co-Founder of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), a private, nonprofit organization which is leading the global effort to protect children from sexual exploitation and abduction.

Mr. Allen currently serves as President and CEO of ICMEC and has held that position since the organization was created in 1999. Involved globally, ICMEC has developed laws, trained professional and partnered with government and businesses worldwide to enact laws on child exploitation and pornography.

Mr. Allen’s work has been recognized by four U.S. Presidents, U.S. Congress; U.S. Attorneys General; the U.S. Department of Justice; FBI; Secret Service; U.S. Marshals Service and others.

Missy Anderson - Missy Anderson is a Valley native, long-time philanthropist and domestic violence advocate. She has worked tirelessly with numerous organizations that benefit women and children across the Valley. Most recently, Missy received the first-ever Visionary Award from Florence Crittenton for her creation of their fundraising luncheon which raises over $500,000 annually.

The spirit of philanthropy was instilled in her at an early age by her parents who felt it was their purpose to help others in need. Missy went on to become involved with a myriad of non-profits. She believes that all women should have access to the resources to live free from violence and abuse. She has been involved with the AFW since its inception in 1997.

Follow us on:

Katie Couric Makes Impact With Stand Up To Cancer (VIDEO)

Katie Couric — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:45:31 +0000

Katie Couric knows firsthand what it’s like to lose a loved one to cancer. Couric’s husband died of colon cancer in 1998 and since then, the journalist has put her energy behind raising awareness and much-needed funds for life-saving cancer research. A star-studded third annual Stand Up To Cancer telethon was held Friday, Sept. 7, and broadcast on most major TV channels. Watch Couric discuss her work with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), plus how you can help make a difference:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

genConnect CEO Nancy Spears (left) with Katie Couric (right)

WATCH: Katie Couric – An Advocate for Cancer Awareness

With the money for cancer research declining in recent years, it’s more important than ever to raise funds so the brilliant scientists working in this field can make more headway, Couric says.

“I realized I had this platform with ‘The Today Show’ and I wanted to increase awareness,” she said of her initial involvement with SU2C. “I had been given so much in terms of professional opportunities that I wanted to increase awareness.”

WATCH: Generation Y Key to Saying ‘F Cancer’

Started by nine women who had access to high-profile networks of people, SU2C enlisted actors like George Clooney to lend their names to the cause. And so far, they have raised $180 million to donate to scientist “dream teams,” some of which have out-of-the-box ideas that may not receive traditional funding, but could really make an impact.

Want to help make a difference?

Don’t forget to visit the Stand Up To Cancer Web site for more information.

“I just encourage people to get involved because everybody is affected by this disease,” Couric says. “We have all the technology to put the contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica on a microchip, and we should be able to come up with better, more effective treatments for cancer.”

Executive producers Gwyneth Paltrow and Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions joined Stand Up To Cancer’s production team to deliver a one-of-a-kind show in September 2012, featuring performances from top recording artists, and celebrities from film, television and sports engaging viewers with powerful stories and a moving call-to-action.

Gallen previously produced three extremely successful televised fundraising specials: “America: A Tribute to Heroes” (after 9/11), “Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast,” and “Hope For Haiti Now.” Music was a key element of each. He also produced and directed the “25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.”

Viewers were able to donate via text-to-give and at standup2cancer.org; 100 percent of all public donations will go directly to cancer research.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from other on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

How to Pick the Perfect White Bordeaux This Season

genConnect Staff — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:30:37 +0000

Summer is just around the corner – a perfect time to discover the cool side of Bordeaux!

You can now pick the perfect white Bordeaux for any occasion – in less than 10 seconds. The Bordeaux Wine Council has released a fun, animated video that demonstrates just how quick and easy it is to select the perfect white Bordeaux from the Today’s Bordeaux wine selection, supported by the European Union. With the Bordeaux Wine Selector, you can select a white Bordeaux based on color, taste, or occasion. It couldn’t be simpler! Watch how you can get help selecting the perfect Bordeaux, below:

WATCH: Taittinger – How to Properly Uncork & Pour Wine

Nothing compliments the heat of summer like a glass of chilled white wine. The main grapes used for the production of white Bordeaux are Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillion.

The Today’s Bordeaux selection represents wines, priced between $9 and $35, produced in the Bordeaux region of France. By visiting the Wine Selector, you can search and navigate through many delightful wines, suitable for every summer occasion.

The Bordeaux wine region is located in the southwest of France near the Atlantic coast, about 310 miles southwest of Paris, and covers 60 miles around the Gironde River estuary and the two rivers that feed into it; the Garonne and the Dordogne. Theses estuaries create an oceanic micro-climate, an ideal setting for grape growing. White wines generally account for about one- tenth of the Bordeaux region’s production. The difference between dry and sweet white stands in the harvest of the grapes’ maturation. Their color is from pale yellow for dry white to dark yellow-oranges for sweet Bordeaux.

Can’t get enough Bordeaux? Follow@BordeauxWines on Twitter and on Facebook.

Follow us on:

BlogHer COO Sees Mostly Positives With Google+ (YouTube)

Elisa Camahort Page — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:24:46 +0000

Should you Google Plus? Early adopter Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder and COO of BlogHer, says the new social media platform has the potential to be a combination of the best attributes of Twitter and blogs. “With Google Plus I can create a stream or a circle where it’s all of my favorite people I want to listen to and hear what they think every day,” Camahort Page says. “It’s like a big group blog — only I’ve created who should be the contributors.”

Watch Elisa Camahort Page describe the positives and negatives of Google Plus:

Elisa Camahort Page

Camahort Page says Google Plus has some kinks to work out with its user interface, which she predicts will improve. “They’ve got a lot of smart people and they’ve got a lot of money, clearly,” she says. “They’re investing a lot in it.”

The BlogHer co-founder, who counts more than 1.2 million Google Plus users who have circled her, says she is ready to delve into the platform.

“I personally want to explore Hangouts more,” she says. “I want to explore using more than just posting links or posting images, but doing more interactive work on Google Plus.”

Watch: Newark Mayor Cory Booker on The Future of #Waywire (VIDEO)

Want more great insight from world-class experts like Elisa Camahort Page? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

Follow us on:

How Pure Bar Gives Back to Kids (YouTube VIDEO)

Veronica Bosgraaf — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:30:27 +0000

Pure Bar not only makes healthy organic foods for adults and kids alike to enjoy, but a vital component of its business plan is to also give back.

WATCH: Why We Should Care About the Poor

Watch Pure Bar Founder Veronica Bosgraaf talk about her company’s mission to give back to children in need, and others, below:

“We live in an amazing country where you can have a passion for something and create a product and turn it into a business,” says Pure Bar Founder Veronica Bosgraaf. Since she herself had the opportunity to create a successful, growing business, Veronica feels it’s her duty to give back.

“Giving is one of the best feelings you can ever have,” she says. ”As a company, we’re very committed to giving back in number of different ways.”

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more one-on-one interviews with those paving the way in charity and mentorship, health and fitness, relationships and business.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Angelina Jolie on Mastectomy: ‘I Feel Empowered’ (VIDEO)

Julie Silver, MD — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:45:32 +0000

Angelina Jolie

Women’s Health News: Angelina Jolie has spent the past few months recovering from a double mastectomy to slash her chances of contracting breast cancer; cancer expert Dr. Julie Silver of Harvard talks to genConnect about the importance of rehab, support networks

Actress Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy after learning she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which greatly increased her risk of developing ovarian cancer and breast cancer. Jolie’s mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56; Jolie is 37.

“My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman,” Jolie wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times entitled, “My Medical Choice.” “Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.”

“On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered,” Jolie added.

Dr. Julie Silver, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and award-winning author of many books including You Can Heal Yourself, After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger and What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope, stresses the importance of cancer rehab, even if one doesn’t actually get the disease.

“Women who elect to undergo preventative mastectomies should receive cancer rehabilitation services from a well-trained team of healthcare professionals,” Dr. Silver says. “Despite the fact that research shows that physical and emotional outcomes are closely linked – the better someone feels physically after a mastectomy, the better she will likely feel emotionally – many people who need cancer rehab don’t get it at all or only receive a little bit that doesn’t help them as much as it could if it was offered in a best practices team approach like in stroke care.”

Watch Dr. Julie Silver talk about the importance of cancer rehab, below:

WATCH: Breast Cancer Survivor Dana Cowin on Staying Positive

A mastectomy removes all or part of the breast. More women are undergoing double mastectomies to reduce the chances of cancer spreading, or to greatly reduce their chances of getting cancer in the first place if they carry mutations of the cancer-causing genes.

Lamenting the fact that her children will never truly know their grandmother, who died from cancer, Jolie says she has had a difficult time explaining this health issue to her children. “We often speak of ‘Mommy’s mommy,’ and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us,” Jolie writes. “They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a ‘faulty’ gene, BRCA1.”

Jolie-Pitt family

Jolie says she wrote the op-ed to send a message to other women that while the decision to have a mastectomy is not easy, it’s the right choice – and one that needs to be made with courage.

WATCH: Dr. Julie Silver – How to Cope With a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

“I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action,” she says. “I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

Other celebrities who have experienced breast cancer heralded Jolie for telling her story.

“Proud of her for using her incredible platform to educate women,” Tweeted TV personality Giuliana Rancic.

“I commend Angelina Jolie for her courage and thoughtfulness in sharing her story today regarding her mastectomy. So brave!” Tweeted singer Sheryl Crow.

CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin also said Tuesday she has breast cancer and is getting a double mastectomy.

Sambolin, who anchors CNN’s “Early Start” morning show, talked about her condition on the show Tuesday while discussing Jolie’s decision.

Dr. Silver noted that nearly 100 hospitals and cancer centers in the U.S. that have adopted the best practices model for cancer rehab called the STAR Program are currently particpating in a campaign called Strength in Numbers that is designed to help decrease the gap between the need for these services and the delivery of them to patients. This 12-week boot camp campaign started in late April and will run through July 2013 to improve outcomes for anyone who has surgery or other treatments in a cancer center.

Follow us on:

Not Thinking About Cancer as Curable Is ‘A Mistake’ (VIDEO)

Shimon Slavin — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:30:48 +0000

Angelina Jolie has gone public with the news that she has been recovering from a double mastectomy after learning she carries the mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which causes breast cancer and ovarian dance. She joins a slew of other celebrities who have told their cancer stories publicly to raise awareness and encourage women to take care of themselves.

WATCH: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Cancer Rehab

Watch Prof. Shimon Slavin, MD, the Medical and Scientific Director at the International Center for Cell Therapy & Cancer Immunotherapy, talk about how “it’s a mistake” for researchers to think cancer is not curable, and how we need to take a different approach to cancer research:

WATCH: How to Stay Cancer Free

Many cancers can be prevented before they become very harmful to your body, Slavin says, but oncologists have to think differently about cancer – they have to more seriously consider the word “cure.” “They look at cancer as a chronic disease, not as a curable disease, because they think it’s incurable, and I think that’s a mistake to start with,” Slavin says.

Many people think cancer is not curable because once a cancer patient is in remission and the disease is no longer visible, many doctors and patients consider the patient to be fine. But when 1 million cancer cells can fit on the head of a pin, they often won’t cause any symptoms; any tests may come up negative for cancer. This is prime time to quash the disease once and for good. “To kill the enemy at the stage of minimal disease – that is the best chance for cure,” Slavin says. “And usually, that moment is missed,” he added, which means often the cancer will recur.

WATCH: Generation Y Key to Saying ‘F Cancer’

So how is Slavin’s approach to curing cancer different? “I call our treatment COMBAT .. you cannot cure cancer by one approach. It must be a series of treatments,” he says. “If you give only one treatment, you will kill initially the large majority of cells .. but then the remaining cells will find a way to escape.

“The idea is to do a sequence of treatments,” he adds. “Each time, you’re aiming at a different anti-cancer mechanism.”

Another approach is to focus more on immunotherapy. “The immune system can kill huge amounts of cancer cells even when everything else fails,” he adds.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) – the most commonly sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. – is found in about 99 percent of cervical cancers, according to the NCCC, and more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases can be attributed to two types of the virus, HPV-16 and HPV-18, often referred to as high-risk HPV Types. There are more than 100 different types of HPV; some types may cause genital warts, while other types of genital HPV are linked to abnormal cell changes on the cervix that can lead to cervical cancer. Approximately 6 million new cases of HPV occur in the U.S. each year, with at least 20 million people thought to be currently infected. It is estimated that 70 percent of women and men will come into contact with the disease during their life. But thanks to the proliferation of Pap test to detect cervical abnormalities and early treatment options, deaths from cervical cancer in the United States continue to decline by approximately 2 percent a year.

WATCH: Cancer Survivor Laurie McCaskill on Pancreatic Cancer Awareness

Follow genConnect at:

5 Ways to Get Through the Menopause Battleground

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:30:53 +0000

Serving in the U.S. military has long been a battleground for women. It was one marked with ignorance as well as unequal and unfair treatment, but the bravery of women has persevered.

When the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed into law in 1948, it was touted as ensuring women’s equality in the armed forces. But even with the law, women were prohibited from flying aircrafts or serving on ships engaged in combat. Women could not make up more than 2 percent of any branch of the armed services, and promotions for women were severely limited, according to the Women In Military Service for America Memorial Foundation.

In a National Public Radio interview, Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, USAF, Ret., said members of the congressional committees were concerned that women under consideration for being made admirals or generals would be susceptible to making “irrational decisions.” Why? Because these women would likely be in menopause by their time of promotion. Can you imagine?

Luckily, women did not let ignorance hold them back from their true potential within the armed forces’ ranks. They fought and continue to fight against misinformation—and they are winning. Today, women represent 14.5 percent of all military personnel, with more than 213,000 women on active duty in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. What’s more, an additional 190,000 serve in the Reserves and National Guards, according to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. Now naval ships are even tearing out urinals to accommodate women, according to the Naval Base San Diego. In 2008, when Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody was named the first female four-star general, 57 women held the rank of general or admiral, including five lieutenant generals or vice admirals, according to CNN.

Most recently, on January 24, 2013, the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff announced immediate rescission of the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule, which restricted women from fighting on the frontlines and holding combat roles, according to the Naval Base San Diego. Since September 11, 2001, 152 women deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait have lost their lives in the War on Terrorism, according to the Base.

Ellen Dolgen

Sooner or later, every woman will be deployed to menopause, a battleground that is still fraught with ignorance and misinformation. Too many women suffer through perimenopause and menopause, scared to speak up and feeling like they have to power through on their own. It’s time for women to fight the ignorance—and taboos—surrounding menopause. The tools and information needed to command our destinies throughout menopause are available to us. We just have to reach out and put them to good use.

Here are my five steps for safe deployment to menopause:

1. Don’t wait. As women, we often feel that we have to be the rocks and foundations of our families, and that to admit hardships or challenges is to admit failure. That could not be further from the truth! Recognizing that we need help when we need it, like during perimenopause and menopause, is the first and most important step in finding hormone happiness and feeling at home in our own bodies.

2. Find a menopause specialist. Most women believe that their gynecologist, with whom they’ve trusted their reproductive health for decades, is the same person who should advise them and guide them through perimenopause and menopause. However, that’s often not the case. To understand the changes your body is going through, and to find the best course of treatment for you, you need to have a partner who is trained in menopause healthcare and has a passion for helping women during this time. To find a perimenopause and menopause specialist near you, consult my menopause doctor directory, ask your gynecologist or primary care physician for a referral, or ask the women in your life who is helping them to find hormone happiness.

3. Chart your menopause symptoms. Once you’re in the doctor’s office it’s too late to start thinking about your symptoms. Instead, track the symptoms that you are experiencing for at least two weeks prior to your first appointment with your menopause specialist. To help track your symptoms, sign up for my free Menopause Mondays Newsletter and receive my Menopause Symptoms Chart via email. Each day, chart the frequency, duration, and severity of your symptoms. Doing this every day at the same time will help keep you from forgetting them. After all, poor memory is a symptom of menopause!

4. Know your menopause test numbers. Understanding exactly what is going on inside your body can enable your specialist to create an individualized program to help you achieve hormone happiness. Talk to your menopause specialist about receiving a complete hormone blood panel and any other hormone tests related to the treatment of your symptoms. Remember that appropriate tests and exact treatment strategies vary for every one of us and all options should discussed with your specialist.

5. Stay on your menopause path. By now we know what has or has not worked. With the guidance of our specialists, we are better able to choose the next and best available treatment options. It is important to constantly listen to your body, monitor your symptoms, and keep an open dialogue and relationship with your menopause specialist. Our bodies are constantly changing, and we must stay attuned to those changes for continued hormone happiness.

Related: 5 Natural Ways to Get Healthy

As women, we have long fought ignorance in order to take command over our destinies. I salute the women of the armed forces who have made so much progress in demonstrating the scope of their potential to the world. These women are proof that women are strong, capable, and powerful forces of change in society. They deserve our gratitude and also our commitment to help them forward in their missions. All of us, whether civilian, military, or part of a military family, still have work to do on the home front: our bodies. So let’s join forces to finally beat the ignorance that surrounds perimenopause and menopause! In this battle, we are all in the trenches together.

Sooner or later, every woman will be deployed to perimenopause and menopause! In the battle of menopause, we’re all in the trenches together. On May 10, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, I had the honor of speaking to military families at the Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) about perimenopause and menopause. With the assistance of They Serve 2, a non-profit dedicated to supporting military service families, I was able to donate copies of my first book, “Shmirshky: think inside the box” to spouses of servicemen, servicewomen, and civilians in military support positions. I am honored to help do my part in supporting these women and their families who sacrifice so much for our country. It was a wonderful day and a great privilege for me.

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Party in person! On Monday, June 3 from 5pm to 7pm, grab some girlfriends and head to Burlap Restaurant in Del Mar, California, for the launch of Menopause Mondays Live; brought to you by Ellen and Burlap. Click here to RSVP.

Is it hot in here or is it just you? Get discounts on great menopause products, courtesy of EllenDolgen.com. Available now: cooling clothes, a sleek and discrete chargeable fan, a “Hot Flash Havoc” documentary, and a natural menopause relief formula. Enter promo code “ellend” to save serious cash!

Let’s hang out! Join Ellen the first Monday of every month for her Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts: Where the Sisterhood helps the Sisterhood. You can ask Ellen your menopause questions at this free online event! Details here ––>

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Why TIME Is Wrong About the ‘Me Me Me Generation’ – Says Jack Myers

Jack Myers — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:00:08 +0000

The latest cover story of Time magazine has catapulted the Millennial conversation to the forefront of the news. The Boomer bashing of the Millennials has gone on long enough. Pundits are making the error of treating Millennials as a single cohort.

I surveyed 1,000 Millennials born between 1991 and 1995 to gain insights into their politics, work ethic, religious views, and social mores. My book, Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World, is not another Millennial tome. It is a cultural overview and informed guidebook that focuses on the first generation born into the Internet Age, which I call the “Hooked Up Generation” or “Internet Pioneers.” We need to focus in on Internet Natives as a new generation. They are nothing like the “Me Me Me Generation” of “lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents,” as Joel Stein describes in the Time article.

My research, which has been embraced by many educators and experts, confirms that Millennials are not a single cohort. Statistics show there are dramatic differences between those over and under 24, with exposure to the Internet throughout the lives of those under 24 being the defining difference. Internet Pioneers are anything but entitled, having grown up with economic collapse, social upheaval, war on terror and technological acceleration. Looking at research on the full cohort is like looking at one glass that is empty, another that is full and saying both glasses are half full. It’s just wrong.

Many of the younger Millennials are returning to their parents’ homes not only out of necessity, but by choice. This is the first generation in decades to have strong, positive relationships with their parents.

There are several points in the article that are accurate. The Next Great Generation (a term I coined more than a year ago), globalism, multiple jobs. But they are also the most socialized, the most accepting of equality, the most politically progressive, and the most likely to vote.

An organization that I founded, Women in Media Mentoring Initiative (WIMMI), recognizes the value Internet Pioneers bring to the workplace and society. WIMMI encourages younger members to identify the skills, experience and talents they can offer as mentors to their more experienced colleagues. My “Hooked Up Generation” research laid the groundwork for many of WIMMI’s founding principles.

What my research discovered about the fundamental nature of Internet Pioneers:

• They are confidently empowered, but do not consider themselves to be entitled.

• They are focused on themselves, but care deeply about their families and their friends, which is sometimes an imposing responsibility.

• They have opinions and respect the opinions of others, and have little patience or tolerance for uninformed viewpoints.

• They expect to be given the freedom and power to manage their lives, yet seek out and consider the advice of others.

• They are perfectionists who strive to achieve, assuming they have the ability and potential.

• They question the rules but mostly live within them.

• They accept and embrace diversity, not as an aspiration, but as an accepted reality.

Watch this video on understanding the “Hooked Up” generation & their focus

Here are some key findings from my book on the “Hooked Up” generation…

Chapter 4: Hooking Up – Relationships, Sex and Porn

Today’s students are more interested in getting into graduate school and scoring productive jobs. That is not to say that young women have completely cast off family life. They are simply postponing these aspirations for later.

Chapter 5: Third Wave of Women’s Rights Activism

Today’s college-age women are the third wave of women’s rights activism. They live in a post-feminist world, stuck between a rock — feminism’s second wave with its focus on equality through careers, education and achievement outside the home — and a hard place — today’s pressure to have it all. The goal is to achieve everything: career, modern lifestyle, family life, while still looking and behaving in a way that’s seen as traditionally sexy and feminine.

WATCH: ‘Lady Gaga Is the Embodiment of Feminism Today’

Chapter 11: Television Explains It All

Reality TV shows are not the Hooked Up Generation’s defining influence. It was Nickelodeon: “When Nickelodeon was launched in 1990, the network issued a Declaration of Kids’ Rights that, in many ways, serves as the mantra that Internet Pioneers grew up with and that defines how they perceive their rights and entitlements.” Here are ways Nickelodeon helped define their mindset and influence their future: 1.) They value their individualism while recognizing themselves as belonging to many groups. 2.) They welcome their parents’ involvement in their lives, but also expect privacy and autonomy. 3.) They consider themselves intellectual and social equals to older generations. 4.) They welcome surprises and both understand and use humor. 5.) Interactivity is expected. 6.) They like to have fun.

Chapter 20: Jobs and Careers

“The key to understanding Internet Pioneers’ attitudes toward big business and employment is to understand this generation’s definition of success. For Internet Pioneers, the definition of success is not simply accumulating wealth. In fact, some are actively hostile toward this definition. Many Internet Pioneers aren’t motivated by the same things as earlier generations were. Accumulating money isn’t enough to keep them focused on repetitive or non-challenging tasks or in jobs they find unfulfilling or ethically unrewarding.”

“So what motivates this generation? They seek variety in responsibility, social engagement and collaboration, relevance, and knowledge that they are contributing to something larger than themselves or the business they work for.”

@JackMyersCom

www.hookedupgen.com

Follow us on:

Barbara Walters to Retire; Her Advice for Women (VIDEO)

Barbara Walters — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:30:30 +0000

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters is retiring from TV journalism.

The 83-year-old legendary news anchor plans to retire next summer; Walters officially announced her retirement Monday morning on “The View.” She will remain executive producer of “The View,” the show she created in 1997.

WATCH: Tips to Succeed in Advertising, Marketing: ‘Love It’

“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on ‘The View’ and with ABC News,” she said. “I created ‘The View’ and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”

Walters, who will forever be a pioneer for women in the television news industry, recently talked to genConnect and gave us some career and mentorship advice for women. Listen to her advice below:

WATCH: Women Need to Decide for Themselves What ‘Balance’ Is

In addition to working relentlessly, finding a mentor can be an important part of personal and professional growth.

“You never know where you will find an opportunity. You’ll never know who could be a mentor. Seek out mentors and seek out people you want to learn from,” Walt Disney Company’s Executive Vice President Zenia Mucha told genConnect. “It’s important to find colleagues or people who are like-minded and be able to learn from them. See what characteristics people have that make them successful and try to apply them to your own life.”

Not everyone has a mentor — which is just fine, too, Walters said.

WATCH: Sheryl Sandberg on Women, Career & Motherhood

“I didn’t have a mentor. I think you almost have to be your own mentor,” she said. “You have to have your own goals and focus on what you are doing.”

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with experts like Barbara Walters, as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

How to Escape Education’s Death Valley (TED Talk)

Sir. Ken Robinson — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:45:23 +0000

Sir Ken Robinson

When it comes to education, the United States is facing a “death valley.”

In the latest TED “Talk of the Week,” Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, genConnect expert and an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation, outlines three principles crucial for the human mind to flourish – and how current education culture works against them. Sir Ken outlines how to get out of the education “death valley” we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility. Watch Sir Ken’s TED Talk Here

WATCH: The Real Problem With Education, With John Seely Brown

In an interview with genConnect at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Sir Ken talks about how so few people find real passion in what they do – “they endure their lives rather than enjoy them” – and how to find a career in which you are “in your element”:

Watch Part II of our interview with Sir Ken, in which he talks about why it’s never too late to pursue your dreams:

Follow us on:

Angelina Jolie & Cancer: Watch Our Google Hangout

Julie Silver, MD — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:45:03 +0000

Angelina Jolie

Join genConnect and cancer expert Dr. Julie Silver of Harvard Medical School on Wednesday, May 15 at 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. EST for a Google Hangout to talk about Angelina Jolie’s news, mastectomies, the importance of cancer rehab and support groups, and prehabilitation – a cutting-edge approach Dr. Silver says should be considered “in anticipation of” upcoming surgery and other cancer treatments.

Get on your computer to ask Dr. Silver questions on these topics and more. Google+ hangout on May 15 can host a total of 10 (the moderator and 9 others) via video who can interact within the hangout, as long as they have a computer with a video camera and a microphone. Participants must be approved by the genConnect moderator, who will facilitate the conversation. Click here to RSVP for the hangout and to learn more about how it works.

An unlimited number of viewers can watch the conversation and ask questions of Dr. Silver or comment through posts in Google+ or Twitter via the hashtag #CancerSurvivorGC. Or, you can email your questions to gCLive@genConnect.com. Can’t make the conversation live? Once the hangout is over, the video will be available online.

Watch the entire Google Hangout with Dr. Julie Silver here

Dr. Julie Silver

Follow us on:

Arizona Foundation for Women – SHE Counts!

Alisa B. Chatinsky — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:25:41 +0000

The Arizona Foundation for Women is making a difference in the lives of women and children.

The foundation believes SHE Counts! With our focus on Safety, Health and Economic (SHE) empowerment, AFW leads the community in research, advocacy, program development and grant making.

Research – AFW’s Status of Women report serves as a valuable tool for policy making.

Advocacy – When it comes to issues affecting women, AFW stands strong as the voice for women in Arizona, partnering with other advocacy organizations to assure our issues stay on the forefront of our elected officials.

Men’s Anti-violence Network, MAN, engages male community leaders to increase awareness of domestic violence and bullying issues.
Employers Against Domestic Violence is a consortium of business leaders dedicated to keeping the workplace safe.

Safety – Kids are Not for Sale in Arizona organizes the community both professionally and personally to combat sex trafficking of minors.

Health – Often, domestic violence survivors have a myriad of health issues associated with long-term violence which must be addressed to assist in their healing. Circle of Care provides domestic violence victims holistic wrap-around services to assure their medical needs are being met.

Economic Empowerment – AFW’s Live & Learn program provides domestic violence victims emotional and financial support to access a variety of job-training programs designed to move them towards self-sufficiency. Women are matched with a mentor, receive tuition assistance and in some cases, obtain a small stipend during the training period. Live & Learn programs include Certified Nurse Assistants, Dental Assistants, Childcare Aid and other entry-level positions which often become jumping off points for lifetime careers.

Grant Making – Over the past 18 years, AFW has awarded over $2 million to non-profit organizations statewide for innovative programs that address our community’s unmet needs. Examples of recent programs supported by AFW:

DV prevention project for young boys who witness violence
Telemedicine program for rural sex assault victims
Anti-bullying curriculum for school-age children
Statewide first responders training to recognize sex-trafficked victims

Join our efforts to create a healthier, socially prosperous community for everyone!

Click here to learn how you, too, can help and make a difference

Follow us on:

6 Ways to Enjoy Mother’s Day Brunch, Guilt-Free

Judy Weitzman — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:30:24 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy your food without worrying about having to hit the gym 24-7 to work off all of those calories; Diet Coach Judy Weitzman offers tips on how to enjoy mom, Mother’s Day, and food this special holiday, and not bust your waistline…

Happy Mother’s Day! One of the most popular ways to celebrate is going to brunch, and brunches are usually served buffet-style. This could be a license for disaster with all of the beautifully presented food, screaming your name.

Here are some tips on how to enjoy your Mother’s Day buffet without expanding your waistline in the process…

WATCH: Celebrity Chef Rosco DiSpirito on Nutritious Substitutes for Unhealthy Foods

Kick-start your day.

Get up and work out first thing. It will set the tone for the day. There are organized walks in most cities for Mother’s Day, so if you want to be outside, that is a fun way to support a worthy cause. After your workout, hydrate! Drinking lots of water will give you a false full. Plus be sure to have a mini breakfast so you can take the edge off of your hunger before you arrive at the brunch buffet.

Delay, delay, delay.

When you arrive, visit with your family and delay going to the buffet … by delaying your start, you will eat less. The next step is to check out the inventory before filling your plate. Identify how you want to spend your calories, after you have assessed what you really want to have, take a plate knowing you will only fill it once. To optimize the nutrition and the calories you spend, fill half your plate with vegetables.

Drinks

Just like you did with the food, instead of starting with a cocktail, delay having alcohol and start with water (flat or sparkling). Then after you have socialized for a bit, order your drink. This is an easy way to drink less alcohol. Better yet, offer to be the ‘designated driver’ and don’t drink at all.

Eat small amounts of the foods you love

The last thing you want to do is leave the brunch feeling deprived. If you want to try a dessert or a high-fat appetizer, go for it. Take a very small portion, cut it into itty-bitty bites, and eat it slowly to savor the flavor.

Slow down

It is easier to control how much you are eating by eating slowly. It takes a few minutes for your brain to realize your stomach is full. One way to slow your pace is to set your fork down between bites and sip some water. Chew each bite thoroughly before you swallow and don’t take another bite until your mouth is empty. Sound silly? Pay attention next time you eat. Many of us shovel it in without realizing how fast we are eating. My cousin calls it, “eating like a vacuum cleaner.” Enjoy the conversation with your mom and the family. Remember, it is just food. Your memories of Mother’s Day will be about the people, not the food.

WATCH: ‘Werk’ Out With Holly Rilinger

More strategies

“It’s not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it’s the seconds.” And ‘seconds’ are not an option if you are watching your waistline. Here are some other tips to make it a little easier:

Position yourself away from the buffet table
Take your mind off food by engaging in conversation.
Be active. If someone is hosting Mother’s Day at their home, play with the little ones or volunteer to help serve and clean up. The art of distraction works well.

Most importantly…

Even if your mom is only here in spirit, celebrate your cherished memories and celebrate all the other moms in your life. Whether it is an aunt, a grandmother or a dear friend, we all know lots of moms. Love them with all your heart and make it a magical day!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of Judy Weitzman’s latest posts, as well as the contributions from other experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Actor Shia LaBeouf on ‘Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman’ (VIDEO)

Shia LaBeouf — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:20:41 +0000

Shia LaBeouf

“The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman” is a 2013 romantic comedy action film directed by Fredrik Bond, written by Matt Drake, and starring Shia LaBeouf, Rupert Grint, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen and Til Schweiger. And Bond is actually on the short list, along with Snow White And The Huntsman Director Rupert Sanders, to direct the next installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

genConnect caught up with “Necessary Death” star Shia LaBeouf at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Watch the interview below as he talks about why he chose to accept this role, the cast that makes the movie happen, and how going through some of the movie drama in real-life while living in Romania helped him play his character:

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with actors like Shia LaBeouf, as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Tesla Makes Big Profit, But Electric Cars Have More to Prove (VIDEO)

Ben Holland — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:30:28 +0000

Tesla is making headlines again, which is good news for the electric car industry.

Tesla Motors’ Model S is is the company’s first attempt to get electric cars to go mainstream, and the company is actually making money. Sales of the five-passenger sedan - which goes for about $70,000 – have outpaced expectations since it came onto the market last year, demand continues to be high, and on Thursday, Consumer Reports magazine awarded it with a near-perfect rating. The stock is surging and Tesla also reported higher-than-expected revenue of $562 million; first quarter net income reached $11.2 million.

Electric vehicles may very well be the wave of the future. Watch Ben Holland, former project manager for Project Get Ready at the Rocky Mountain Institute, which has been at the forefront of the electric car movement, discuss how over the next two years, every major automobile maker plans to release an electric vehicle:

“That’s really a change in the industry where in the past, electric vehicles were really considered to be glorified versions of golf carts,” Holland says of auto makers’ electric vehicle plans. “Now we’re really on the cusp of something new in transportation and we are trying to facilitate the exchange of information between stakeholders so we can ramp up the adoption of these vehicles.” Even Justin Bieber got an electric car for his birthday!

Project Get Ready is working with 25 U.S. cities and international partners in cities like Paris and Amsterdam to discover what’s working and what’s not in the adoption of electric vehicles. Across the world, countries and cities are installing charging stations and other facilitates needed for electric vehicles and their drivers to incentivize this new form of transportation.

“There’s a huge infrastructure piece to this and cities are trying to figure out the best way to go about it,” Holland said.

WATCH: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood – Transportation of the Future

The Tesla Model S won one of the auto industry’s most coveted awards in November - Motor Trend’s 2013 Car of the Year. It was the first time in Motor Trend’s 64-year history that the award has gone to a vehicle not powered by an internal combustion engine – and the first time in memory that the vote was a unanimous thumbs-up for the winning vehicle.

But to really prove that it’s here to stay, Tesla needs to reach a broader market, successfully deliver its Model X crossover next year, and get out to the masses a third-generation car by 2017 that will cost between $30,000 and $35,000.

Follow genConnect on:

Twitter @genConnect
Facebook
Google +
YouTube

Moral or Not? Buying Prison Upgrades, Outsourcing Wars (VIDEO)

Michael Sandel — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:19:58 +0000

Should we allow prisoners to buy prison cell upgrades? Should we outsource wars to private companies? These are some of the questions asked by Michael Sandel, Harvard professor and author of the new book, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets.

Watch as Sandel talks with genConnect about the morality of these controversial issues, and more:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

WATCH: The Moral Limits of Markets – What Money Can’t Buy

Michael Sandel

“This is another example of the reach of markets and market values – these are spheres of life traditionally covered by non-market norms,” Sandel says of how some prisons – such as some in California – are allowing prisoners to buy prison cell upgrades. “The criminal justice system is a place where money and market values are extending their reach.”

Want more great insight from world-class experts like Michael Sandel? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

We Need to Pay Attention to Children’s Mental Health

Dr. Joseph Shrand — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:34:36 +0000

Today is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, a time to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development from birth. President Obama has proclaimed May as National Mental Health Awareness Month.

We reached out to Dr. Joseph Shrand, an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Outsmarting Anger: 7 Strategies for Defusing Our Most Dangerous Emotion, to get his insight as to the biggest mental health challenges to kids today – and what we can do to help them. Dr. Shrand is also an Assistant Child Psychiatrist on the medical staff of Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Medical Director of CASTLE (Clean and Sober Teens Living Empowered), an intervention unit for at-risk teens which is part of the highly respected High Point Treatment Center in Brockton, Mass. Here’s what he said…

WATCH: Why More Kids Are Taking Drugs to Be Competitive

First off, Dr. Shrand stressed that “we don’t have a bunch of sick kids in the United States,” and that just because some children and teens are on medication for certain mental-health issues such as depression or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), does not mean they are “broken.” “It’s very important to dispel all of that,” he said. Medications, in fact, act as a tool to help those affected by certain mental health issues to thrive in school and at home.

“It doesn’t define them as broken any more than if you were trying to climb a mountain … you’d need the right equipment,” Shrand said, whether it be parents, family, medication, etc… Medications “are simply a piece of the equipment. Technology does not define the kid.”

Shrand said it’s imperative our health system facilitate better connections between family practitioners and pediatricians and psychiatrists, so that psychiatrists are readily on hand when a pediatrician suspects a patient may need care more focused on mental health than physical. It’s also vital to have better communication between psychiatrists and the pediatricians who may be authorizing use of certain medications.

WATCH: Good Stress vs. Bad Stress

“It takes a child psychiatrist to really be able to treat all these kids,” Dr. Shrand said.

Dr. Joseph Shrand

But there aren’t nearly enough psychiatrists to take care of all of the kids who need their services. And those services that are available are maldistributed, with rural areas suffering from lack of services the most. There are “millions of kids who are going to need care,” Shrand said. ”Part of child mental health … is a system where a child psychiatrist can support a large number of people who are going to be directing these kids.”

Psychiatrists need to be able to offer support for conditions like ADD or ADHD at not only pediatricians’ offices, but also in schools, since these disorders will come to the attention of them first. Pediatricians and school staff can then refer cases to on-hand psychiatrists to confirm certain conditions.

“Just like I would send some of my psychiatric kids to a cardiologist if I were worried about their heart,” Shrand said. “These are real conditions and they need expert help. A large number of them need support in the background from a child psychiatrist.”

If every pediatric practice in the U.S. had a psychiatrist on call, for example, “that would be enormous for children’s mental health.”

One huge problem that also needs to be addressed as it relates to mental health is one that resonates with too many kids in this day and age: bullying.

“This is a major, major risk factor in adolescents” and their mental health, Shrand said. ”I think we need to be more aware.”

“We need to really understand what bullying not only does to the victim but does to the witness. Within the witness we’re really going to be able to change bullying,” he added. We need to empower people to stop it when they see it.

“However, we cannot leave the bully out of the bully … you have to be able to work with kids who are bullies, draw out why they’re doing it without them feeling persecuted or bullied themselves. It’s really, really an important part of where we’re going to be headed in terms of treating bullies, the bullied victims, and the witness.”

Consider this: when a kid is bullied, they initially will feel stress, and cortisol levels spike. Under chronic bullying conditions, cortisol levels actually get blunted, which means victims feel so hopeless and powerless, they don’t bother to do anything about it. “That’s really sad,” Shrand said. This leads to them feeling alone, depressed – some even start to identify with aggressor and become bullies themselves, and later feel bad about it. Suicide rate among bully victims is high.

“We all can be witnesses to do something about it in a very positive and constructive way without trying to bully the bully out of the bully,” he said.

College students are another population that needs to be closely watched she it comes to mental health. All of a sudden, they are on their own, facing stresses like academics and the availability of drugs and alcohol, at a time when their brain is just beginning to function in ways that anticipates consequences of actions.

“They are really one foot out of the nest and one foot in the nest. And sometime when you straddle that far, you can get hurt,” Dr. Shrand said.

Too much mental stress can lead to substance abuse and cause life-long dependencies and addictions, he added.

In sum, Dr. Shrand said, “we have an amazing group of kids in this country – amazing talent – they are remarkable and all we can hope to do is give them the support they need to remember how valuable they are.”

Follow us on:

4 Ways Nonprofits Can Get Creative With Their Fundraising

Jennifer Schwab — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:30:52 +0000

The current economic climate doesn’t exactly breed charitable donations. Needless to say, nonprofits have experienced a tough few years. At the same time, the days of mailers and tabling are over — calendars and swag simply don’t cut it. And while nonprofits struggle to maintain their donor base, relying on their remaining contributors to carry the load is not the answer. So, with tough circumstances and an even tougher crowd … what’s a nonprofit to do?

WATCH: Facebook’s Mighty Crowdsourcing Capabilities Boost Charity

Photo by TJ Sengel (Courtesy of Flikr)

Here’s one answer: get creative. One of the more innovative approaches I’ve seen in the sustainability arena is high-profile auctions like Christie’s Green Auction, which has raised millions for charities including Oceana, Conservation International, Natural Resource Defense Council, and Central Park Conservancy. What were the big ticket auction items? The trick is, they we’re exactly “items” at all: spend the day with President William J. Clinton; meet Lady Gaga backstage and stay three nights at Soho House Miami; meet Justin Bieber backstage in Tokyo, with VIP tickets to his performance.

Of course, not all charities are able to attract this type of celebrity and connections. But the concept remains a valid one: nonprofits do have creative options available to raise money in troubled times. Another new model of philanthropy has become known as the social entrepreneurship model. This often involves independent donors who conceive of, fund, and operate a separate unit of a nonprofit, bearing all the costs and risks. Meanwhile, the nonprofit receives a significant portion of the profits on an ongoing basis. This is how Sierra Club Green Home.com is structured in its relationship with the Sierra Club. This tactic is still new but should become more widely adopted in coming years.

WATCH: 6 Words For the Planet; What Are Yours?

Cause-marketing provides another opportunity for nonprofits to partner with for-profit companies for their mutual benefit. In this type of relationship, the for-profit company can improve corporate image and good will, while the nonprofit raises awareness and funds. Most often, the for-profit company will encourage customers to buy their products by attaching a charitable incentive. In other words, a certain percentage of the proceeds from the product’s sale will go to their nonprofit partner. This is similar to the relationship La Mer has with Oceana—every purchase of La Mer face cream results in a donation to Oceana.

Race4Change car (Facebook)

Finally, another approach to creative fundraising is incorporating a charitable element into a recreational or hobby-style event. A friend of mine recently staged such an event called Race4Change. This road rally of professional and celebrity drivers follows a course through the challenging terrain of East Africa. It benefits microfinance organizations that assist tiny businesses run by villagers who live along the rally route. All costs for the rally are absorbed by the individual who stages the rally, while the exposure generated by the rally brings awareness—and donations—to the microfinance cause.

WATCH: Celebrity-Backed Water.org WaterCredit Helps the Poor

These are but a few of the ways charities can create new potential revenue streams in a climate of declining donations. Overall, they help to reinforce an important concept: nonprofit fundraising must evolve with the times. More than ever, the power of celebrity, consumer goods, and entertainment should not be ignored. Nonprofits can join in on the action and get a piece of the pie! If you know of other examples of this positive trend, please comment to tell us about them.

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more one-on-one interviews with experts and leaders in giving back, business and social media, sex and relationships, health and beauty, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

‘We’re Really Facing a Brass Ceiling’ in U.S. Military (VIDEO)

Paula Broadwell — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:30:12 +0000

A new disturbing report from the Defense Department shows that more than 20 percent of women in the U.S. military have experienced unwanted sexual contact. The survey is “deeply troubling,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who will introduce a bill to take felony crimes out of the chain of command so that rape victims can report violent assault without fearing repercussions from officers higher up. The Pentagon report showed a 6 percent increase in sexual assaults in just one year, with only a small percentage – 238 of the 3,192 reported incidents – resulting in a conviction.

Meanwhile, in a Senate hearing Tuesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh blamed an increase in sexual assault in the military on the “hookup” culture prevalent among young people. Saying 20 percent of female recruits report being assaulted before they joined the military,” Welsh said “they come in from a society where this occurs.”

The report comes as the Defense Department prepares to formally integrate women into combat.

When it comes to women in the military, the numbers don’t exactly reflect reality. Women currently make up only about 15 percent of military personnel, while they make up about 51 percent of our broader society, says U.S. military veteran Paula Broadwell, author of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus. Watch Broadwell talk about why we need more women in the military, plus the challenges they face getting there:

Paula Broadwell

The military isn’t just a man’s world; it can provide great leadership skills to both men and women, and women can make vast contributions to the military, Broadwell says.

However, there are still challenges preventing women from rising to the top of the military, some of which stem from the combat exclusion policy that has long barred women from being assigned to ground combat units. Recently, the Pentagon overturned portions of the policy; although, with other parts still in place, it is impossible for women to gain the combat experience necessary to reach the high positions, for example,The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We’re really facing a brass ceiling, if you will, unless we get rid of some of those barriers to the top,” Broadwell says.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

My Son Wears Pink; Should I Share on Facebook?

Randi Zuckerberg — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:30:16 +0000

Recently, my sister forwarded me an article about a mom that posted pictures of her six-year-old cross-dressing son on Facebook. “What do you think of this article?” my sister asked.

Well, this one’s certainly Dot Complicated.

WATCH: Randi Zuckerberg on How to Help Women Rock the Internet

I absolutely applaud this mom for being proud and supportive of her son’s clothing choices. There are so many cruel, judgmental people in the world, and it’s wonderful to see parents who tell their children from a young age that they love them unconditionally and encourage them to explore their own interests and tastes. Even better is a mom who can stand up publicly and defend her child’s choices to the world.

There was a similar story a few months ago; a photo of a 5-year-old boy wearing pink shoes on his first day of school went viral. When his mom posted the photo online, it sparked dozens of comments. Some people praised her parenting style, while others criticized her choice, saying it was “wrong” and “would affect him socially.”

WATCH: Tiger Mom Amy Chua – Help Children Realize Their Potential

I wish with all my heart that kids could just be kids and play with whatever they want, wear whatever they want, and choose whatever colors they want, without gender labels or stereotypes. We need to encourage our children to be individuals and to explore their passions and talents. At the same time, we do have to acknowledge that we live in the real world, not a fantasy world. Your child is inevitably going to come into contact with other kids, who can be mean and cruel — is it possible that we do our children a disservice by not preparing them for the outside world?

Kanye West (Note: he’s wearing a pink watch)

I would do anything to prevent my son from experiencing the humiliation of being bullied. This might mean having a realistic discussion at a young age about why other children might not understand a young boy wearing dresses and high heels and why it’s in his best interest to limit that behavior for now. I’m not sure we’re doing them a favor by just sending them straight into the lion’s den without a warning about what’s in store.

Here’s a quote I love (from Kanye West, of all people):

“Society has put up so many boundaries, so many limitations on what’s right and wrong that it’s almost impossible to get a pure thought out. It’s like a little kid, a little boy, looking at colors, and no one told him what colors are good, before somebody tells you you shouldn’t like pink because that’s for girls, or you’d instantly become a gay 2-year-old. Why would anyone pick blue over pink? Pink is obviously a better color. Everyone’s born confident, and everything’s taken away from you.”

We need to acknowledge that we’re a society in transition. Hopefully in 20 years, this subject will be a non-issue.

But back to the main story — I’m still undecided on the mom’s decision to post the photos online. That most certainly wasn’t for the benefit of her 6-year-old son. Did he ask for the photos to be posted? Did he know his mom was taking photos and uploading them to her friends? As parents, we need to ask ourselves whether we’re posting photos for our children or for ourselves. And if you’re posting it for yourself, wait a little bit before pressing the “share” button so you can really think about if it’s in your child’s best interest.

Childhood is a time to experiment, to make mistakes, to be silly and creative, and to use your imagination. I know there are a lot of things I did in my childhood that are (thankfully) in a photo album somewhere in my parents’ basement, instead of permanently cached online. For example, I wore a full-body Darth Vader Halloween costume when I was just a little too old for it to still be cute. A great memory, but looking back, I’m glad it’s not part of my online identity.

Randi Zuckerberg

It’s a fantastic thing to be proud of your child. We should always love and support our children no matter what, and we should applaud parents who bravely support their child in the face of society telling them otherwise. But it’s one thing to capture an adorable moment and send it to a few close friends and family. It’s another thing entirely to send it out into the void of the Internet, without thought of future repercussions.

To be the first to see more content like this, click here to subscribe to my newsletter on wired living, Dot Complicated.

Follow us on:

Chef Tim Love: Texas Cuisine Hits Culinary Big Time (VIDEO)

Tim Love — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:30:04 +0000

Texas cuisine is “coming into its own,” says celebrity Chef Tim Love, who is considered a culinary ambassador for the Lone Star State. “From the great sushi restaurants that we have like Uchi and Uchiko down in Austin, to the kind of barbecue I’m doing now, which is really outside of the box using different kinds of wood that influence foods in different ways,” Love says. Watch Tim Love discuss how Texas chefs are reinterpreting the state’s cuisine and debunking culinary stereotypes:

Related: Boston Bites Back: Chefs Unite to Raise $1M for The One Fund

Chef Tim Love

Texas is home to five restaurants of which Love is at the helm.

“Growing up in Texas, obviously we grilled a lot of meats and we smoked a lot of meat,” Love says. “And so now I think we’re trying to get a little bit more intense of what wood does to food as opposed to just smoking and grilling. I’m trying to reinterpret what barbecue is and provide a new point of view on how meats can be cooked and how vegetables can be cooked.”

Watch: Chef Fabio Viviani After Winning ‘Top Chef’ Fan Favorite

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with top chefs like Tim Love as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Why More Young People Are Taking Drugs to Be Competitive (VIDEO)

Dr. Nora Volkow — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:01:18 +0000

Steroids. Amphetamines. Adderral. Ritalin. These are all drugs people use with the belief they will enhance their physical performance and their cognitive capacity. Unfortunately, “we actually are seeing it not just in young people – high school and college students – but actually across all ages,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Health.

WATCH: Good Stress vs. Bad Stress

Watch Dr. Volkow talk about why younger people, in particular, are taking drugs – not just to get high, but to be the best – and why that’s so dangerous:

“You want to be the best but you see, the others, are taking a drug that you feel may give them an advantage over you, then you have the pressure. Then you have the pressure of taking it or not taking it – not to get high, but because you want to be the best,” Volkow says. “That can be a dynamic that can be very hurtful among young people because they end up taking a drug that they wouldn’t have taken otherwise.”

Want more great insight from world-class experts like Dr. Nora Volkow? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

A Lesson From My Mother’s Menopause Journey

Ellen Dolgen — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:26:43 +0000

My Mom is a petite woman – yet very big.
She is soft spoken – yet very outspoken.
She is delicate – yet strong.
She is understated – yet elegant.
She is wise – yet modest.
She is dedicated to helping others – yet she dedicates her life to our family.
She is 93– yet she is young.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

My mother was always trying to teach me the best ways to approach life’s challenges. She used the finest tools available to her. But she came from a very different generation. She was brought up when women were not taught to speak up. It was not her fault that she missed the boat when it came to teaching me about perimenopause and menopause.

See, when I entered the hormonal throes of perimenopause, I was irritable, uncomfortable, troubled by memory loss, sleeplessness and a variety of other lovely symptoms. Worst of all, I felt like some demon had taken over my body and was eating away at my capacity for rational thought.

Confused and scared, I turned to my go-to person for all female issues: my mom. You can imagine my reaction when she told me that she didn’t have time for menopause. Her motto was, “I’m fine, fine, super fine.” Well, I didn’t feel like I had time for menopause either, but my symptoms made it impossible for me to ignore it and trust me, I was far from fine!

Later, after putting some pieces of a family puzzle together, I figured out the reason for my mother’s denial. My grandmother had gone through a very severe depression during menopause. In those days, some women like my grandmother were given shock therapy for menopausal depression. Can you imagine?! My mom had to take a leave of absence from her teaching job to take care of her mother. No wonder my mom “didn’t have time” for menopause! Who would want to have time for that?

Ellen Dolgen & her mother

Some experiences can silence even the strongest women. I wish I could reach back in time and give my grandmother a hug and let her know that I understand what she was going through. I wish that my mom had been more open with me about the things she was going through instead of feeling she had to always be the rock of the family.

The journeys of my mom and grandmother helped fuel my urgent and relentless desire to seek out a perimenopause and menopause specialist, get answers, and find hormone happiness. I learned that women shouldn’t have to suffer through perimenopause and menopause, and the biggest reason they were—and still are—is because women are still not prepared for perimenopause and menopause! For the most part, we still think this is a taboo topic!

As women, we know when something just doesn’t feel or seem right. It’s our responsibility to give our feelings credit—both for ourselves and for the sake of other women worldwide. It’s time to set a precedent for how women should feel in their own bodies. From puberty to menopause—and everything in between—it’s up to us to know our bodies and ensure they have what they need for a happy, healthy life. However, many women are still scared to speak up and feel like they have to power through on their own.

That’s why I couldn’t have been more proud when my daughter walked into her doctor’s office and demanded to have the proper blood panels taken for fertility testing. She stood up for herself and her health, and now, two years later, mid planning for her upcoming wedding and her life ahead, family planning is no mystery to her. Her health is no mystery to her. She is entering this exciting new chapter of her life as an active participant. Life isn’t something that just happens to her. She makes her life—and the life she deserves—happen.

Related: 5 Natural Ways to Get Healthy

In memory of our grandmothers and in honor of our dear, sweet moms, let’s help break the taboo nature that surrounds menopause. We need to teach the women of the next generation that they don’t have to be, “fine, fine, super fine” all the time. They should speak up and get the help they both need and deserve.

I hope my daughter can say that the best thing I ever taught her was how to be an advocate for her own health and happiness. I hope the same for all of the daughters of the Sisterhood! Together, we can make it happen!

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Is it hot in here or is it just you? Get discounts on great menopause products, courtesy of EllenDolgen.com. Available now: cooling clothes, a sleek and discrete chargeable fan, a “Hot Flash Havoc” documentary, and a natural menopause relief formula. Enter promo code “ellend” to save serious cash!

Let’s hang out! Join Ellen the first Monday of every month at 8pm EST/5pm PST for her Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts: Where the Sisterhood helps the Sisterhood. You can ask Ellen your menopause questions at this free online event! Details here ––>

Party in person! On Monday, June 3 from 5pm to 7pm, grab some girlfriends and head to Burlap Restaurant in Del Mar, California, for the launch of Menopause Mondays Live; brought to you by Ellen and Burlap. Click here to RSVP.

Supporting military families: On May 10, Ellen will be speaking at Military Spouse Appreciation Day on Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) along with other medical professionals and wellness experts on a variety of topics that affect women’s health and wellness. In addition to these attendees, and with the assistance of They Serve 2, a non-profit dedicated to supporting military service families, Ellen is able to donate thousands of copies of her book, Shmirshky: think inside the box to spouses of servicemen and servicewomen as well as civilians supporting the military.

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

You Can’t ‘Calculate What Your Lost Loved One Is Worth’ (VIDEO)

Kenneth Feinberg — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:00:16 +0000

When it comes to dealing with loss and making sense of the financial aftermath of tragedy and disasters, author and attorney Kenneth Feinberg, unfortunately, is a pro. Feinberg’s latest task is to administer the One Fund Boston, which will distribute financial help to families who lost loved ones and to those seriously injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. Feinberg said Monday that the fund contains about $28 million, from more than 50,000 donors, with about $11 million on hand and the rest pledged.

“If the governor and the mayor have made one thing clear to me, it’s get the money out the door,” Feinberg said.

Watch Feinberg, who has helped families and loved ones deal with some of the most significant disasters in recent American history, discuss how to create order after tragic loss and how to be a good mediator:

Related: Grieving and Moving Forward

“You try to create order. Understand, the cases I’m involved in – 9/11, Virginia Tech shootings, BP oil spill – it’s very hard to create order,” Feinberg told genConnect. “What you can do is try to at least provide compensation so that the victims of these terrible tragedies have some order in their financial lives.”

WATCH: Gabby Giffords & Ashleigh Burroughs – Life Goes on After Tragedy

Feinberg, an attorney in Washington and the former administrator of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, has also helped administer finances after events such as the Virginia Tech shootings and the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast. He is also the author of a new book, Who Gets What: Fair Compensation after Tragedy and Financial Upheaval, which highlights the problems of using money as a way to address wrongs and reflect individual worth.

What is his biggest takeaway from these tragedies and disasters?

“When individuals confront tragedies, or confront disorder,” he said, “they should try, if they can, to step back and try to avoid making purely emotional, off-the-cuff, immediate decisions without seeking the help of others who can provide some objective grounding in how they can go about solving this.”

Kenneth Feinberg

But how does one go about putting a dollar sign on human life?

“You can’t do it,” Feinberg stressed. “I am not engaged in the moral challenge of trying to calculate what your lost loved one is worth – no one can do that. All I try to do is what judges and juries do everyday … what would the victim have earned but for this tragedy? What was the pain and suffering and emotional distress associated with it?”

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with experts in sex and love, health and beauty, career and social media, and film and entertainment.

Follow us on:

Why Health Startups Are Hot (VIDEO)

Shwen Gwee — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:30:18 +0000

Why are health startups so hot right now?

Watch as Shwen Gwee, former vice president of Digital Health at Edelman and current Chief Digital Officer at Chandler Chicco, talks about the Social Health Startup Bootcamp at SXSW 2013 and why health is the place to be when it comes to innovation these days:

“Part of it is driven by the fact that health care is going mainstream,” Gwee said as to why health startups are the place to invest. “There’s a lot of opening up of data and opening up of technology communications and platforms now are so much easier to get into.”

He added: “There’s actually a lot of viable funding options for health technology startups.”

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews from industry leaders and innovators at SXSW 2013

Follow us on:

Menopause Mondays Google Hangout with Ellen Dolgen

Ellen Dolgen — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:04:33 +0000

Watch below & Join Ellen Dolgen LIVE!

Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts are free monthly live online events with Ellen. On the first Monday of every month at 5pm PST/8pm EST log onto your computers and watch Ellen in an open conversation about menopause. Get your questions answered! The next Menopause Mondays Google Hangout is Monday, May 6 at 5pm PST/8pm EST.

To RSVP to participate in the next Menopause Mondays Google Hangout: Click here to the Google Plus Events Page

You need to have a Google Plus account to RSVP and be logged into your account. Once you RSVP, a confirmation email is sent to your email account affiliated with your Google Plus account. Still confused? No worries, email menopausemondays@gmail.com – and we’ll walk you through it!

Click here to watch last Menopause Mondays Google Hangout from April 1.

FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
If you want to join the hangout and be on the video all you need is a computer with a video camera and a mic. However, if you don’t want to participate on video you can watch the conversation and ask questions or comments through posts in Google+ or Twitter via the #MenopauseMondaysGC hashtag. Tweet #MenopauseMondaysgC or email your questions. (BTW please pass this along to your friends.)

If you want to be on camera, please email menopausemondasy@ellendolgen.com ASAP as there is limited space for the on-camera participants.

No worries, if you can’t make the conversation live, once the hangout is over, the video will be available on ellendolgen.com.

Boston Bites Back: Chefs Unite to Raise $1M for The One Fund

Ming Tsai — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:43 +0000

Ming Tsai (R), owner of Blue Ginger and Blue Dragon and Ken Oringer, owner of Clio, Toro, Coppa and Uni at Fenway Park/Patrick Whittemore, Boston Herald

One Night. One City. One Fund.

Join 100 of Boston’s top chefs as they come together in a show of strength and solidarity to raise $1 million for The One Fund.

Spearheaded by celeb chefs Ken Oringer and Ming Tsai, the Boston Red Sox, Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino, and ARAMARK, Boston Bites Back (BBB) will be a once-in-a-lifetime tasting event at Fenway Park bringing Bostonians together to eat, drink and demonstrate Boston’s unrelenting spirit, while raising money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

“BBB is an opportunity for the city to join as one and acknowledge our strength as a community,” said Ken Oringer, owner of Clio, Toro, Coppa & Uni. “Nothing speaks more to our collective resolve than an evening of hospitality, unity and hometown pride in one of the most iconic venues in Boston – Fenway Park.”

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience,” said Tsai, owner of Blue Ginger & Blue Dragon. “This event is an occasion for Bostonians to reconnect over food, mingle with chefs and honor our city’s inspiring resilience. It’s an opportunity for Bostonians to literally ‘bite’ back.”

Held Wednesday, May 15, 2013 from 6 to 10 PM at Fenway Park, chefs will be cooking and serving guests from behind concession stands as well as at tables throughout the Big Concourse and the Budweiser deck. Click here to buy tickets for the Boston Bites Back tasting event

Only 5,000 general access tickets will be sold at $200 each. There will also be 200 VIP tickets at $1,000 each, allowing additional access to an intimate and exclusive gathering in Fenway’s EMC Club.

WATCH: How Ming Tsai’s E-Book Can Help You Become a Cooking Pro

An online auction leading up to the event will feature many one-of-a-kind packages including unique dining experiences from Oringer & Tsai, personal shopping with fashion expert Gretta Monahan, and hometown sports venues.

To learn more, buy tickets or bid on auction items, please visit www.bostonbitesback.org.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Sarin Gas Used in Syria? Regional Challenges Post-Arab Spring (VIDEO)

Roger Cressey — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:30:42 +0000

Syrian people support rebel forces and have posted pictures of Assad’s victims on Facebook.

The violence in Syria has escalated to the point that deadly nerve agents likely have been used in the country’s civil war that has been raging against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to news reports.

U.N. official Carla Del Ponte says there are strong suspicions that Syrian rebel forces have used sarin gas, a colorless, odorless liquid, used as a chemical weapon; it is considered a weapon of mass destruction. Del Ponte, the commissioner of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry for Syria, said it wouldn’t be too surprising, given the infiltration of foreign fighters into the Syrian opposition. The opposition says it hasn’t used any such weapons – nor does it desire to. The news comes one week after the United States said it had “varying degrees of confidence” that sarin had been used by Syria’s government on its people; but Del Ponte says there’s no evidence of the government’s use of such substances. Meanwhile, the Syrian government said that recent Israeli air strikes against military targets around Damascus amounted to a “declaration of war” and threatened retaliation.

Watch Roger Cressey, senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, talk about Booz Allen Hamilton’s efforts in the Middle East and challenges facing those countries post-Arab Spring:

Booz Allen Hamilton, a strategy and consulting firm, has a presence in Middle Eastern countries such as Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

“What we’re seeing are the governments there trying to adjust to the reality of the Arab Spring and how it’s impacted that part of the region,” Cressey said. “That’s the most stable area in the Middle East right now … and they’re looking at two things.”

One of which is how those governments can ensure their citizens are being taken care of as they see uprisings in countries such as Syria, Egypt and Tunisia. Booz Allen Hamilton wants to make sure there is enough investment, health care and education in these countries, which form an island of stability amidst a volatile region, to remain so.

“They’re in a rough neighborhood,” Cressey said. “They have Iran on one side and all the instability on the other side and so they’re trying to carve out a role for them.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Menopause Mondays Google Hangout With Ellen Dolgen

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:11:04 +0000

Back by popular demand, it’s Menopause Mondays Google Hangout With Ellen Dolgen. On Monday, May 6 at 8pm EST/6 pm MST/ 5 pm PST get on your computers to watch and ask questions to genConnect Ellen Dolgen, Ellen – an outspoken women’s health and wellness advocate, menopause awareness expert, author, and speaker -will be discussing menopause and perimenopause and answering audience questions live. CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Get online NOW for the Menopause Monday Google Hangout with Ellen Dolgen; join here!

#MenopauseMondaysgC Google+ hangout on May 6 can host a total of 10 (the moderator and 9 others) via video who can interact within the hangout, as long as they have a computer with a video camera and a microphone. Participants must be approved by the genConnect moderator, who will facilitate the conversation.

An unlimited number of viewers can watch the conversation and ask questions of Ellen or comment through posts in Google+ or Twitter via the #MenopauseMondaysGC hashtag. Tweet #MenopauseMondaysgC or email mstrout@genconnect.com your questions. Can’t make the conversation live? Once the hangout is over, the video will be available online.

Click here to join the conversation on May 6!

Follow us on:

Tips for Graduating College Students: ‘Do What You Love’ (VIDEOS)

Simon Johnson — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:30:25 +0000

As many college students around the country earn their diplomas during graduations this month, they are entering a workforce that is less than robust. But that doesn’t mean opportunities are lacking in this economy.

Watch Simon Johnson, professor of entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Business Management, talk about how college grads needs to expand their circle of associates to succeed:

WATCH: Economic Realities for Today’s College Graduates

Meanwhile, Rabbi Steven Leder, the senior rabbi at the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Calif., recommends that college grads “do what you love.” Watch below:

“Do what you love. Work hard at it,” Leder says. “Make enough money that you don’t have to fear other people’s power over you, but use your money to help the powerless.”

WATCH: Next Generation of Leaders Will Be Creative

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

A Kentucky Derby Tradition: Perfecting the Mint Julep

Kelly Hayes — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:32 +0000

Just in time for the Kentucky Derby, here are ingredients and techniques on making the traditional Derby sweet concoction: The Mint Julep

Derby Day.

For me there is no better harbinger of the seasonal change to Spring than the Run For The Roses, the Kentucky Derby.

Known as the “fastest two minutes in sports,” the 139th Kentucky Derby will commence when the bell rings and the gate opens at Churchill Downs on Saturday. A field of 20 horses is expected to charge down the dirt track in front of the iconic Twin Spires in pursuit of history. Over 160,000 spectators will cheer for their favorites. Memories will be made, money will be won and lost, and many of the attendees will spend Sunday salving their well-earned hangovers.

Along with the donning of extravagant chapeaus, and the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home,” one of the more hallowed Derby traditions is the consumption of more than one Mint Julep. This sweet, toxic concoction has led many a race goer to ruin and frankly, the syrupy sweet offerings at the Churchill Downs are about as inviting as a New Orleans Hurricane. Both are merely headaches in a glass.

WATCH: Beer Chicks – How to Properly Pour, Evaluate Beer

But done right the Julep can be a taste of spring. It is all about using the right ingredients and techniques.

Start by buying a bottle of Woodford Reserve, “The Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby” (which is not to be confused with The Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby, a julep made with Early Times, a Kentucky Whiskey). Woodford is an excellent small batch Bourbon and it will make all the difference.
Take a Collins or highball glass, basically a tall tumbler, and add either ½ oz of simple syrup (Homemade simple syrup is easy. Just place a half cup of sugar into a half cup of water, put on a stove and stir until the sugar melts, pour into a bottle and let cool) or two sugar cubes.
Add a few sprigs of mint and muddle (mash) the sugar and the mint together in the bottom of the glass. Let the concoction sit for a minute or two to truly infuse the flavors and aromas.
Next add three ounces of the Woodford Reserve.
Finish it off with crushed ice to the top of the glass and stir vigorously to chill the cocktail. Garnish with a sprig or two of mint.

WATCH: Tropical Prescription – The Painkiller Cocktail

This is basically a Mojito with Bourbon instead of Rum and it will pack a punch. The drink is made for sipping so don’t try to down one in the time it takes the horses to run mile and a quarter.

Good luck.

Want more genConnect?

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of Kelly Hayes’ latest posts, as well as the latest contributions from other experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Economic Realities for Today’s College Grads (VIDEO)

Jack Myers — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:07 +0000

As many college students graduate this month, today’s graduating classes understand the economic realities facing them. High unemployment, job shortages in many sectors, and perhaps not as much room for advancement as they would like, have many recent college grads understanding that a good paycheck is nothing to take for granted these days.

Watch media ecologist Jack Myers, also the author of Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World, talk about economic challenges facing today’s grads and what they are giving up to make sure they are successful in their careers:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

WATCH: A ‘Restructuring of Education As We Know It’

In fact, the generation graduating today is the first since the Great Depression “that hasn’t felt they were entitled to earn more than their parents, to be more successful than their parents, to buy a house,” Myers said. “They understand how challenging and difficult it’s going to be for them going forward, so they’re very focused on their careers. …So they’re less focused on relationships – long-term relationships.”

“They’re focused on their future, they’re focused on building careers … getting internships, and getting jobs that will be meaningful and productive to them,” he added. “That means they’re setting aside long-term relationships for now.”

WATCH: Hooked Up Generation Redefines Family Values

Women, in particular, Myers said, like the idea of having fun with people of the opposite sex, but they don’t want a guy “dragging them down” in their career so early in their lives.

“This is a generation that’s really focused in on long-term relationships later in life,” he said. “In that way, they’re an incredibly mature generation.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Cory Booker: Education Is ‘the Urgency of America’ (VIDEO)

Cory Booker — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:45:49 +0000

The United States needs to get back in the education game if it wants to compete in the world, particularly in the areas of math, science and technology. “In a global knowledge-based economy, you cannot be a leading economy and have a lagging education system,” says Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker. “This is the urgency of America.”

Watch as Newark Mayor Cory Booker discusses how Newark is improving education and how failing to close the racial achievement gap will worsen the U.S. economy:

WATCH: Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Finding Your Gift

Newark is innovating with ideas like establishing more magnet schools, restructuring teacher contracts and incentives, longer school days for underperforming schools and other methods, as well as innovating within neighborhoods.

“We’ve got lots of different models we’re looking at,” Booker said, stressing the importance of parents’ role in reading to their kids and helping them in other educational areas, as well. “This is the kind of thing where all of us have to be involved. …This is all gonna undermine our economy” if we don’t help underperforming schools and close the racial achievement gap.

“Undereducated people cost society … so we’ve really got to attack this with a sense of urgency like we’ve attacked other problems in America.”

WATCH: ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ Boosts Future Scientists, Engineers

Click here for more one-on-one videos with top movers and shakers at SXSWi on genConnect’s new YouTube channel. Subscribe now!

Follow us on:

Tiger Mom Amy Chua: Have Children Realize Their Potential (VIDEO)

Amy Chua — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:45:42 +0000

Amy Chua, best-selling author and Professor of Law at Yale, typically writes about globalization and foreign policy. But in a “moment of crisis” after her teenage daughter rebelled, Chua decided to put pen to paper on a different topic – parenting. Her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, highlights the rewards—and costs—of raising her children using the strict “Chinese” tiger-style approach.

Watch Chua offer tips on how to combine the best of Eastern and Western child-rearing styles:

Growing up with traditionally strict Chinese parents, Chua knows firsthand the differences between Eastern and Western parenting techniques. Although she is grateful and appreciative of her own strict upbringing, she believes there are takeaways from each culture.

“One thing that I think is great for western parents now is this instilling in young kids the ability to focus,” Chua said. “Just a little more self discipline when they’re very young because we live in this age of media bombardment…That the Asian cultures are very good at, instilling this kind of ability to focus.”

Where the Eastern cultures excel in discipline, Western cultures are better at creativity, leadership and thinking outside the box, Chua said.

Chua took her observations and experiences and created a book that explores how the two cultures collide and shares stories and tips that parents of all ethnicities can relate to.

“For me, this tiger parenting thing has nothing to do with achievement or grades,” Amy says. “It’s about helping your child realize their potential – whatever it is. “

For more parenting tips on genConnect, click here

genConnect was credentialed press at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo., where we interviewed the premier speakers and attendees at the conference. For more of our video interviews and articles from the Ideas Festival, click here.

Follow us on:

Chef Carla Hall Dishes About ‘The Chew’, Cookbook (VIDEO)

Carla Hall — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:05:00 +0000

The frenetic energy that characterized the first season of ABC’s “The Chew” has calmed with the show’s five hosts now focused on providing different perspectives for cooking simple, affordable dishes, says Chef Carla Hall. “Mario (Batali) says it best when he says we are five roommates that seriously he would not have chosen … and it works,” Hall told Sissy Biggers during the 2013 Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival. The bespectacled “Chew” co-star dished about the evolution of her show and her novel-like cookbook, “Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You” in the video below:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: What Happens When You Put an Italian In a California Kitchen? (YouTube)

Chef Carla Hall

“The Chew” is just as much a lifestyle show as it is a cooking show, according to Hall. “We also talk more about food as it relates to pop culture and whatever’s in the news,” she says.

The busy chef and television personality is promoting “Cooking with Love,” inspired by her Southern upbringing and Sunday suppers at her grandmother’s house, while working on her second book.

Biggers asked Hall about her signature eyeglasses. “I have nine pairs that I rotate,” Hall says. “I’m going to pick out my glasses like I pick out a necklace or earrings.”

Watch: Carmen Quagliata’s Rise to Restaurant Stardom (VIDEO)

Follow us on:

‘Werk’ Out With Birthday Girl Holly Rilinger (VIDEOS)

Holly Rilinger — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:24:09 +0000

Fitness expert and trainer-to-the-stars Holly Rilinger celebrates her birthday this week with the launch of a new show on genConnect’s YouTube channel, “Werk With Holly,” combined with a little self-reflection and goal setting. “It’s a chance to look back on all the victories over the past year of my life and begin to dream big about the new year ahead of me,” Rilinger says.

Join Holly Rilinger on the journey to fitness — mind, body and soul — by watching the trailer below:

Watch: Get Fit With Holly Rilinger’s 15-Minute Workout (VIDEOS)

Birthday girl Holly Rilinger

Rilinger says she believes in a life of balance, which she applies to birthday celebrations. “I am sure that will include some goodies from Momofuko Milk Bar and a little tequila here and there,” she says. “It will also include a rowdy spin class on May 4 at Flywheel Sports.”

Rilinger’s “Werk With Holly” show on genConnect’s YouTube channel includes tips for targeting problem areas like abdominals as well as advice for staying positive and when to work out.

Rilinger stresses the importance of setting personal goals that are specific and measurable.

“I think they should be realistic … but in the same sense you need to dream big,” Rilinger says.

Watch Holly Rilinger discuss the keys to successful goal setting in the video below:

Rilinger’s birthday festivities last well into the month with “After Hrs,” a May 22 event in New York City that includes an evening workout followed by a dance party. “Work out to a live DJ with me for an hour and then kick the mats aside, grab a drink and dance,” Rilinger says. To register, visit Rilinger’s Web site.

Want more great insight from world-class experts like Holly Rilinger? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Package Your Femininity, Says Matchmaker Lisa Ronis (VIDEO)

Andrea Warshaw Wernick — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:58:37 +0000

Women who are over 50 and dipping their toes back in the dating pool need to “package” their femininity, says New York City-based matchmaker Lisa Ronis in an interview with Andrea Warshaw Wernick of Fab At Any Age. “Get your hair blown, get your nails done, feel great, look great, put your best foot forward because you have one shot,” Ronis says.

Watch Andrea Warshaw Wernick of Fab At Any Age get tips from matchmaker Lisa Ronis:

Andrea Warshaw Wernick

Ronis specializes in introducing upscale singles who are too busy to meet the right partner on their own.

“I think it is so important to look great and feel great when you’re meeting a man for the first time,” Ronis says.

Watch: Get Fit With Holly Rilinger’s 15-Minute Workout (VIDEOS)

Want more great insight from world-class experts like Andrea Warshaw Wernick? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Sleep More, Slash Caffeine Consumption to Speed Weight Loss

JJ Virgin — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:33 +0000

Your neighbor’s barking dog along with the construction crew down the street (do they ever stop working?) kept you tossing and turning till 3 a.m. last night.

Is it a coincidence the scales aren’t budging this morning, even though you’ve been eating clean, lean protein at every meal, working out twice a week with that hot new trainer, and trading the Cosmos for Pinot Noir?

WATCH: Sick of That Muffin Top? Try This New Fat-Melting Technique

I’ve got some unpleasant news. Research at the University of Chicago shows even if you follow a healthy diet and exercise program, not getting eight hours of sleep every night increases your obesity risk. That’s because numerous hormones become out of whack when you don’t get your sleep quota, which can stall fast fat loss and make you a caffeinated mess. Let’s look at a few of those hormones…

Hunger hormones. It’s no coincidence that you’re experiencing an intense craving for crumb coffee cake after only five hours of sleep last night. Ghrelin, a hormone that commands your brain to eat now, increases when you sleep poorly. To balance ghrelin levels, get a good night’s sleep and then start your day with a substantial high-protein breakfast. One study showed a high-protein breakfast reduces ghrelin levels so you stay full and focused for hours. Leptin, on the other hand, helps put the brakes on the brownie cheesecake. When you don’t sleep, you become more leptin resistant and your brain doesn’t get the message to step away from the dessert.
Insulin. Sleep also affects your ultimate fat-storing hormone, insulin. When you eat the protein, good fats, leafy greens, and high-fiber starches, you stabilize blood sugar levels, which eliminates the spike and crash that leaves you hungry and craving donuts your co-worker brought in. Chronically elevated insulin, on the other hand, makes it more difficult to burn fat. The wrong foods aren’t the only thing that raise insulin levels and make you insulin resistant. Long-term sleep deprivation can also make your cells insulin resistant, leading to higher fasting insulin levels. Besides impairing fat burning, these high insulin levels can lead to diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
Growth hormone. You might discover the fountain of youth in your sleep. Not in your dreams, but with human growth hormone (GH), which prevents aging, builds muscle, promotes fast fat loss, and boosts immunity. No wonder celebrities spend thousands a month on GH injections! Sleep helps your body naturally boost GH to help you repair and rebuild. No surprise, then, that a study in the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience found that less sleep means you release less GH.
Cortisol. High levels of your stress hormone cortisol break down muscle and store fat. Your cortisol levels remain high for longer periods when you don’t sleep well. High cortisol burns up your energy-assisting B vitamins and you can’t make the neurotransmitters you need to sleep well. Cortisol also lowers serotonin, the feel-good hormone your brain eventually converts to melatonin for good sleep. Coincidentally, you’ll probably stop by your favorite coffee place for a caffeinated morning pick-me-up, further elevating cortisol. A cup of coffee can raise cortisol levels 30 percent for an hour! Additionally, caffeine can elevate cortisol levels in your blood for 18 hours.

WATCH: Get Fit With Holly Rilinger’s 15-Minute Workout

Break The Cycle with these 7 Sleep-Well Strategies

Getting seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep isn’t always easy. I should know: I manage two businesses and am a single mom to two teenage sons, one of whom was struck by a hit-and-run driver last fall and left for dead. He has miraculously recovered, though even at my darkest hour I still made sure I worked in at least seven hours of sleep because it’s that important for health, wellbeing, and fat loss.

These 7 strategies helped me do it:

1. Power down and unwind. You need to prepare for a solid night’s sleep. The most effective way is to power down an hour before you hit the sack. That “urgent” email from your boss can wait till the morning, and trust me, you’re not missing anything with late-night reruns and talk shows. Put your iPhone on “Do Not Disturb” mode and otherwise turn off electronics an hour before bed.

2. Calm your mind. So you’ve carved out that hour before bed sans electronics. Replace the hour you spent watching Sex and the City reruns with a mind-calming routine. Meditation, a hypnosis download, a hot bath with chamomile tea and a good (not great) book, or deep breathing: find what works for you to slowly shut down your mental chatter so you can drift into a solid night’s sleep.

3. Avoid a nightcap. That second glass of Pinot Noir might knock you out, but it will also make you dehydrated and sleep poorly. If you have a drink with or after dinner, pair it with two glasses of water. Just don’t use alcohol as an excuse to knock out earlier.

4. Limit caffeine. I discussed caffeine’s problems earlier. Especially if you’re a slow metabolizer, a mid-afternoon java jolt can leave you jittery before bed. Keep the caffeine to morning hours and switch to decaf green tea by afternoon.

5. Use a sleep aid if you need it. Your pineal gland secretes melatonin, but as you get older you’re making less of this circadian rhythm-regulating hormone. A supplement can help replenish melatonin levels, which especially come in handy for jet lag or traveling to a different time zone. I also like synergistic blends of valerian, chamomile, and other herbs to help you gently drift into sleep.

6. Stop eating three hours before bed. The 11 p.m. siren call of Ben & Jerrys inevitably crashes your blood sugar (making you an excellent fat storer) and cuts into quality sleep. Follow The Virgin Diet Plate for dinner and call it quits for the day. If you’re hungry before bed, you didn’t do dinner right. You might be thirsty, too. A study at the University of Washington found that one glass of water before bed curbed hunger for everyone who tried it.

7. Keep exercise early (but don’t skip out!). Even at my busiest, I don’t skip my workout, nor do I allow my clients. Exercising too late in your day, however, can leave you wired before bed. Keep exercise during the morning or early afternoon hours.

Want more great diet and exercise advice from world-class experts? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Embrace Your Career’s Serendipitous Path (VIDEO)

Steve Adler — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:30:02 +0000

A career path should not and cannot be totally planned out, says Stephen Adler, editor-in-chief of Reuters News and executive vice president, News of Thomson Reuters. “My entire career was really based on the serendipity of a typo,” Adler says.

Watch the news chief advise job seekers to be open to chance opportunities:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Unemployed? 12 Tips to Make Your Resume Stand Out

Steve Adler

Adler, who says he always wanted to work in newspapers, after college applied to every newspaper in the U.S. with a circulation of more than 200,000.

“But that year there was typo in Editor & Publisher, which is the place that published all the information about newspapers, so I accidentally applied to a newspaper with a circulation of 21,000, The Tampa Times, and it’s the only job I got,” he says.

A contact at the Florida paper led Adler to an opportunity at The American Lawyer, a new publication that sounded interesting to him.

“I ended up there,” he says. “It’s kind of following your passion, but also allowing life to take you places.”

Adler advises young adults to not resist “the serendipitous moment that takes you some place you didn’t think you were going.”

Watch: Economic Realities for Today’s College Grads (VIDEO)

Reuters wants to capture a younger audience by mixing good old-fashioned reporting with its wealth of data in a more visual presentation, Adler says.

“We bring together three capabilities,” he says. “Traditional editorial capability, where people really go out and try to find out what’s going on. Add to that the amazing amount of data we now have in society about everything, about how people behave, about how the economy works. And then layer onto that the new ways to visualize data, so-called data visualization.”

Watch Adler describe how Reuters distributes trustworthy information in an engaging way:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Public Radio Finds Local News Niche (VIDEO)

Columbia University and Thomson Reuters in July announced the launch of the Advanced Data Visualization Project (ADVP) based at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). The initiative, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, will facilitate research into data visualization and its implications for academia and industry in a world increasingly awash with data.

At Reuters News, journalists continue to do real reporting. But then they take it a step further by bringing the reporting together with data sets and looking at ways to create a visual presentation, Adler says.

“That will allow young people who do see the world in a more visual way and are looking for quicker hits to get information that’s not only easy to access but also highly trustworthy,” he says.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

‘Spicy Wit’ Tackles Race, Stereotypes With Humor (VIDEO)

Amanda Cole — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:10:44 +0000

Actress, musician and Brown University senior Amanda Cole is one of the stars and producers of “Spicy Wit,” a new mockumentary-style Web series launched in a dining hall at the Ivy League school that tackles issues of race and social justice. “We have found that it’s almost in a sense easier not to talk about it in an effort to stay politically correct, than to risk having us slip up and revealing a potential bias,” Cole says. “Our executive producer, Nick White, really perfectly put it that ‘it’s in those slip-ups that you find the comedy.’ So that is what ‘Spicy Wit’ is based off of.”
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Kenneth Cole: ‘Battle of amfAR’ Will Inspire (VIDEO)

Alex Nation (Lauren Neal), described as a mixed-race girl trying to fit in, endures a lecture on the benefits of yogurt from Clarissa (Amanda Cole) in a scene from “Spicy Wit.”

Cole plays Clarissa, described as a “Hot White Girl.” The character has created an independent study course, Poverty Studies, which requires she intern for the university’s dining services to gain insight and real-world exposure to work-study. Clarissa often makes cringe-worthy gaffes about race and socio-economics.

Watch: ‘Lost Generation’ Needs Mentors (VIDEO)

The producers describe “Spicy Wit” as a cross between the “erraticism and non-sequiturs of ‘Family Guy,’ the mock-umentary style of ‘The Office,’ the attitude of ‘Awkward Black Girl,’ and the absurdity of the nightly news.”

“Satire has a lot of potential to be a really productive component of this conversation,” Cole says.

The conversation about race and stereotypes begins with each episode and continues online. “Once you get fired up, then on the Web site we want to have a component that’s an action component: What are the facts? What are the stats? How can I get involved? What are different ways I can get involved?” Cole says. “We also have a blog that we’re going to be blogging as our characters on certain examples of race-related issues in popular culture.”

View even more film festival interviews with actors, directors, musicians and celebrities on genConnect’s Sundance Festival Playlist on YouTube.

Connect With Us On:

3 Easy Ways to Meditate During Menopause

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:33 +0000

You’ve seen the pictures before: A woman sitting cross-legged, her hands gently resting on her knees. She looks so peaceful. Ooooom.

That looks as attainable as a state of Nirvana and about as believable of one as Narnia, right? Think again. A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that meditating for just 12 minutes a day improved the moods and even increased the working memory of Marines during deployment. I’m betting that if men and women can find peace through meditation when heading into war zones, you can find peace during whatever’s waging war on your mental health (aka plummeting estrogen levels, menopausal weight gain, and, of course, the stresses of daily life).

“The same traffic jam can have widely divergent effects on the bodies of the people sitting in it. If we react as though we are being chased by a lion all day, every day, eventually those adaptations start to work against us,” says Josh Trutt, MD, an expert from PhysioAge Medical Group in New York City. Menopause stress can contribute to memory loss, weight gain, osteoporosis, and even sagging skin! Basically, it can make us old!

Luckily, calming your heart can seriously quiet all that stress buzzing through your mind. Consider this: According to Trutt, the heart secretes a hormone called atrial natriuretic peptide, which affects the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Also, every time the heart beats, it sends a pressure wave through the arteries. When that pressure reaches the brain, the brain’s electrical activity actually changes, he says. In other words, your heart can help control how your body responds to stress.

“The heart’s electromagnetic field is by far the most powerful produced in the body; it’s about 5,000 times stronger than the one produced by the brain,” Trutt says. “The heart’s field not only permeates every cell, but can actually be measured eight feet away by magnetometers. Thus, it is quite literally true that people near you can be impacted by your ‘heart’s energy.’ It turns out that meditating does something very different from just relaxing,” he says.

“When we relax, our heart rate slows down,” Trutt continues. “But when we meditate, the interval between each beat of our heart changes and becomes smoother. That interval between each beat is called Heart Rate Variability (or HRV), and smoothing it out is what lets those Yogi masters live longer—in fact in 2010 the American Journal of Cardiology reported that maintaining a healthy HRV as we age actually predicts longevity!”

So now that you are motivated to meditate, here are three quick and easy meditations from Andy Puddicombe, founder of GetSomeHeadSpace.com, for finding menopausal bliss:

On the road: Flip road rage the bird! Sit up straight and focus on your butt pressing against the seat. Start by listening to the sounds around you—the wheels on the road, the purr of the motor—then focus on each of your other senses for a minute. Next, tune into them all, letting them come together in your mind like the parts of an orchestra. And here’s the key: Instead of seeing yourself as being affected (aka stressed) by it, think about how you are a part of this ever-changing environment.

During lunch: Do you eat your lunch—or inhale it? If you’re busy (and who isn’t?), lunch can become just another thing you multitask. Instead, consider being a bit more mindful of your meal. Before digging in, spend a couple of minutes doing nothing, just relaxing and leaving the day’s stress behind. Then, make like an “Iron Chef” judge and actually pay attention to what you’re eating. How does the food taste and feel in your mouth? How does it make you feel?

In bed: Lie in bed with your eyes closed (easy!). Now, rather than pass out (or toss and turn if that’s more your style), breathe deeply. Starting at your toes—and working all the way to the tip of your noggin, focus on each body part. Relax each muscle like you’re powering down your phone before a flight.

Related: 5 Natural Ways to Get Healthy

You don’t need to have candles and incense lit in order to meditate. You can take a no-frills approach to meditation; it can become part of many happier, healthier, and stress-free days to come.

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Is it hot in here or is it just you? Get discounts on great menopause products, courtesy of EllenDolgen.com. Available now: cooling clothes, a sleek and discrete chargeable fan, a “Hot Flash Havoc” documentary, and a natural menopause relief formula. Enter promo code “ellend” to save serious cash!

Let’s hang out! Join Ellen the first Monday of every month at 8pm EST/5pm PST for her Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts: Where the Sisterhood helps the Sisterhood. You can ask Ellen your menopause questions at this free online event! Details here ––>

Party in person! Ellen’s hosting a Menopause Mondays Live Event June 3 at 5pm PST at Burlap Restaurant in Del Mar, California. Click here to RSVP.

Supporting military families: On May 10, Ellen will be speaking at Military Spouse Appreciation Day on Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) along with other medical professionals and wellness experts on a variety of topics that affect women’s health and wellness. In addition to these attendees, and with the assistance of They Serve 2, a non-profit dedicated to supporting military service families, Ellen is able to donate thousands of copies of her book, Shmirshky: think inside the box to spouses of servicemen and servicewomen as well as civilians supporting the military.

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

‘The Big Wedding’ Interview With Actress Patricia Rae: ‘There Was So Much Estrogen on the Set’

genConnect Staff — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:11:32 +0000

gC had the pleasure to chat on the phone with actress Patricia Rae, who plays Madonna in the new romcom “The Big Wedding.” In movies nationwide on April 26, the film has a megawatt star-studded cast, including Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, and we could continue to drop names but let’s hear what Patricia has to say about the film.

I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful experience, the movie was the biggest budget project I have been on. The big icons were gracious and were like family. Everyone was available and open to the process and was very prepared. “It was like a dream job,” said Patricia, who plays the biological mother of the groom. The character is also a devout Catholic and thinks divorce is a sin (so it’s decided to hide from her that her son’s adopted parents are no longer wedded). “I think what’s great about the film is that it’s going to reach so many demographics because of the wide range of actors”

genConnect: How was it like working with other strong Hollywood women (such as Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl)?
Patricia: It was wonderful, everyone had a different process and to be in company of such a female-driven film, it was really cool. “There was so much estrogen on the set. Katherine brought her daughter to the set, Diane brought her daughter to the set, Amanda brought her dog, and I brought my daughter. But there weren’t any divas on set”. In the make up trailer everyone would come and say, ‘good morning, how are you,’ and we all had several dinners together. It’s weird because you get so close and you’re playing family members and then it ends and you never see any of them again.

gC: Did any of the women on the set give you any good advice or tips?
Patricia: I just like to watch Diane at work. She’s got an interesting process. She likes to dialogue as a character before she goes on camera. She never told me this but what I learnt from her is that she creates her own space just by wearing headphones. It gives her a private area, right before she goes on camera, right before an emotional scene. Having music that really sets the tone and sets a memory connection of what the character is feeling. You can use that to help the actor reach the emotion of the character in the scene.

gC: What was it like playing a strong Columbian woman? How did it feel like to be able to draw experiences from a heritage you know first-handed?
Patricia: My grandmother was very traditional. She was Catholic, we went to Sunday school, had to pray before bed and so I was very familiar with this process. My mom was super modern and she did not go to church every Sunday and she had me out of wedlock. She had me when she was 19. I had a big spectrum of what it was like to be ultra modern and ultra conservative and I could draw from both types of experiences. I think my character is so conservative because she did go through a phase as a younger woman and she did make mistakes. I thought this is my mother and grandmother! For South Americans, having children out of wedlock can tarnish the family name and my character had carried that burden and made up for it in the extreme way; she worked for the church, she was very religious. This helped her deal with her guilt. “I was extremely proud of being able to portray a Latin women who was not a victim and was able to portray a strong sense of self that is not common in TV in America”. We victimize Latinos on television. The younger generations get to play Americans but the older generations usually play immigrants.

gC: You look great so I’m sure living a healthy lifestyle is important to you.
Patricia: “I would like to reiterate that you are as old as you feel and the more proactive you are in the aging process, the more control you have with your health and state of mind. Embrace it but don’t stand back and don’t let gravity take over”

gC: What is your favorite healthy Columbian dish?
Patricia: Columbians eat a lot of meat, they are a cattle nation so healthy over there means fresh produce. They do not eat processed or fast food. The biggest meal of the day is lunch, so rice and beans and salad and they drink a lot of soup. Sancocho is a big stew with a lot of root vegetables, potatoes, onions, chicken and beef. It is a thicker version of chicken soup because the root veggies add starch and they eat it with rice and salad.

gc: If you could pick one thing you think women do not do enough of, what would it be?
Patricia: Exercise and drinking water. I find that the more I exercise, my stress levels lower and I need to take less medication and supplements to help me out with my menopause. “Stress is pent up energy so when you get rid of it the body balances itself”. That will take care of so many issues especially if you have insomnia, it helps with tension. I realized my hips started to lock because I was holding a lot of emotion in my hips so yoga and stretching before bedtime helps me sleep better.

From left to right: Muffin (Christine Ebersole), Don (Robert De Niro), Ellie (Diane Keaton), Nuria (Ana Ayora), Madonna (Patricia Rae) and Lyla (Katherine Heigl) in THE BIG WEDDING. Photo credit: Barry Wetcher

5 Tips for Getting Back Into the Dating Game This Spring

Jackie M. Lee — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

After this long and weary winter I know, like me, you are itching to shed those winter clothes and ready yourself for the Season of Love. A lot of people tend to go into ‘hibernation’ mode during the cold winter months with promises to self of ‘I will snap out of it when the weather gets warm.’ Well, the time is here and now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.

I find that setting realistic and attainable goals, whether they are short-term or long-term, is the best game plan if you want to accomplish anything in life, and that also certainly pertains to love.

Here are my 5 tips to getting you back into the dating game:

Set a Goal: Goal setting is the #1 way to accomplish anything. This is the starting point because this will drive your actions. Without direction of where you want to go, that’s comparable to driving without a road map or clear directions of how to get from point A to point B. You might eventually get there, but probably with many detours, rerouting and backtracking. And for me, it means a lot of wasted time and energy that could be better put to use in actually getting to where you want to go. (Love Example: I will go to 10 new places to meet eligible men).
Make an Intention List: You would be surprised to learn that setting your intentions on something, like for example, losing a certain number of pounds by a specific date, will get you there faster than just having a ‘pie in the sky’ attitude about it. For me, my intentions drive my actions. And as you well know, just thinking about it and mulling over it is far less effective than stating your intention about a specific goal and giving yourself a deadline. (Love Example: I will meet 5 desirable dates by May 1^stby being more approachable).
Write a Commitment Letter: Writing things down always has been proven to be a powerful tool in accomplishing anything in life and this holds true for your love life, as well. I’ve found that when I write a commitment letter to myself and sign it, it becomes more concrete and tangible as opposed to just a promise I make to myself. I print out my commitment letter, sign and date it and post it on my fridge or somewhere I will see it every day. This will serve as a reminder of what my goal is and keep me on track in fulfilling that promise and keeping the commitment to myself.
Progress Report: Keeping a progress report that charts your efforts will give you a visual of how far you’ve come and how far you have to go to meet your goal. This is an incredibly powerful and motivating technique that I’ve found invaluable when I want to succeed. Make a daily progress report with the following: a) Goal for the day, b) Was it done, c) Course of action if you did not meet your daily goal and a new due date, d) Initial the new due date and move forward. This will allow you to have off days but not to allow you to wallow in your misstep. There is nothing worse than beating yourself up when things don’t go as planned. Just assess where you went wrong, acknowledge it, make a new plan and move FORWARD.
Jackie Lee
Reward: I’ve found that having a payoff, whether it be buying that pair of killer shoes I’ve been eyeing, or splurging on a massage, always keeps me motivated, especially on those days when your energy is sapped and you begin to rationalize why you don’t need to keep track on your commitment. It doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive, but something tangible and something you really want that makes you feel special. Ultimately it is whatever that will keep you motivated to succeed.

Want more great relationship advice from world-class experts like Jackie Lee? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Facebook’s ‘Mighty’ Crowdsourcing Capabilities Boost Charity (YouTube)

Matt Jacobson — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:30:55 +0000

Facebook has topped 1 billion users across the planet, making it a huge platform for philanthropic efforts.

Matt Jacobson, who has been with Facebook since early 2005 when the platform had just 2 million users and is now head of marketing at the company, said its growth has been “amazing.” And not only does Facebook give back to the community, but it provides a platform for all users to give back, as well.

“We’ve created a really vital platform that allows companies to build programs on that platform. We’ve seen companies small and big build really interesting philanthropic campaigns,” Jacobson said. Watch Jacobson talk more about the growth of Facebook, and how organizations and companies can use Facebook for charitable efforts, and his advice for recent graduates on how to get jobs in digital media:

Companies like JP Morgan Chase use Facebook on a semi-annual basis for crowdsource philanthropy campaigns, which are wildly successful. Crowdsource philanthropy allows participants and donors to weigh in on where charity dollars should be spent.

“I think this idea of crowdsourcing your philanthropic efforts, or crowd sourcing the way you want to give back to the community in light of [Hurricane] Sandy or in light of [Hurricane] Katrina, in light of kind of big things that happen in the world, have been really mighty,” Jacobson said. “It makes me feel great that our platform is being used that way.”

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more one-on-one interviews with experts and leaders in business and social media, sex and relationships, health and beauty, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Can You Fix Your Sexual Performance Issues? (YouTube VIDEO)

Dr. Alan Altman — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:30:50 +0000

Do you have sexual performance issues? What about your partner? Well, rest assured, you aren’t alone - and your problem is not on without a solution.

Watch Dr. Alan Altman, a perimenopause, post-menopause, natural hormonal therapy and women’s sexual function and dysfunction specialist, discuss the connection between the mental and physiological connection in sex:

WATCH: Dr. Alan Altman – A Female Viagra

Want more great advice from experts in relationships and sexual health? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more on these topics and others, and glean wisdom from many more of life’s experts!

Connect With Us On:

How to Become an Internet Sensation (VIDEO)

Jack Myers — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:30:51 +0000

Ever wonder how people become famous with their Internet videos? Those overnight Internet sensations have inspired many to want to become famous the quick way via YouTube or other Web sites.

Watch media ecologist Jack Myers, author of Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World, talk about how the three big ways to become a YouTube star:

WATCH: Tim O’Reilly – Is YouTube the New Hollywood?

“Anyone under 20 today believes they can have their 15 minutes of fame, because it’s so readily available on YouTube,” Myers said. ”It’s not just the Brittany Spears and the Paris Hiltons of the World … we’re seeing more and more of those celebrities coming up through Funny or Die (comedy video web site) or many of those other Web sites.

“The real opportunity is for anyone to be famous. Cats and 6-month-old kids are becoming famous on the Internet. The opportunity is there for those who want it. The question is, just how outrageous you have to be.”

WATCH: Privatized Social Networks the Next Big Thing?

Want more great career advice from world-class experts like Jack Myers? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Catalina Island: A Pacific Playground

Merilee Kern — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:30:03 +0000

Courtesy of Catalina Chamber of Commerce

Just 22 miles off the Southern California coast, Catalina Island has long been regarded as a Pacific paradise where families, romantics, adventurers and business folk come to stay and play. The island’s idyllic small beach town charm is just a quick boat ride away from fast-paced city life. Whether venturing over for a day, a weekend, or longer, Catalina Island is teeming with leisure and adrenaline-pumping activities suitable for adults and children, alike.

WATCH: Cruisers Seek Luxury, Exotic Ports in 2013

I recently jaunted over Catalina Island for a three-day family sabbatical where we enjoyed the perfect mix of lodging, lounging, learning, dining and entertainment. Below is a print-ready overview of our itinerary should you want to replicate the experience for your own unforgettable Catalina Island escape.

Day 1:

9:50 a.m.: Depart to Catalina Island from Dana Point on Catalina Express

Catalina Express whisks you off to Catalina Island in just a 60-minute journey from Dana Point among other ports of call that include San Pedro and Long Beach. The company’s fleet of modern, high-speed luxury catamarans and mono hull vessels offer a comfortable ride with airline-style seating both inside and out, large view windows where you can catch a glimpse of dolphins in their natural habitat, and light refreshments available for purchase. The upper deck features a premium-priced Commodore Lounge, offering upgraded leather-trimmed seats, overhead storage, priority boarding and complimentary beverage and snack service. The further upgraded Captain’s Lounge seats up to 8 passengers or it can be used as a hostess center for larger groups. This option also includes priority boarding, plush upgraded seating, and complimentary beverage.

Watch: Looking For an Intimate Vacation Spot? Consider Belize (VIDEO)

11:30 a.m.: Check-in for three nights at the Pavilion Hotel

Courtesy of Catalina Chamber of Commerce

Located just a five-minute walk or quick taxi ride from the dock where the Catalina Express disembarks, you will arrive at the newly renovated Pavilion Hotel. Its new design is now centered around the lush garden courtyard area that feature semi-private lanais for the ground-level rooms accessed through large French doors. There are also public lounge areas off the courtyard, including a large fire ring and both closed and open-air, ocean-view lounges adjacent to the front lobby.

The boutique property, perfectly situated on the main drag directly across from the beach and pier, has 71 rooms in all with two suite options—the accommodation of choice for my recent visit. All of the now upgraded rooms feature HD flat-screen televisions, iHome MP3 players, complimentary use of iPads and upgraded in-room coffee and tea service.The show stopper for the suites, however, is the incredibly large, French door-accessible balconies overlooking the garden and, beyond, a spectacular ocean view. What I particularly loved about this property is that every booking comes with complimentary daily Continental breakfasts well as a late afternoon wine and cheese event that is quite the draw.

1:30 p.m.: Play mini golf at Golf Gardens

Located just off of the Tour Plaza and a mere block off the waterfront, Golf Gardens is a great way to spend the afternoon. This appropriately challenging 18-hole mini golf course attracts players of all ages—it takes about an hour to play all of the holes. Immersed in plant life and with bubbling streams throughout, the course is very beautiful and serene. It is open every day, year round.

4:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.: Indulge in complimentary wine and cheese happy hour at the Pavilion Hotel

As mentioned above, this happy hour event takes place each evening at the open-air lounge and features an assortment of wine and cheese that can be enjoyed as dusk sets in. It’s a wonderful way to get the evening started and also enjoy the spirited and communal atmosphere among the guests this event fosters. Of course, there are also non-alcoholic beverage selections for the kids!

WATCH: New Digital Tools to Aid Your Travel Experience (VIDEO)

6 p.m.: Enjoy casual dinner at The Lobster Trap
Located one block away from the Green Pier, The Lobster Trap is a casual eatery that features fresh seafood fare as well as appetizers, poultry and beef entrees, sandwiches and pasta. There is even a menu for the kiddos with all their favorites! During the summer, Friday and Saturday nights feature live music to accompany your meal.

Day 2:

8 a.m.: Take advantage of complimentary continental breakfast at the Pavilion Hotel

This Continental breakfast is decidedly well done with a surprisingly broad selection of fresh fare. Offerings include fresh pastries, muffins, and breads; hard boiled eggs; peanut butter; and exceedingly fresh fruit (the juiciest mangoes I’ve ever had) as well as fresh juices, Starbucks coffee, and milk. This is a great way to fill up and fuel up for a busy day around the Island!

11:00am: Catch Santa Catalina Island Company’s Undersea Expedition Semi-Sub Tour Expedition.

The tour leaves from the Green Pier and takes about 45 minutes. Kids and adults will love traveling five feet under water in this semi-submersible boat’s climate-controlled cabin with windows around the perimeter. Here passengers revel in the beauty of Catalina’s marine life. This undersea adventure reveals all kinds of ocean dwellers, including sharks and sea lions, and even comes with a colorful Fish Finder Guide to help accurately identify the various types of fish encountered. An informative guide also conveys interesting facts about Catalina and its ocean environment throughout the tour.

12:30pm: Treat yourself to ice cream and saltwater taffy at Lloyd’s of Avalon.

When it’s time for a little energy boost or just simple indulgence, head over to Lloyd’s of Avalon—a fixture on the island for decades. A big picture window provides a hypnotizing view of the taffy-making process in action, while the rest of shop is loaded wall-to-wall with all types of goodies, including a multitude of self-serve candy bins, an ice cream counter as well as caramel apples, chocolates, cinnamon rolls and much more.

2 p.m.: Experience the exhilarating East End Adventure

This two-hour tour provides an unprecedented view of the entire island, the ocean, and the surrounding facets of nature. You’ll climb into an open air H1 Hummer and wind your way up to 1,500 feet above sea level to enjoy spectacular views all the way back to the mainland. The tour also includes rugged interior

terrain and the opportunity to catch sight of local wildlife (like the majestic buffalo and mule eared deer seen during our tour) and stunning and fragrant trees, plants, and flowers of various types. You’ll even stop by the Island’s exciting Zip Line Eco Tour where brave souls propel down 5 separate zip lines dropping from 500 feet to 60 feet above sea level. Throughout the East End Adventure tour, a knowledgeable and engaging guide drops fascinating factoids about nearly everything in sight—from local businesses to bugs to the Island’s rich history with the Wrigley family—all along the way.

WATCH: T+L Editor Nancy Novogrod – ‘Travel Is a Change Agent’

4:30-5:30: Return for more nibbles at the Pavilion Hotel’s complimentary wine and cheese event

It’s time to get refreshed and shift gears for the evening’s activities, and starting with a lovely wine and cheese plate or two is a fabulous way to start…or to wind down after a busy day traversing the Island.

6 p.m.: Enjoy a casual dinner at Antonio’s Pizzeria & Cabaret

As a fixture on the Island for nearly two decades, this family-style restaurant offers all the Italian pizza and pasta favorites plus steak, seafood and chicken entrees, burgers, soups and salads not to mention a menu just for the kids. Then there is the assortment of tempting desserts. The waterfront restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating that’s a great place to eat, people watch, gaze at the boats and watch the sea lions swim about.

Day 3:

8 a.m.: Fill up on the complimentary Continental breakfast at the Pavilion Hotel

Get ready for the day with another delicious breakfast al fresco at the hotel as the island starts to stir.

12 noon: Enjoy lunch overlooking the ocean at the Descanso Beach Club

Located one cove past the landmark Casino Ballroom is the Descanso Beach Club, which is about a 15-minute seaside walk from the center of town. This ocean-based bar and restaurant offers casual beach fare like peel-and-eat-shrimp, salads, and burgers as well as signature tropical cocktails. The Descanso Beach Club is the perfect locale to sip a fruity libation, grab a bit to eat, and bask in the beautiful Avalon sun and scenery while enjoying Caribbean-style music.

2 p.m.: Go fishing off the Green Pleasure Pier

Located at the foot of Catalina Avenue is a 300-foot-long pier built all the way back in 1920.This is the perfect spot to enjoy fishing as gear is available for rent. Among other things, you can also rent paddle boats, outboard motor boats, and diving equipment as well as arrange other excursions like the Glass Bottom Boat Voyage from the pier.

4:30-5:30pm: Take in one more complimentary wine and cheese hour at the hotel

Time to enjoy one last go at all the delicious cheeses, wine, and drinks for the kiddos. Selections change nightly so the event remains interesting each and every time.

6 p.m.: Enjoy an upscale dinner at Avalon Grille

Conveniently located on Crescent Avenue at the foot of the Green Pier, this popular Avalon eatery features American regional dishes with a seasonal menu where everyone in the family is sure to find something they love. Pick your spot on the outdoor patio to enjoy the scenery, or sit indoors in the elegant yet cozy dining room as you recount the wonders your Catalina adventure.

On the evening of my family’s visit, our spectacular starters were the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with cranberries, almonds, pancetta and honey mustard; as well as the Black Mussels served with roasted garlic in a savory broth and served with grilled ciabatta bread. Our entrée selections consisted of the cooked-to-perfection Grilled Pacific Salmon plated with roasted fingerling potato and a fennel purée topped with an orange vinaigrette; amply portioned Shrimp and Mussels Scampi atop pasta tossed in a garlic-laden tomato sauce; and a to-die-for Scallop with Wild Mushroom Risotto. For dessert, the decadence continued as we sampled the Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake with Cabernet berries; Vanilla Bean Cheesecake served with a citrus syrup and raspberry coulis; Port Wine Poached Pear with Sable cookie and ricotta mousse; and the fabulous Caketini comprised of orange spongecake, poached black berries, and crème anglaise drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was sweet ending to the perfect weekend getaway!

Day 4:

9:45 a.m.: Depart from Avalon to Dana Point on Catalina Express

Settle in to a comfortable seat while the boat whisks you back to reality.

Even though our vacation was brief, this itinerary provided the perfect balance of relaxation and revelry. And, while much ground was covered relative to the Island’s family-friendly activity options, the destination offers so much more. There are a wide range of day and night tours and activities to suit everyone’s interests, including golf, the casino, copious expeditions, rock climbing and a wide selection of divine dining. No matter how you choose to spend your time on Catalina Island, it’s sure to be a retreat to remember.

~~~

“The Luxe List” Executive Editor Merilee Kern scours the luxury marketplace for exemplary travel experiences, extraordinary events, and notable products and services. Submissions are accepted at www.LuxeListReviews.com. Follow her on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/LuxeListEditor and Facebook here: www.Facebook.com/TheLuxeList.

***Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above were provided at no cost to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way.***

Want more great travel and leisure advice from world-class experts? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for expert videos on health, relationships, career, charity, and lifestyle.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Grilled Cheese Month: 50 Ways to Serve It Up (VIDEO)

Laura Werlin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:30:21 +0000

April is Grilled Cheese Month – as if you need another reason to slap together creamy cheese and toasted bread for a melt-in-you mouth meal. But there’s much more to grilled cheese than cheese and bread. Cheese guru Laura Werlin, author of Grilled Cheese, Please!, offers up 50 tasty twists on the age-old favorite. Click here to watch.

Werlin not only offers up a host of grilled cheese recipes, but her latest book, Mac & Cheese Please! 50 Super Cheesy Recipes, offers up 50 mouth-watering recipes. Like, how about adding kale to your dish? Watch Werlin talk to genConnect at the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine fest about the success of her book and why there’s a mac & cheese for everyone:

WATCH: Carmen Quagliata’s Rise to Restaurant Stardom

Follow us on:

Understand Your Own Love Map

Rachel Sussman, LCSW — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000

Rachel Sussman, a licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, founder of Sussman Counseling and author of The Breakup Bible, offers 8 tips and tools for understanding your own personal love map.

There are many coincidences in life, but few coincidences in love. You might have met him by chance, but there is a reason you chose him among others, and there are other reasons yet that determined the trajectory of your relationship, breakup and grieving process. In order to explore these factors you need to examine what genetic/biological, social/cultural, and psychological factors from your earlier life influenced our partner selection, romance, and grieving period. I call this exercise “creating your personal love map”.

From the moment you were born, your personal love map was formed. This map contains data that is unique to you, and deciphering it holds massive chunks of information that will help you achieve validation and full recovery from your breakup or divorce. Through the process of creating and interpreting your love map, you will finally have the complete story about every aspect of your relationship.

See the excerpt below from The Breakup Bible: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Healing from a Breakup or Divorce on tips and tools for understanding your own personal love map.

1. Our personalities are formed through the inﬂuence of three separate yet interrelated components: biology, psychology, and socialization. This is called a “biopsychosocial” perspective.

2. A young child needs to develop a secure relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Without this secure love, children can have psychological and social impairments that will undoubtedly affect how they feel about themselves, whom they choose as romantic partners, and how they operate in relationships.

3. Our childhoods and parental relationships fall within an intricate attachment spectrum that encompasses three distinct styles: Assured attachment, ambivalent attachment and avoidant attachment.

4. Identifying which attachment style best describes your upbringing holds many clues that will explain why you picked your ex as your love partner, how you performed in the relationship, and your break-up behavior.

Rachel Sussman

5. As we grow up we develop an orientation to new attachment ﬁgures, both friends and lovers, who have remarkably comparable personalities or traits with our original caregivers.

6. When we search for partners who have comparable unfavorable traits with the parent(s) that we had an ambivalent or avoidant relationship with, and then hope to change them to ﬁll emotional voids in ourselves — this is called repetition compulsion.

WATCH: Rachel Sussman on How You ‘Can’t Rush a Breakup’

7. If you participate in repetition compulsion and have early unidentified abandonment issues, you are primed to suffer a horriﬁc double abandonment during a breakup — the old unresolved loss from your emotionally abandoning parents (or other painful past unresolved circumstances) and the brand new abandonment from your current lover. This is “abandonment depression.”

8. If you feel you are suffering from repetition compulsion and abandonment depression, acknowledging and healing your old wounds is of extreme importance on your journey to recovery.

Excerpted from The Breakup Bible: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Healing from a Breakup or Divorce Copyright @ 2011 by Rachel A. Sussman, LCSW. Reprinted by Permission of Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

For more from Rachel on genConnect: How to Meet the Right Partner

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of Rachel Sussman’s latest posts, as well as the contributions from other experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Women Need to Decide for Themselves What ‘Balance’ Is (VIDEO)

Susan Isenberg — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:40:26 +0000

With Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg calling on women to “lean in” to their careers and Princeton professor Anne-Marie Slaughter calling on companies and workplaces to offer more flexible work environments for working moms, the question of whether women can really “have it all” has been debated much of late.

At Edelman, a privately-held company, CEO Richard Edelman has set a goal that by 2016, 50 percent of senior leadership positions at the company are to be filled by women. GWEN (Global Women’s Executive Network) was then established at Edelman branches around the world to help women get the tools they need to advance at the company. Watch Susan Isenberg, Vice Chair For Global Health for Edelman, discuss GWEN and whether women can “have it all”:

WATCH: Sheryl Sandberg on Women, Career & Motherhood

“It’s about changing policy, it’s about career pathing, mentoring and education,” says Isenberg, who is on the GWEN steering committee. “And the education part isn’t just for women, it’s for our male colleagues as well, so that they can be better equipped to advocate and sponsor women into senior-level positions.

Isenberg said the issue of work-life “balance” often comes up in the GWEN sessions. But the definition of “balance” is a very personal one each woman has to figure out on her own.

“You have to really decide for yourself what’s important and how to prioritize what that balance looks like,” she said. “Every day’s a choice. You have to prioritize and you have to make choices. I do think it’s a hard thing to do.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Beer Chicks: How to Properly Pour & Evaluate Beer (VIDEO)

The Beer Chicks — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:30:36 +0000

Ever wonder how to get the perfect pour for your favorite beer? And how can you tell whether you’re drinking a good, quality beer, or the cheap stuff with no substance?

WATCH: Why Beer Is for Everyone

Watch The Beer Chicks, renowned beer sommeliers Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, demonstrate how to properly pour and evaluate beer, below:

WATCH: Beer and Cheese – A ‘Match Made In Heaven’

Whether it be flavors like coffee or chocolate, good beer is all about the aromatics, as much as the taste.

“Please treat beer like anything else – think about what the flavors are, think about what it tastes like,” says Beaune.

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with top chefs and sommeliers from the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine fest, as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Nemo on Parade! h2go Surprises City Dwellers (VIDEO)

genConnect Staff — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:34:04 +0000

Some New Zealanders recently got a break from their ordinary day when the team behind h2go flew a remote-controlled school of flying, inflatable clownfish around town and filmed people’s reactions. “Every day should be different, not so every day,” says the narrator in the whimsical YouTube video below. “Add some color with h2go.”

The clownfish caper is part of h2go’s launch of water bottles designed by artists like Adrian Clifford and Steve Scott.

Click here to learn more.

Today Is Lovers’ Day; Tips to Enhance Your Relationship

Stacy Geisinger — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:30:24 +0000

This article is courtesy of Stacy Geisinger, the personality and infamous blogger behind StaceyKnows.com

Some couples may feel lucky enough to believe that every day is “Lover’s Day,” but for everyone else, April 23, or “Lover’s Day,” serves as a nice reminder to put the spark back into your relationship.

Lover’s Day is the perfect time to take time out of our busy schedules and remind your partner what he/she means to you. In honor of Lover’s Day, below please find a few “Tips for Enhancing a New or Existing Relationship” along with statistics and data from LifeStyles recent Sexual Satisfaction Survey that support these ideas:

1) Build a Strong Foundation First

It’s cliché to say “the best relationships always start out as friendships…” but honestly – this is often true. Even a physical connection is typically much better with someone you know, like and trust over a person you just met out at the bar. And although it may seem like casual hookups and one night stands are taking place everywhere, promiscuity is actually overrated (and over reported). In reality, Americans aren’t sleeping around as much as the media may portray. In fact, about 50 percent of males (49 percent) and females (48 percent) from LifeStyles Sexual Satisfaction Survey have had fewer than 4 partners in their lifetime.

2) Mix Things Up (In and Out of the Bedroom)

No matter how much you love your partner and enjoy his/her company, everyone likes to feel appreciated. Whether you decide to mix things up by surprising your significant other with concert tickets to her favorite band or courtside seats for his favorite team, the gesture will not go unappreciated. If you’re trying to do something to keep the spice alive behind closed doors, don’t count out toys. LifeStyles survey finds that 55 percent of females want to incorporate sex toys into their bedroom behavior, and 26 percent of them already do. Guys wouldn’t mind getting in on the action either, with 59 percent reporting they’d like to take females up on this offer.

3) Be Direct About Your Wants and Needs in a Relationship

Oftentimes in a relationship it is easier to say nothing than to rock the boat (this is usually especially true of women.) Your partner is not going to recognize or acknowledge an issue unless you express how you are feeling. Open communication can also be helpful in the bedroom – 51 percent of men say they openly talk to their partner about sexual fantasies while only 46 percent of women can say the same.

4) Don’t Turn Into the Paranoid Partner

For a relationship to succeed, you must make the conscious decision to trust your partner. Constantly accusing them of cheating, going through their phone or emails to find evidence of cheating, etc. can often create a problem that never even existed. And the good news is – fidelity is not dead! According to LifeStyles Sexual Satisfaction Survey, more than three-quarters of respondents (77 percent) have never cheated on their significant other, and the same number still wouldn’t cheat, even if they knew they wouldn’t get caught.

Click here for the original story on StaceKnows.com, the go-to guide for all things current and trendy in the suburbs of Westchester County, The Hamptons, and beyond.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Follow us on:

Tip to Succeed in Advertising, Marketing: ‘Love It’ (VIDEO)

Shelly Lazarus — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:30:28 +0000

It’s not difficult to break into the advertising business, but if women want to truly develop their careers in the industry, they must love what they do and they must be authentic, says Shelly Lazarus, chairman emeritus of Ogilvy & Mather. “It’s a relatively open door,” Lazarus says. “Anyone who is interested and really has some degree of creativity and likes creativity can enter it. The more challenging thing is, how do you then develop your career?”

Watch Shelly Lazarus describe tips for women who strive to succeed in the advertising industry:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: How to Be Successful in Advertising, Branding (VIDEO)

The pioneering advertising executive reshaped the portrayal of women in Ogilvy & Mather’s campaigns for Maxwell House. Under her leadership, the agency landed Coca-Cola, American Express and IBM as clients. In 2004, Ogilvy & Mather launched the award-winning Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

Lazarus offers two important tips for women interested in careers in advertising, marketing and brand management:

“Make sure you love it,” Lazarus says. “The people who succeed tend to be the people who don’t think about it as work, who actually just love what they do and are excited about getting to the office every morning. That’s how I always was. It was just so interesting to me.”

Her other tip?

“You have to be an authentic person,” she says. “You have to be passionate about ideas. Don’t hold back. If you really believe strongly in something tell the creative people, tell the client. Go out there and just fight for the ideas. It’s amazing how people respond when you do that.”

Watch: Embrace Your Career’s Serendipitous Path (VIDEO)

Connect With Us On:

Sensor Data Reveals Effective Behaviors, Influencers (VIDEOS)

Ben Waber — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:30:43 +0000

Employee evaluations will become a lot more constructive with the use of data from electronic sensing devices, says Ben Waber, president and CEO of Sociometric Solutions. Waber’s team has developed a technology that collects information about employee interaction through the use of sensors worn during the work day. “What really makes people happy and productive is communicating with other people,” Waber says. “By looking at the data we can see who’s talking to who.” Watch Ben Waber discuss how employers use data to create opportunities for productive behaviors:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Sensor Badges Analyze Your Happiness at Work (VIDEO)

Ben Waber

Waber says productivity tends to increase when employees interact with co-workers from different teams or departments — think spontaneous chats at the coffee area. “With this sort of data I can say if you talk to one person in a different group you will be 10 percent more effective,” he says.

Behavioral data can also be used to help people understand what’s influencing them and help them understand how they can influence other people, Waber says.

“If I spend a lot of time with you, if you buy some product, intuitively I am more likely to buy that product,” he says. “But the question is: what kind of products?”

Watch Ben Waber discuss how sensing software can look at who you’re spending time with and where, and how that influences what you buy.

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Women in Communications: Get a Sponsor, Be Successful (VIDEO)

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Without Ruining My Waistline

Judy Weitzman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:30:14 +0000

Wrigley Field/ Cubs.com

Once upon a baseball season, I discovered a way to cut a few calories by simply ordering from the right person. There are so many culinary speed bumps at stadiums but there are ways to enjoy the games without expanding your waistline.

When my husband and I go to Cubs games at Wrigley Field, I usually come prepared with either Tootsie Roll pops or See’s suckers. They both last a long time and keep my taste buds happy. They also keep me from indulging in the typical stadium fare like hot dogs, big fat pretzels, cotton candy, peanuts or beer. It boggles my mind how fast the calories and fat grams add up while you are watching a game. It can be any sport, at any stadium, the treats are pretty much same across the board.

WATCH: Get Fit With Holly Rilinger’s 15-Minute Workout

A regular 16-oz beer is about 193 calories and a 16-oz lite beer is 147 calories.

For the record, a stadium hot dog rings in at 488 calories, which is about the same as a large soft pretzel. Luckily, the mustard used for dipping is free! Peanuts are lethal. A bag of peanuts in the shell has over 1,000 calories and over 100 fat grams. My arteries hurt just thinking about it. Beer is not a problem if you limit your consumption and order a “lite beer.” It is not cool to stack your cups to show how many ‘brewskies’ they have downed, especially since a regular 16-oz beer is about 193 calories and a 16-oz lite beer is 147 calories. Any of these items are okay to eat/drink as long as you limit the portion sizes and limit how many items you eat at the game. Another factor is how you eat the balance of the day.

For a healthy food choice I saw Greek salads being sold and eaten last summer. However, I have a vision of a foul ball coming my way and watching olives, veggies and feta flying in the stands. Not pretty.

In recent years they have added soft serve ice cream to the treats offered at Wrigley Field. They serve the ice cream in adorable little plastic Cubs’ hats … so cute. This is where I found a new way to cut calories. On a hot day I find the soft-serve treat to be very satisfying but since some stadiums do not offer a low fat version, I usually share my ice cream (and the calories) with my hubby. One day I went to the counter to order and when the skinny little server gave me my cup, it seemed like a skimpy amount. My first reaction was a feeling of being ripped off. How can they charge five bucks for such a small portion? After I thought about it for a minute, I decided it was a good thing since it would be fewer calories. A week later I was at another game and went to purchase my new-found favorite treat at Wrigley. This time I was at the game with my nephew and I once again planned on sharing it with him. I ordered my vanilla soft serve in the cute little cup and this time the cup runneth over.

‘Diet Coach’ Judy Weitzman

Drum roll please … when I looked up, I observed the server was a much larger woman than at the last game, she was tipping the scales at well over 300 pounds. I pondered what just happened on the way back to my seat and came to the realization that to this server, this was a reasonable serving. I must admit I appreciated the extra ice cream but was haunted by all of the extra calories. Luckily, my nephew has a good appetite and was able to finish this ample serving. So, in my unscientific survey, what I learned was that thin people eat smaller portions; therefore, serve smaller portions. Larger people obviously have a distorted perception of what a proper portion should be.

WATCH: Sick of That Muffin Top? Try This New Fat-Melting Technique

In the future, when you go to a concession stand, if you are trying to eat healthy, my advice is to always order from the thinnest person available to ensure you receive an appropriate serving of what you are ordering. And I hope your team wins!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Earth Day 2013: Tell Your Story in Images (VIDEO)

Kenji Williams — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:30:17 +0000

Kenji Williams performing Bella Gaia

Today is Earth Day – a day when more than 1 billion people in 192 countries from London to Sao Paolo, Seoul to Babylon City, New Delhi to New York, Rome to Cairo are participating and taking action to help depict this year’s theme: The Face of Climate Change.

WATCH: Film as a Change Agent – A ‘Weapon of Mass Construction’

Earth Day Network, which coordinates Earth Day each year, is collecting images of people, animals and places affected by climate change and global warming, as well as images and stories from people doing their part in the fight against climate change. An interactive digital display of the images is being shown at thousands of events around the world.

“This interactive mosaic is depicting the very real impact that climate change is having on people’s lives and uniting Earth Day events around the world into one call for climate action,” said Franklin Russell, director of Earth Day at Earth Day Network. “The stories we’ve collected so far have been inspiring.”

WATCH: Extreme Weather of Our Future ‘Puts Us In Harm’s Way’

What are you doing for Earth Day? Tell your story and upload a photo here.

Bella Gaia, a 70-minute collaborative film between NASA and award-winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams, combines music, art and science to convey the delicate interconnected balance of our planet, and hopefully, encourage people to save the Earth from the effects of pollution, climate change and the rising human population. Watch Williams talk about his work with NASA to present earth science in a new way:

Williams first got involved with NASA after he presented earth science visualizations to a score of music he composed. “The scientists were blown away seeing their own work and research in a completely different context,” Williams explained. “They really understood my pitch … that you really have to present science in an engaging way that captures our right brain and left brain.”

Then, Bella Gaia, which means “Beautiful Earth,” was born. The multimedia journey of our world expresses the beauty of planet Earth as seen through the eyes of astronauts by successfully simulating space flight. Watch Williams further explain the mission behind Bella Gaia:

WATCH: 6 Words for the Planet: What Are Yours?

Follow us on:

5 Natural Ways to Get Healthy This Earth Day

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:30:44 +0000

Think your hot flashes are bad? Take a look at Mother Nature’s thermostat!

Worldwide, the last decade was the warmest in history, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Things are expected to heat up even more in the years to come.

Luckily, cleaning up the planet can go a long way toward cleaning up your own health–especially during menopause. Here are five ways to protect both your health and Mother Nature’s health:

1. Recycle Your Worn-Out Shoes

It’s no secret that running is a great way to fight menopausal weight gain. But if your kicks are worn out, you could be risking injury. Switch them out every 300 to 500 miles, advises Brooks Sports. Depending on how often you hit the pavement, or even the gym class floor, that could mean you need to schedule a shopping trip every couple of months. (Score!) But don’t just throw out your old shoes. Recycle them! Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program turns worn-out athletic shoes (of any brand) into courts, playgrounds, and tracks, helping to save space in both closet and landfills nationwide. Since 1990, the program has given new life to more than 28 million pairs of shoes. Find drop-off stations or a mail-in address at nikereuseashoe.com.

2. Wrap It Up

Every year, about 10.4 billion condoms wind up in landfills, according to the United Nations Population Fund. But don’t go unprotected to help save the planet–even if you think your baby-making days are over. Women can get pregnant all the way through perimenopause, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. If you are not in a monogamous relationship, remember sexually transmitted infections are risky business no matter the number of candles on your birthday cake. Luckily for your sexual health, natural latex condoms–which contain fewer chemicals than their polyurethane counterparts–degrade more quickly than other types. Some brands even specialize in eco-friendly sex. GLYDE ethical and vegan condoms, for instance, are made with natural ingredients, aren’t tested on animals, and are endorsed by the Vegan Society, PETA’s Caring Consumer program, and Ethiquette.

3. Stay in the Shade

Give your yard the gift of shade: The average tree can remove about a ton of carbon dioxide emissions throughout its lifetime, according to American Forests. Plus, trees can reduce house temperatures in the summer, while allowing the sun to warm the house in the winter, both of which can slash your energy use big time. Even better, if you stay in its shade, you can prevent sun damage–which is responsible for up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If vanity isn’t your thing, consider this: Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Each year, more 26,000 women develop melanomas of the skin, which prove fatal for more than 3,000 of them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

4. Soak in a Tub

Every shower you take uses about 12 gallons of water, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Sounds like the perfect excuse to soak in a nice warm bath–maybe even with a special someone! It only uses about nine gallons of water–and is pretty darn relaxing, too. What menopausal woman wouldn’t benefit from a little R&R? After all, between 50 and 60 percent of all medical issues originate from stress or stress-related events, according to Dr. Jeff Brown, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Great Health. What’s more, women with the highest levels of stress are more than five times (five times!) more likely to suffer hot flashes than are normally stressed women, according to a six-year study published in Menopause.

5. Get Gardening

Ellen Dolgen

Swapping just one lunchtime burger with a plant-based meal saves 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, 133 gallons of water, and 24 square feet of land, according to the PB&J Campaign. But don’t just hit the produce aisle. Homegrown veggies are the freshest (and some would argue, healthiest) ones you can eat. Plus, gardeners eat more produce than non-gardeners, according to recent research published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers found that while only 25 percent of non-gardeners met their recommended daily allowance of at least five servings of fruits and veggies a day, 37 percent of home gardeners and 56 percent of community gardeners succeeded in hitting their produce goals. Bonus: All of the digging, pulling, trimming, and just plain tromping around required to maintain a great garden is guaranteed to keep you breaking a sweat.

Whether you went through the tree-hugging hippie phase in your youth–or always considered daily showers necessary, it’s never too late to show Mother Nature some love. After all, it’s up to us to help keep her healthy for our daughters and granddaughters! And if it can help keep us healthy for them, all the better!

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Is it hot in here or is it just you? Get discounts on great menopause products, courtesy of EllenDolgen.com. Available now: cooling clothes, a sleek and discrete chargeable fan, a “Hot Flash Havoc” documentary, and a natural menopause relief formula. Enter promo code “ellend” to save serious cash!

Let’s hangout! Join Ellen the first Monday of every month at 8pm EST/5pm PST for her Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts: Where the Sisterhood helps the Sisterhood. You can ask Ellen your menopause questions at this free online event! Details here ––>

Party in person! Ellen’s hosting a Menopause Mondays Live Event June 3 at 5pm PST at Burlap Restaurant in Del Mar, California. More details coming soon.

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Want to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint? Hold the Cup

Jennifer Schwab — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:30:02 +0000

Photo courtesy of Russell J. Smith via Creative Commons license.

This Earth Day – and every day – here is one easy thing you can do while taking to the skies to help the planet: Ditch the plastic cup

If you’re jet setting to some spring break paradise or planning your summer vacation to somewhere far, far away, sustainability may be the last thing on your mind. But as you take your seat and prepare for take-off, consider one simple way you can reduce your footprint, even while you’re burning your weight in fuel: skip the plastic and maybe even the paper, too.

Somewhere over the Grand Canyon at 30,000 feet, I was sipping from a plastic cup of cool water. The flight attendant swept by in short order with a plastic bag to collect the “trash.” Not an hour later, along comes the metal cart (keep your knees and elbows in if you’re on the aisle) with another drink service, and another hard plastic cup, including the funky-smelling, sandpaper-like logoed napkin. So what was wrong with the previous ones? I’d sipped from the cup which was completely unscathed, and never touched the napkin. I would have been happy to hold onto both for an hour to re-use for the refill. Even if I switched to soda, so what?

I understand that this customer service is part of any good flight attendant’s routine, but why such a wasteful system? Shouldn’t airlines default to conserving and reusing, rather than encouraging who-knows-how-much waste before we even touch back down to land?

Sierra Club Green Home staff reached out to some prominent airlines in hope of some answers. We asked simply, “Why use so many plastic cups, and what happens to them when the plane lands?” The response was less than impressive. Many of the airline PR departments talked about recycling programs in varying degrees, as well as their commitments to reducing carbon footprint and saving energy. Most of these initiatives target energy efficiency programs like reducing volume of jet fuel consumed — an appropriate goal indeed.

Despite the overall lack of sufficient response, Liz Landau of US Airways, Corporate Communications, did have some answers for us. Here are excerpts from our dialog with Landau:

How many plastic cups are thrown away on an average, full capacity, longer distance domestic flight?

On a longer 757/A321 segment, we use an average of 350 cups for a full flight (includes two beverage services).

Why aren’t customers asked to reuse their cups, or better yet, just take the cans on long flights?

We don’t usually ask customers to reuse cups due to hygienic/health risks associated with flight attendants handling the cups a second time. Additionally, if customers choose to switch beverages, they might not want to mix their leftover tomato juice with a soft drink.
As it relates to cans, pouring allows another opportunity for our flight attendants to provide excellent customer service. From a cost perspective, pouring into the cup does save money as we can generally provide two customers with beverages from one can.

We appreciate US Airways’ detailed explanations, and we commend their list of sustainability practices that isn’t included here. This still brings to mind, though, that the average of 350 cups used per flight is multiplied thousands of times per day throughout the world. As we know, clear hard plastics can last for decades as they just don’t degrade.

Consider this as an opportunity to take matters into your own hands. If airline CEOs and sustainability directors aren’t opting for a solution that favors cutting costs (fewer cups) while cutting down on plastic, you can choose the solution for them. Next time you need a shot of carbonated caffeine while in the air, tell the flight attendants you want just the can, no napkin. This is how we will make the world more sustainable — one small, but in this case significant, step at a time.

Follow us on:

Goldie Hawn’s MindUP Program Spreads Globally

Goldie Hawn — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:30:33 +0000

Goldie Hawn and MindUp students

Ten years ago, I had a dream to find a way to help our children acquire tools for life to become more self-aware, learn to regulate their emotions and gain greater emotional resilience to face this increasingly complex world. I am so excited to share with you where The Hawn Foundation is today and what our plans are for the future with our signature program, MindUP.

MindUP is an evidence-based social and emotional curriculum now serving tens of thousands of children each year globally! Dreams do come true and MindUP continues to grow on five continents, changing children’s lives around the world. Thank you for helping us make MindUP the extraordinary success it is today!

WATCH genConnect’s interview with Goldie Hawn on how MindUP transforms kids’ ability to learn

Growth & Progress…

I am very pleased to introduce our new and talented CEO Kim McNatt who has been working with our boards, corporate partners and educational alliances. She is leading our teams, creating our strategic map for scaling and our progress has been terrific with our new on-line training platform, new animation tools, new parent workshops, health and wellness applications, special education adaptations and new corporate partners. It’s exciting to see this all coming together on our journey to take MindUP global. And to better serve multi-cultural needs in schools and different regions, MindUP is now being translated into Spanish and Chinese!

Hawn Foundation UK

The Hawn Foundation UK launched last year and has already educated over 7,000 children throughout 23 schools in the London area. I just returned from London where our second annual UK fundraiser at Annabel’s was held, raising enough funds to address the waiting list for double the amount of schools. By the end of next year we will have reached more than 20,000 children in the UK!

In Canada, our team has accomplished exponential growth over the last 10 years. The school board in Vancouver has been an advocate of MindUP from the very start and that top down support for our SEL initiative has helped us tremendously. Across the United States, we continue to expand, launching and working with some of the largest school districts in the country. Our U.S. sistrict superintendents are very positive and supportive, helping us further expand MindUP across the country.

We launched Australia two years ago and interest in MindUP is still growing. We have made alliance partners there that are supporting our training efforts. Graham Watts, our global Education Director continues to lead this charge.

Our progress in Hong Kong is incredibly exciting, as we are in the early stages of embarking on bringing MindUP to the Pacific Rim and throughout Asia. We are currently piloting six schools and interest is growing, thanks to Justine Roche, who helped bring MindUP to Asia and continues to work with us on our expansion there.

WATCH: FEED USA Expands Global Charity to American Kids

One of my biggest dreams was to bring MindUP into Africa where children who have suffered violence, emotional loss and post-traumatic stress in war torn regions could benefit from MindUP. This summer, we will have MindUP in Uganda for the first time, being researched by a University who is collecting data to see how it can help the children become more resilient and move forward with their lives. This is only the beginning and I am thrilled!

These dreams have no global boundaries and they define our future. And I am always inspired by MindUP and the way it creates whole child wellness, reducing stress so they can be happy, imagine and innovate for a better world.

I believe that all children are born brilliant with endless potential. We must help them maintain their wonder, curiosity and nurture their optimism in the school environment, giving them the chance to thrive and succeed. A child who is stressed cannot learn. A child who is happy can. This isn’t just scientifically proven. Every child deserves to be happy.

I recall a visit to a fifth grade classroom. I asked the kids the question,” How does MindUP help you?” So many kids talked about stress, it brought tears to my eyes. I took a breath to steady my emotions and asked, “What makes you stressed?” I heard many things… home life; fathers who were no longer living there; fear of test taking; inability to sleep. One child said that MindUP helped him be less angry. “My best friend pushed me hard on the playground. I was really mad but I walked away, took a brain break and some breaths and then thought if I pushed him back, he wouldn’t be my best friend anymore.” “Good one” I said. “You made a really good choice!”

Now, if only some of our world leaders could think critically and constructively and take a brain break? Maybe we will get there. I hope so!

It’s good to visit with you. I invite you to join us to help our children thrive.

Be well and don’t forget to breathe!

Follow us on:

‘Lost Generation’ Needs Mentors (VIDEO)

Peter Edelman — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:01:24 +0000

Young people on the “cradle to nowhere pipeline” need adults in their lives to provide guidance, says Georgetown Law professor Peter Edelman. Edelman, author of So Rich, So Poor: Why It's So Hard to End Poverty in America" target="_blank">So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America, refers to millions of unemployed young adults as the “lost generation.”

“If you’re in the inner city and have been going to totally lousy schools for your whole life, and you see too many people who are going off to prison … it seems like an impossible distance to get from here to there,” Edelman says. Watch Peter Edelman describe why the “lost generation” needs mentors:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Boys to Men? ‘Guyland’ Now Comes In Between (VIDEO)

Peter Edelman

Edelman describes the “lost generation” as “young people who are low-income, disproportionately African American, Latino, Native American who are just not getting from here to there in their lives.”

Mentors are key to breaking the cradle to nowhere pipeline, he says.

“The most important thing … for young people growing up, and it’s true of all of us, is to have some adult in our lives, whether it’s our parents, a teacher, or somebody else who is our mentor, who gives us guidance, somebody whose shoulders we can stand on,” he says.

Watch: Top Civic, Business Leaders Live Out Henry Crown’s Legacy (YouTube)

For Edelman, Senator Robert F. Kennedy provided mentorship and inspired the Georgetown Law professor’s antipoverty advocacy.

“He cared very deeply about people who were left out in our society, and especially in terms of race,” says Edelman, a former top aide to RFK. “He was an inspiration to me about caring about people who were not fully included in our society.”

Follow us on:

Pervez Musharraf Arrested; Why He Wants to Lead Pakistan Again (VIDEO)

Pervez Musharraf — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:30:21 +0000

Pakistani police arrested former President Pervez Musharraf Friday over his 2007 suspension of the constitution and mass firing of senior judges. The arrest of the former military chief who ruled the country for almost a decade is unprecedented. Musharraf called the case “politically motivated” and fled court Thursday to avoid being detained.

Last month, Musharraf returned from years of self-imposed exile in an attempt to make a political comeback and lead his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party into the general election next month. But his candidacy was rejected easier this week; Musharraf responded in a video on his Facebook page, and called the action “selection bias.” Musharraf recently talked to genConnect about why he wanted to lead Pakistan again, saying that under his leadership, Pakistan’s economy stabilized, and the people had pride and confidence in their country, and now, “one sees a lack of confidence they suffer from. People want to leave the country – this is terrible.” Watch Musharraf talk about why he wants to lead Pakistan once again, and how to diffuse the factors that fuel terrorism:

Related: Terrorism — The Health Threat?

Those factors play a huge part in why Musharraf wanted to return to Pakistan for the elections. The four-star general who became head of Pakistan in a military coup in 1999 before becoming president in 2001, resigned in 2008 when faced with the threat of impeachment from opposition parties. He has been living in exile ever since, as Pakistan has issued a warrant for his arrest as a “proclaimed offender” in the assassination case of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

“I know the country has potential and has the resources to stand on its feet and be a proud nation,” Musharraf said. “The country is being run into the ground.”

Musharraf hopes to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League party’s campaign in Pakistan’s 2013-scheduled elections. His cause, he added, is “bigger than myself – a cause where I am prepared to take risks for the country.”

WATCH: Dr. Richard Haas – We Have to Restore ‘America’s Power’

“My vision is to have a Pakistan – moderate, progressive, dynamic country – where people are happy, living happily with their living standards improving,” he said. “That is what I would like to see.”

If successfully prosecuted, Musharraf would be the first former army chief to go to prison in Pakistan’s 65-year history. He is expected to appear before an anti-terrorism court in the next 48 hours. At issue is whether to publicly try Musharraf for treason at a time when the uneasy nation is heading into national elections on May 11; there’s some concern that a trial and punishment could cause problems between the courts and the army. He wrote a message on Facebook Friday to supporters:

I have today brought an end to the mass distraction and media frenzy generated by the unwarranted act of the Islamabad High Court. The allegations leveled against me in the detention of judges case could not be further from the truth and were filed against me by an unrelated individual eight months after the alleged act; not even one of the alleged aggrieved judges is the petitioner.

These allegations are politically motivated and I will fight them in the trial court, where the truth will eventually prevail. PM

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Food & Wine: 25 Years of ‘Best New Chefs’ (VIDEO)

Christina Grdovic — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:45:08 +0000

Food & Wine Magazine’s The People’s Best New Chef awards honor exceptionally talented men and women who are pushing culinary boundaries in America. Being selected as a “Best New Chef” is not only a great honor, but being named on of the chosen ones by Food & Wine can help catapult one’s career in the restaurant business.

WATCH: What Happens When You Put an Italian In a California Kitchen?

Watch Christina Grdovic, Vice President and Publisher of Food & Wine, talk about 25 years of choosing the Best New Chefs, how being selected as “best new chef” helps propel the careers of the chosen ones, and how the magazine looks for new culinary talent, during a behind-the-scenes interview at the Alumni Dinner & 2013 Pebble Beach Food & Wine:

WATCH: The Plumed Horse – ‘Temple of Decadence’ in Silicon Valley

The 2013 Best New Chef is Brendan Gill of Hitchcock in Bainbridge Island, Wash. Why? “Because his cooking is the best possible version of a refined and well-traveled French grandmother, making as much by hand and using as many local ingredients as possible,” according to Food & Wine.

“The farmers really drive the menu. I just buy what they give me… It’s of the moment.” Gill says. “This is more like what Jacques Pépin’s mom did than some kind of revolution.”

Regional “Best New Chef” winners are: Matthew Accarrino, California; Josh Adams, Great Lakes; Jose Santaella, Gulf Coast; Cedric Maupillier, Mid-Atlantic; Carl Thorne-Thomsen, Midwest; Andrew Taylor & Mike Wiley, New England; Dale Talde, New York Area; Brendan McGill, Northwest & Pacific; Roderick Bailey, Southeast; and Matt McCallister, Southwest.

Follow us on:

A Letter to Those Affected by the Boston Marathon Bombings

Allison Daily — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:30:04 +0000

When I first heard the news about the bombing at the Boston Marathon my heart broke. It broke for the people who died and were hurt, for the families and loved ones, for everyone involved. It broke my heart for all of us because an event like this not only makes no sense, but it hits at the core of our being and the need to feel safe. Who could imagine why someone would do something like this? What would possess someone to hurt so many, affect so many lives? SO I decided to write them a letter.

WATCH: Kenneth Feinberg – You Can’t ‘Calculate What Your Loved One Is Worth’

To Anyone Affected By or Involved in the Boston Marathon Bombing,

There are no words I can give you at this time but my deepest sorrow for this horrific event and how it has changed your life. To say ‘I’m sorry’ seems like so little yet along with that goes the promise to stand in a place where I will keep you in my heart and ask that you feel the power of thoughts and prayer from those all around our world.

Everything about you must be shaken to the very core of your being.

One of the kindest things you can do for yourself right now, is find a place where you can feel safe. Surrounded by those you trust and care for,allow yourself to feel every emotion that consumes you. Allow all of the emotions to flow and judge none of them. In releasing them and finding safety within and around, you take back what this horrible person robbed you of.

WATCH: ‘Valentine Road’ Director – I Wanted to Bear Witness to Shooting of Gay Teen

Grief and loss is a process and for each one it looks differently. Let yourself find your own road.

It’s too early to understand any of this. Truthfully, we may never understand it. The pain of this experience is different for each of you. Trust in your love, for yourself and for this hard world. All of us are holding you in our arms.

Allison Daily

In love, Allison

WATCH: Former Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff – ‘My Job Was About Risk Management, Not Risk Elimination’

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for other videos with experts on sex and relationships, career and business, health and fitness, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.

To stay on top of the latest contributions from Allison Daily and our other experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

5 Things to Do Instead of Have an Affair

Dr. Marianne Brandon — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:00:34 +0000

Let’s face it – the incidence of affairs is only increasing. Research suggests that 25 percent to 70 percent of people have an affair in their lifetime. It’s hard to get exact numbers because it’s such secretive behavior, and people don’t want to admit to it. Plus, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to even define what constitutes an affair – for example, sexting with a co-worker, or developing an online sexual relationship, or establishing a strong emotional connection with someone even if there is no physical contact. In spite of their increasing frequency, affairs are usually extremely destructive to committed relationships. Oftentimes, the desire to have an affair takes people off guard. They typically don’t intend to cheat on their partner.

WATCH: How to Deal With a Selfish Lover

If you are struggling with an urge to have an affair, here are some things you can do to avoid taking that critical and often very damaging step:

1. Talk to your partner realistically

Tell your partner that you want to strengthen your bond because you want to prevent infidelity. Keep in mind that all romantic relationships require ongoing attention. As people age, it is natural for emotional and sexual needs to change. Re-assessing your union periodically can help you grow together rather than apart. What aspects of your connection can use some work? How can each of you love each other better? What do each of you need that you aren’t getting? Exploring these issues from a loving place will help to thwart a crisis in the future.

WATCH: Why Powerful Men Have Affairs

2. Intensify your sexual relationship

Sometimes people have affairs because they feel that their sex lives have become stagnant. Couples commonly get stuck in sexual ruts. Obviously, dull and predictable sex is not particularly desirable. To avoid boredom, you have to periodically stretch your sexual boundaries. Experimenting with new things can help keep your sexual relationship interesting. Try playing with light bondage, blindfolds, or dramatic music. Stepping out of your sexual comfort zone on occasion will help keep your sex sexy.

Want more relationship and sex advice? Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel here!

3. Go to a strip club together

Unfortunately, monogamy is not necessarily natural for primates – human primates included. In spite of feeling a strong love for their partner, some men and women still long for sexual variety. Because of the increasing opportunities for sexual stimulation provided by modern technology, people are tempted to cheat more than ever. Why not harness these desires and use them to fuel the passion between you? Some couples find that going to a strip club together gratifies a need for sexual variety while still maintaining fidelity and trust.

4. Intensify your heart connection

Sometimes what motivates people to cheat is a need for a stronger emotional bond. Women long to feel cherished, men long to feel appreciated, and everyone wants to feel loved. Life is stressful, and it is all too easy to become distracted by your many daily responsibilities while neglecting your significant other. Enrich your heart connection by making more eye contact while making love, focus on all the reasons you love your partner before you

Dr. Marianne Brandon

are intimate, kiss lovingly and tenderly rather than offering mere pecks on the cheek, or write your partner a love letter. Allow for the sense of exposure that comes with acknowledging your love for your partner, because vulnerability can enhance intimacy.

5. Role play

Role playing during sex is another way to indulge your natural need for sexual variety while cultivating a monogamous bond. Couples can have fun playing doctor, photographer and model, blind date … the possibilities are endless. There are multiple websites where adults can obtain inexpensive costumes to enhance a role play experience. People resist role playing because they fear they will feel stupid at first. But if the alternative to feeling silly is feeling guilty and ashamed for cheating on your partner, feeling silly is a much better choice.

Follow us on:

CISPA Vote in House This Week Amidst Cyber Security Concerns (VIDEO)

Mike McConnell — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:30:21 +0000

CISPA – the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – is supposed to make it easier for private companies to share threats to cyber security with the government and to help defend U.S. industries and corporate networks from cyber attacks by foreign governments, terrorist groups and other criminals.

But President Obama has said he will veto the bill if it get so his desk in in its current form. CISPA – which some say will infringe upon privacy more than any other bill since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2008 – is expected to to the House for a vote this week, but opponents argue that the bill would let the government access users’ personal information without a warrant. Although a House passed an amendment that aims to addresses the privacy and civil liberty concerns about the bill by establishing civilian agency control (through the Department of Homeland Security) over information shared under CISPA, bill opponent say it doesn’t go far enough. Facebook even weighed in.

Many agree that much needs to be done to bolster cyber security in this country, and make it easier to share threat information. American research and development, source code, and innovation is “literally being bled out of the country at a terabit level,” and the U.S. needs to raise the cyber security bar to further prevent economic espionage, the vice chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton and former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell told genConnect. Watch McConnell talk about how to boost our cybersecurity defenses and the state of America’s intelligence program:

WATCH: Former Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff – ‘My Job Was About Risk Management, Not Risk Elimination’

Mike McConnell, who oversees Booz Allen Hamilton’s growing cyber business, said nation states have stolen America’s cyber secrets and in the area of cyber security, the United States is incredibly vulnerable.

“As the world has become more connected, particularly in the United States, there’s a high level of vulnerability, particularly critical infrastructure,” said McConnell, who served as DNI under both Presidents Bush and Obama. ”For example, electric power, telecommunications electronic banking and so on. As we’ve benfitted from the information technology revolution … the fact it’s connected increased our level of vulnerability.”

The intelligence community, in the U.S., however, is the “best and strongest in the world,” he said. ”While I was in it I believed it was the best and when I got to lead it, I was absolutely convinced – assured – it was the best. That said, there’s room for improvement.”

Although America has historically not maintained a strong intelligence community, that has changed since World War II and through the Cold War, and the need was reinforced even more so after the Sept. 11 attacks.

WATCH: Jane Harman on Lessons Learned From Sept. 11

“America has a leadership role,” McConnell said. “With our ethics and values of democracy and human rights and so on, if you’re going to be influential in the world, you need to know what’s going on in the world.”

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for other videos with experts on sex and relationships, career and business, health and fitness, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from Mike McConnell and our other experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Carmen Quagliata’s Rise to Restaurant Stardom (VIDEO)

Carmen Quagliata — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:30:30 +0000

From outstanding wines by the glass, dining at the bar and seasonal ingredients obtained from the farmers market right outside its doors in downtown, New York City, and a mission to support its community, the Union Square Cafe has changed the restaurant landscape in New York City and across the country.

Carmen Quagliata, executive chef of Union Square Cafe – part of Union Square Hospitality Group – says he learned to cook from his love to eat. At the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Quagliata talked with Sissy Biggers for genConnect and explains how he went from dishwasher to the Culinary Institute of America, to becoming Executive Chef and Partner of Union Square Cafe. Plus, how Union Square and the food industry helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York. Watch:

WATCH: The Plumed Horse – ‘Temple of Decadence’ In Silicon Valley

Follow us on:

Women in Communications: Get a Sponsor, Be Successful (VIDEO)

Renee Wilson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:30:26 +0000

It’s so important for women to pay it forward, particularly nowadays, when the job market is so competitive, says Renee Wilson, president of the North American communications arm for MSLGroup, Publicis Groupe’s flagship strategic communications and engagement network.

“There’s so much opportunity and women have so many natural leadership skills and abilities. We would be crazy not to push more women forward in leadership roles,” Wilson said.

Watch Wilson talk to genConnect about how more women need to be in leadership positions, how their skills and qualities make them great assets in communications fields, and how women are more gatherers of information than hunters:

WATCH: Porter Gale – Networking Is Not a ‘Transactional Game’

“The biggest thing for women to recognize in the workplace is, it’s important to have mentors, but it’s really important to have sponsors,” Wilson said. A sponsor is someone who will help navigate your career and help pave the way for you, as well as to ensure you are considered for leadership positions along with the men.

And what advice does Wilson have for women who are trying to successfully break into the communications field?

WATCH: Women Need to Decide for Themselves What ‘Balance’ Is

“You want to be the one to solve the problems,” she said. “You should look for the problems and get yourself associated with them. Take the calculated risk, raise your hand, volunteer for the problems. If you can be the one who turns it around, you’re golden.”

Click here for more one-on-one videos with top movers and shakers at SXSWi on genConnect’s new YouTube channel. Subscribe now!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Film As a Change Agent: A Weapon of Mass Construction (VIDEO)

Louie Psihoyos — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:30:03 +0000

When it comes to encouraging people to help save the oceans and the planet, film can play a vital role in changing minds and spurring action.

Watch Louie Psihoyos, executive director of the Oceanic Preservation Society, talk about how film can affect change for the better:

WATCH: ‘The Cove’ Director Louie Psihoyos Recalls Covert Mission to Tell Story of Dolphin Slaughter

“We sort of live by the premise that … a few thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has,” Psihoyos said. “Film is a very, very powerful weapon – I call it a weapon of mass construction. It’s a way to change culture in a mass way. You have 90 minutes to change peoples’ minds and their hearts and that’s a really powerful position to be in.”

Follow us on:

Boston Marathon Attacks: Getting Through a Tragedy’s Aftermath

Mindy Cassel, Ph.D., C.T. — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:30:21 +0000

In the wake of the Boston Marathon attacks, three people are dead and more than 150 are wounded. Of those wounded, about 30 are considered “code red,” which means there’s a possibility they could succumb to their life-threatening injuries. Some of those who survived had entire limbs blown off, shrapnel wounds, and perforated eardrums; the street on which the Boston Marathon finish line sat was littered with body parts after dual blasts went off on what is one of the most enjoyable days for Bostonians and visitors who descend up on the city on Patriots’ Day for the nation’s oldest marathon. Observers and medical experts say the injuries look like those sustained in a war zone.

WATCH: Don’t Discount Biological Terrorism Threat

Dr. Mindy Cassel, Ph.D., C.T., Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Children’s Bereavement Center and a licensed psychologist and certified thanatologist, said events like this not only impact those who were directly involved, but the entire community. She offered insight as to how parents and specialists can talk to children and others involved in such tragedies.

Oftentimes, in discussions following tragedies, people both young and old benefit from talking in groups, Dr. Cassel said, a way of “giving voice to those who need to share their experience, ask questions (even unanswerable questions), and revisit the events in order to process this experience and attempt to make sense of this senseless act.”

“What many fail to realize is that for some of those involved, this discussion may need to be ongoing; there is no quick fix for such an overwhelming experience or the trauma that is attached to it. Being part of a horrific event like this is like being in a war; those involved are all victimized and need to regain a sense of control over their lives.”

Dr. Cassel said that while it may be an opportunity to discuss future safety measures – whether it be a school attack or attack like that in Boston – talking the event and the aftermath through “becomes a means to regroup and ultimately heal.”

“Finally, for those who are mourning the loss of friends and family members, long-term grief support groups – and for some, individual bereavement support – are important tools to assist the adjustment to both the trauma and loss. For these individuals, it will take considerable time, and a community of both professional support and fellow grievers to learn to live with this profound loss.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of Mindy Cassel’s latest posts, as well as the contributions from other experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Don’t Discount Biological Terrorism Threat (VIDEO)

Dr. Richard Besser — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:15:46 +0000

A volunteer helps a 78-year-old runner knocked down by the blast; Photo: Ken McGagh/for Daily News and Wicked Local

As America woke up to still nearly no new news regarding the attacks on the Boston Marathon on Patriots Day, many are still in shock that such an event could have happened. Hundreds of U.S. law enforcement agents are scrambling to gather evidence from Monday’s bombing that left three dead – including an 8-year-old boy whose mother and sister were among the wounded – and nearly 150 injured, as they search for the attacker. At least 30 more people were taken to hospitals and considered “code red,” meaning their injuries are life-threatening. Many of the injured had their legs blown completely off.

WATCH: Former Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff – ‘My Job Was About Risk Management, Not Risk Elimination’

FBI agents questioned a 20-year-old Saudi college student who was injured in the blast, but authorities stressed that he is not considered a suspect. The best clues could come from several videos from surveillance or cell phones in the area, as well as the explosive devices themselves.

Street in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon attacks

“They want to get the component parts to identify how these bombs were made,” former ATF chief Michael Sullivan told ABC News. “It will be extremely useful to identify how these things were made and how they were activated, detonated.”

WATCH: Pervez Musharraf on Why He Wants to Lead Pakistan Again

As security was locked down in other cities such as New York in the wake of the Boston Marathon attacks, talk focused on security precautions put into place and how Americans can feel safe attending similar events in the near future. Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ senior health and medical editor, says that since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, bioterrorism is one threat that cannot be discounted. Are we prepared for a biological attack? Watch:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

“I think that it’s a mistake to have a trade-off between dealing with today’s health problems and being prepared for those things that are low probability, high consequence,” Besser said.

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for other videos with experts on sex and relationships, career and business, health and fitness, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

What concerns me is complacency and the idea that either terrorism is something that we no longer have to worry about or pandemics are something we no longer need to worry about. When I took the job at CDC as the acting director, what I was hearing from people in Washington was that they were too many resources going towards preparedness. And I think that it’s a mistake to have a trade-off between dealing with today’s health problems and being prepared for those things that are low probability, high consequence.With bioterrorism, I think it’s just a matter of time, and we need to stay prepared. I don’t think people should stay on the edge of their seat worried about this, but somebody should be. Join me at genConnect.com.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Kids on the Spectrum (EXCERPT)

Amy Newmark — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:30:28 +0000

Latest book from Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Kids on the Spectrum: 101 Inspirational Stories for Parents of Children with Autism and Asperger's" target="_blank">Raising Kids on the Spectrum, includes 101 inspirational stories for parents of children with autism and Asperger’s; here’s an excerpt, entitled, “76 Beacons of Hope,” from Christine Bakter

Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile… initially scared me to death. ~Betty Bender

It all began so unexpectedly with a trip to Barnegat, New Jersey, where we were visiting friends who suggested a trip to the local lighthouse. Why our son, Ben, was so attracted to “Old Barney” is still a mystery. He made a beeline for the door and flew up the stairs with my husband on his heels. Our older son, Alex — who was extremely afraid of heights — refused to make the climb. I was more than happy to sit this adventure out.

I should have known my persistent little boy was not going to let me off so easily. Having flown down the stairs as quickly as he had raced up, Ben announced he was ready to go again. My stomach churned with each vibration of the metal staircase under my feet as I raced to keep pace. What propelled me up those stairs was fear. My adrenaline- addled brain manufactured images of Ben flying over the railing at the top. Autism is not for the weak-hearted.

I caught my breath as we passed through the door together. The wind was whipping ferociously as I paused to deal with my jelly legs, still shaky from the exertion of the climb. With my back pressed to the wall, I eased my way to the far side of the observation deck. When both the air and the shaking stilled, I took in the view and shared what he saw.

Magic.

His beaming smile was pure joy as his eyes met mine briefly before focusing again on the horizon. For a moment, we were connected by the intensity of his experience, his elation. It was hard to remain afraid of something that captivated him so totally. These are the moments I live for. As elusive as they can be, these connections are possible in the most unexpected of moments.

The following summer, we visited the old Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia Beach. We decided to take an early morning climb before the day’s heat became too oppressive. When we arrived, we were the only visitors there and I recognized an opportunity to try the climb with Alex too. If he got angry and had a tantrum over the suggestion that he try the climb, we had the privacy to work through it with him. So many of Alex’s fears at that time in his life were not based on real factors as much as they were about sticking to routines and not taking risks. After many years of tag-team parenting, Joe and I were beginning to realize that we needed to do more things together as a family. I suggested to Alex that maybe he could try.

“I AM NOT GOING UP!” The screaming was blood-curdling and he dropped to the ground and kicked for several minutes.

I waited for the storm to pass. He became quiet and stood back up, so I continued: “There are times we do things for Alex, and there are times we do things for Ben. Ben always goes to the aquariums with you and tries the things you like. Now is a time when we do something for Ben. This is what families do; they take turns.”

Alex dropped back to the ground and yelled some more. “It sure is hot,” I continued, as I sat down on the floor near him, deciding that I had reached a point of no return. We had long ago decided that tantrums like this would not deter a request; this would only reinforce his tantrums as a means to avoid an unpleasant task, so I decided to sweeten the deal for trying. “As soon as we’re done climbing up, we’ll go back to Grandma’s and go in the pool.”

I had his attention now. “Do you want the pool?” I asked.

“YES!” he said.

“Well, let’s climb up and get it over with, okay? First we climb, then we swim.” “YOU ARE THE WORST MOTHER EVER!” he screamed.

“Alex, if you really, really hate this you will never have to climb up another lighthouse again. I promise. You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

“Alright, alright! But then we are swimming!” He stood up, approached the stairs and took a step.

“Good job, Alex, I’m right behind you!”

The 191 steps to the top were in some respects the hardest I have ever taken. I second-guessed myself, wondering if I had pushed too hard. The verbal assault continued the entire way up, and I couldn’t help but notice that my boy had a knack for constructing beautiful sentences when he was mad, a stark contrast to years earlier when he was losing words at an alarming rate.

As Alex stepped onto the deck of the lens chamber from the opening in the floor at the top, I heard him draw a breath in sharply. I prepared myself for the worst.

“Wow,” Alex admitted. “It’s great up here!”

Magic.

When we reached the bottom and made our way outside, I posed the boys in front of the lighthouse and snapped a picture of them, both smiling, arms wrapped around each other in a moment of tactile tolerance.

“Alex, I am going to put this where you can see it at home, because I always want you to remember how awesome you are for overcoming your fear! There is nothing you can’t do as long as you try!”

His eyes darted to mine before slipping away; his voice caught as he tried to hold back his tears. Before I knew it, I was receiving a very rare hug.

“Thank you for making me do that, Mom. Thanks for making me go to the top.”

Six years later, we have climbed more than twenty structures across seven states, including a weeklong trek to the Outer Banks to climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which is the tallest in America. Alex and Ben handled the changes in routine and unfamiliar surroundings on that trip better than we had ever hoped, no doubt because of the role the lighthouses played.

Many of our successes are wholly dependent upon how we choose to view the challenges autism presents. What if, along the way, we had decided that Ben’s lighthouses were truly a negative “perseveration” that we somehow needed to quell or otherwise control because the intensity was out of whack with what might be considered “normal”?

Instead, by joining Ben in his interest, we grew together as a family. By pulling Alex out of his comfort zone and into his brother’s, we have given him a powerful memory to sustain him in the frightening moments when he has to try something new. In these beautiful, enduring structures, climbing with other enthusiasts, people who meet Alex and Ben don’t see two boys with autism. They just see two boys who share their love of lighthouses. They are a helpful, hopeful symbol to me, linked to both of my sons’ continuing triumphs over autism in so many ways.

Follow us on:

The Plumed Horse: ‘Temple of Decadence’ in Silicon Valley (VIDEO)

Peter Armellino — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:30:18 +0000

The Plumed Horse Restaurant in Saratoga, Calif., is a “temple of decadence” amidst Silicon Valley, says the restaurant’s executive chef, Peter Armellino. Named the “Best New Restaurant in 2008″ by Esquire, Plumed Horse boasts one Michelin Star and offers contemporary Californian seasonal menu using the highest quality ingredients, including sustainably sourced fish and shellfish, and local and organic produce.

Watch Peter Armellino, a rising star in the food business, talk to Sissy Biggers for genConnect on why his restaurant stands out among others in Silicon Valley, how he’s paving his own way in the industry after working with several master chefs, and how his menu caters to everyone from health-conscious diners to caviar-lovers:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

WATCH: What Happens When You Put an Italian In a California Kitchen?

Inside of The Plumed Horse

“The CEOs and the top brass of all the big companies – the built-in economy of Silicon Valley is one that’s thriving,” and it’s those customers that keep flowing through the doors of Plumed Horse, said Armellino.

WATCH: Why Lexus Loves Foodies

“We do sell a lot of caviar and multi-course tasting menus and a lot of fine wine but I don’t have a heavy hand, too much, with the fat,” Armellino says. “I like to keep it light.”

Follow us on:

How to Help Your Partner Understand Menopause

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:55:34 +0000

Does your husband understand menopause? I mean, really understand menopause? Chances are that he just thinks it’s that time of YOUR life when you get to say goodbye periods and PMS. Hello, sex all month long!

My husband, David, and most of the men who responded to my recent questionnaire were completely in the dark about what to expect when the loves of their lives hit perimenopause and menopause. Boy, talk about being “blindsided!”

When our relationship was hit with a torrent of hot flashes, tremendous mood swings and sleepless and sex-less nights, he was more than flummoxed.

Why was I so moody? Why did everything he do upset me so? Why didn’t I want to be intimate with him anymore? These changes can be so confusing to the men in our lives. My husband wasn’t sure if my feelings for him had changed or if he had done something to incite my bitchy demeanor. Either way, he feared it would never go away. He wanted our relationship back, but had no idea as to what the cause or cure was.

For him and for most of the men I interviewed, dealing with and trying to understand perimenopause and menopause is more challenging than PMS. “It doesn’t come and go every 28 days or so… once you’re in, there’s no turning back, so you can’t rationalize away the symptoms,” David says. “You can’t just dismiss the symptoms of menopause as ‘it’s just that time of month’ and wait for day eight to roll around.”

Finally, though, my husband and I sought out a perimenopause and menopause specialist, and together we both found hormone happiness. We learned that the symptoms our relationship was suffering from were actually symptoms of perimenopause. And with proper medical care, the symptoms faded away. But most importantly, we grew to better understand this chapter of my life—and our relationship. Together and as co-participants, we educated ourselves on the myriad of more than 30 menopausal symptoms, de-mystifying this time in our lives. Information is power!

Women aren’t the only ones who need to understand menopause. As a woman, you are one-half of your marriage (and, let’s be honest: sometimes even more than that!), and when that half changes, it changes the relationship right along with it. For my husband and me, going together to see a menopause specialist was a game-changer in how we approached this time in our lives together. Now, our relationship is even stronger than it was before.

Open up the conversation with the love of your life with these top three things every woman should tell her partner about menopause:

1. This Is Hard For Me: As women, we try to take everything that life throws at us in giant, superhuman strides. But menopause isn’t a road best traveled solo. So don’t try to do it that way! Be honest about how you feel both physically and emotionally. Even once you conquer hot flashes, mood swings, and the various other symptoms of menopause, coping with the loss of fertility can be difficult for many women. You deserve every feeling. Don’t discount them.

2. It’s Not You, It’s My Hormones: Let’s face it, when riding the hormonal highs and lows of menopause, we can say and do some pretty hurtful things. Sometimes they shock even us. So imagine how the men in our life feel when they become the target of our fury! Before my husband and I realized menopause’s full effects, he felt like he had done something wrong. That couldn’t have been further from the truth!

3. I’m Still Attracted To You: It is important that your lover understands that when your estrogen levels begin to plummet, your vagina might go from frolicking on a tropical island to being spiteful and stranded in the Mojave Desert. When this happens, sex can hurt! This can be quite disturbing to a couple that is normally very sexually active and satisfied. But do not fret, lovers, there is help for this! With a little lube and/or hormone replacement therapy, you can be back frolicking on the beach in no time.

Ellen Dolgen

It’s no secret that communication is the key to happy, healthy relationships. But when it comes to dealing with perimenopause and menopause, communication might as well be smack dab in the middle of your vows. So start talking! Trust me; you’ll both be so glad you did!

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Is it hot in here or is it just you? Get discounts on great menopause products, courtesy of EllenDolgen.com. Available now: cooling clothes, a sleek and discrete chargeable fan, a “Hot Flash Havoc” documentary, and a natural menopause relief formula. Enter promo code “ellend” to save serious cash!

Time to Party! Join Ellen the first Monday of every month at 8 p.m. EST/ 5 p.m PST for her Menopause Mondays Google Hangouts: Where the Sisterhood helps the Sisterhood. You can ask Ellen your menopause questions at this free online event! Details Here.

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

What Happens When You Put an Italian In a California Kitchen? (YouTube)

Alessandro Cartumini — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:15:20 +0000

When he came to America to cook, Alessandro Cartumini brought with him techniques and a flair for flavor from his native Italy. Now, after being in California for more than 10 years – his current position being head chef at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore in Santa Barbara - he’s a native, cooking like a Californian, thinking like a Californian, even driving like a Californian. So how has California influenced his cooking and his food?

Watch Sissy Biggers for genConnect talk to Alessandro Cartumini on merging Italian and California-style cooking, how the cultural melting pot inspires his cooking and whether he prefers fresh pasta or boxed:

WATCH: Why Lexus Loves Foodies

Follow us on:

Get Fit With Holly Rilinger’s 15-Minute Workout (VIDEOS)

Holly Rilinger — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:03:00 +0000

Fitness expert Holly Rilinger has created a 15-minute workout that requires no exercise equipment so it can be done on-the-go. Rilinger combines push-ups, mountain climbers, sideplanks with a dip and scorpion lunges. She ends with burpees — the exercise everybody loves to hate — which Rilinger says is “the best bang for your buck.” “With the burpee, you’re working your whole body,” she says. “You have an explosive movement, you have upper body strength and you have lower body strength.”

Let Holly Rilinger be your personal trainer and show you proper form in the video below:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Holly Rilinger

Watch: How to Find Your True Fitness Motivation (VIDEO)

Exercisers at various levels of fitness can easily adapt Rilinger’s workout, she says.

Rilinger helps her clients identify and eliminate the obstacles that hold them back from being their best. But it’s much easier to meet your fitness goals if you start from a place of personal happiness, she says.

Watch Holly Rilinger discuss personal body image in the video below:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Beltway Sniper Film Factors Into Gun Debate (VIDEO)

Isaiah Washington — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:30:47 +0000

Kids evacuate school during Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012

With the horrific memory of the deadly school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., still in the minds of our nation, support was growing Thursday for Senate passage of gun legislation that would expand background checks for gun buyers and tighten up laws against gun trafficking. But there was no sense of urgency in the House Friday, as most rank and file House Republicans are taking a wait and see approach to moving any gun bill, while a bloc of GOPers are solidly against considering new gun restrictions.

The ultimate goal of the Senate bill is to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists, and those with mental-health issues who may pose a danger to themselves or others. The Senate blocked a Republican filibuster and began debate on tougher gun laws Thursday. Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. – plan to introduce a House version of the background check bill as early as Friday.

The gun control debate is raging in the U.S. in the aftermath of Sandy Hook and previous school shootings that shocked the nation. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has served as a powerful foe to those trying to legislate more powerful regulations on guns. Some celebrities are also playing a role in spurring debate on the controversial issue.

Isaiah Washington, best known for his role as Dr. Preston Burke on “Grey’s Anatomy” as well as several Spike Lee “joints,” says he stepped out of his comfort zone to portray Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad in the film Blue Caprice. “The story was extremely challenging, tough, controversial, but I think the narrative needed to be told,” Washington says in an interview with genConnec at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Watch Isaiah Washington discuss how “Blue Caprice” factors into the current gun control debate:

Isaiah Washington in “Blue Caprice”

“Blue Caprice,” directed by Alexandre Moors, investigates the genesis of the 2002 shootings from the point of view of the two shooters, Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo (played by Tequan Richmond), and their distorted father-son relationship. The film is described as a “harrowing yet restrained psychological thriller.”

“The story was extremely challenging, tough, controversial but, I think, the narrative needed to be told, particularly with all the gun violence we have in our country andy around the world, and what it means when violence shows up unexpectedly,” Washington said. “I just feel that this movie is, in a strange way, pretty timely. .. it’s a conversation that’s not cliche, that seriously needs to be explored, as well as mental illness. So, I think surprisingly, this film is going to spark a lot of those conversations that we’re already having.”

Washington predicts that audiences will experience a variety of reactions to the provocative film, particularly in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“We’re here to challenge some philosophies, some feelings, some hard-core feelings,” he says.

WATCH: CBS News’ Bob Schieffer – ‘Partisan Divide Is Deeper’ Than Ever

On gun legislation news, Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who helped lead the bipartisan deal in the Senate, agreed on an amendment that would exempt all “personal” transfers of weapons between individuals, but would close the gun show loophole and also require background checks on Internet sales. Toomey suggested that the background check amendment would receive support in the House, which would be a huge victory. But some critics say the bill is too weak, since it doesn’t address an assault weapons ban or a curb on high-capacity ammunition magazines, like the one used by Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.

Fueling the debate was the reminder of an Al Qaeda video that surfaced in 2011; it was a video statement from Adam Gadahn, an American-born spokesman for al Qaeda, that urged followers to exploit a U.S. gun show loophole. In the video, Gadahn stresses to followers how easy it is to buy guns in America with little to no scrutiny.

Check out on genConnect’s Sundance Festival Playlist to view more Sundance Film Festival interviews with actors, directors, musicians and celebrities; subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube Channel for other videos with experts on sex and relationships, career and business, health and fitness, and other topics.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

FEED USA Expands Global Charity to American Kids (VIDEO)

Lauren Bush Lauren — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:30:18 +0000

Charitable company FEED Projects and non-profit FEED Foundation, co-founded by Bush granddaughter Lauren Bush Lauren, work together to fund school meals for hungry children around the world. Now FEED is addressing the challenges American kids face – access to nutritious foods and education about which food choices to make – with the FEED USA campaign. “We want to use our FEED platform and FEED brand to also raise money and awareness here in our backyard,” Bush Lauren says.

Watch Lauren Bush Lauren discuss her passion for eradicating childhood hunger:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

The fashion designer and model says she was inspired to co-found FEED Projects and FEED Foundation after helping the U.N. World Food Program launch the Universities Fighting World Hunger initiative.

“Through that I learned and saw firsthand the issues of hunger and poverty that so many deal with,” Bush Lauren says. “I felt really compelled and eager to really do more and give back, and allow other young people to also give back and do more.”

Through the sale of bags, accessories and other products designed by Bush Lauren, FEED has been able to raise enough money to provide more than 60 million school meals to children around the world through the World Food Program. It has also partnered with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, raising money for its Vitamin A and micronutrient supplements program and providing more than 46,000 children with essential nutrients.

“I feel so lucky and grateful, but had you asked me if I’d be here 6 years ago, I probably couldn’t have even dreamed of it,” Bush Lauren says. “I think it’s about having a simple idea and following it through and staying true to your vision and really working with people too.”

FEED USA has partnered with online charity DonorsChoose.org to fund teacher-led, school-based interventions for improving nutrition in schools. Teachers and local school activists ask for specific projects and supplies to address those challenges that the public can help fund.

Bush Lauren says young people who want to make a difference should consider similar partnerships.

“It’s wonderful to be an entrepreneur and start something from scratch, but don’t replicate something,” she says. “If you truly see something that you can add that’s new and different and unique than go for it. But if you have an idea that could kind of partner with someone else or work with a concept that’s already out there, I would encourage young people also to just partner and work with others too.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

How the Internet Generation Views Porn (VIDEO)

Jack Myers — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:30:10 +0000

Porn is no longer the horribly taboo thing of days of past, and seems almost passé to today’s “hooked up generation.”

“Many men and women consider it to be a normal part of their relationships with their partners, and not something that’s forbidden or even aspirational, but a reality,” says media ecologist Jack Myers, author of Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World. “And therefore, it doesn’t have that kind of restricted sensibility to it where it’s something you have to avoid or prevent yourself, or prevent others, from being exposed to.”

Watch Jack Myers talk more about how today’s generation views pornography, as sex expert Dr. Sara NasserZadeh talks about the connection between porn and the reality of love-making between couples today, in the following installment of genConnect’s new YouTube show, “Love Bytes”:

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Online Dating Expert: How Not to Get ‘Catfished’

Julie Spira — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:14:41 +0000

Manti Te’o

As the news story unfolded, it appears Manti Te’o wasn’t the only one who may have been duped into a relationship by an online dating hoaxer.

The Notre Dame football star recently shared his personal and painful story about the love scam, commonly known as “catfishing,” on Katie Couric’s talk show, “Katie.”

Whether you’re a celebrity or the boy or girl next door, when matters of the heart are involved, it’s not uncommon to get lured in by a romantic pursuer on the Internet.

This most certainly doesn’t mean that all online daters are insincere, but Manti’s story will create more awareness about the digital courting process.

Spending time in chat rooms, Gchat, or Facebook chat provides an immediate connection with someone with whom you may share personal information and intimate details with after a certain period of time.

The next thing you know, you have that euphoric feeling that someone is in your digital corner. In other words, you now have a “digital pen pal,” not a real girlfriend or boyfriend. You want to share your exciting news with your friends, but if your online crush isn’t who he or she says they are, you’ll feel embarrassed and shame will kick in. You won’t want your friends to know you’ve been duped.

So before you start changing your Facebook status to “In a Relationship,” look for these signs:

Your online crush is quick to say, “I love you”
Your chats only take place late at night, when everyone else is asleep
Your new love won’t hop on a Skype call or video chat
The photos seem too good to be real
Multiple excuses prevent you from meeting in person
Your digital pen pal asks for money
Your new love is from another country

Watch: Online Dating to Become Safer For Singles (VIDEOS)

Understand that the fantasy of the perfect person is so elevated, that you truly do believe you’ve met “the one.” If this is the case, I recommend the following steps:

Check his or her Facebook profile to see if the photos match up and if you have friends in common.
Do a reverse phone number check by typing in your new love’s phone number in a Google search.
Type his or her e-mail address into a Google search to see if there’s a digital footprint.
Use photo recognition software such as TinEye.
Conduct a background search using a site such as Intelius.

While these tips may provide information on your new digital love, not all of the data is available on the Internet. Let a close friend know you may be suspicious of your date and see if your friend can help solve the mystery.

At the end of the digital day, trust your intuition. Even Manti Te’o had his doubts about Lennay Kekua.

Visit my Web site for more online dating safety tips.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

3 Films That Will Make You Take the Planet’s Future Seriously

Jennifer Schwab — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:45:03 +0000

The glaciers are melting, temperatures are rising, nuclear disaster is coming, the sky is falling. By now, most of us have come to understand that many of these oft-repeated epithets are true. At the same time, however, we aren’t chomping at the bit to see the latest drawn-out documentary declaring the end of the world as we know it.

Here’s where I come in. Last year, I was lucky enough to attend the Sundance Film Festival, so I took it upon myself to view — and review — a few of the featured environmental documentaries. Overall, I’m happy to present three best-in-class green docs that were not only watchable, they were worthwhile and memorable. I encourage you to take the time — let’s say in honor of Earth Month this April — to watch or even host a screening of these three flicks. And for added ease … they’re all available now on Netflix.

Click here for video interviews genConnect conducted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival

Chasing Ice

“Chasing Ice”
Winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Excellence in Cinematography Award for U.S. Documentary Filmmaking, “Chasing Ice” centers around noted naturalist photographer James Balog’s crusade to chronicle the melting and evaporation of large glaciers on the northern polar icecap. Director and Cinematographer Jeff Orlowski brilliantly brings the subject to life, treating us to a sequence in which a glacier about the size of the Pentagon literally rolls over on its side and disappears into the Arctic Ocean. Most important about Chasing Ice: For doubters of the reality of global climate change, this is proof that “the science is certain, and the images are inarguable” said Sean P. Means of the Salt Lake Tribune.

WATCH: Natural Gas Has ‘Changed the Energy Picture’ in the U.S.

A Fierce Green Fire

“A Fierce Green Fire”
“A Fierce Green Fire” is an ambitious review of the entire environmental movement, from its roots with Sierra Club founder John Muir in the late 1800s through the present. Conceived and directed by Mark Kitchell, it traces unconditional love of the planet by activists and organizations through decades of resistance from the Establishment, until today, where the movement still struggles in the face of the recession and ensuing shortage of funding and widespread support. One comes away with a feeling of hope, however, as Kitchell leaves us with an optimistic tone about the future despite the damage we are doing to our environment across the globe.

The Atomic States of America

“The Atomic States of America”
“The Atomic States of America” is a history of nuclear power in America. This well-researched piece, by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce, takes “no nukes” to a whole new level. The “star” of this disturbing portrait is Kelly McMasters, who researched and wrote the critically acclaimed book, Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir About an Atomic Town, which recounts life growing up in the shadow of a nuclear power plant. The timing is impeccable as the film also revisits the Japanese Fukushima Power Plant disaster, leaving us with the burning question: If atomic power is too dangerous, how do we break our addiction to foreign oil?

WATCH: ‘Atomic States of America’ Producer George Hornig on the Message Behind the Film

Subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more interviews with actors, producers and others behind the hit films at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival

Follow us on:

Workers Link Jobs to ‘Life Well-Lived’ (VIDEO)

Russell Muirhead — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:30:51 +0000

Our orientation to work has shifted from a way to meet needs and pay the bills to an avenue of personal fulfillment, says Russell Muirhead, author of Just Work" target="_blank">Just Work. Work is now “something that’s considered to be part of an excellent life, a life well-lived,” Muirhead says. “This is a fundamental transformation.” Watch Russell Muirhead discuss the relatively new pressure to discover passion in your work:
Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Watch: Embrace Your Career’s Serendipitous Path (VIDEO)

Just Work">Muirhead, a professor at Dartmouth College, says the promise of fulfillment in the new world of work is a positive societal development, but it also puts a new kind of pressure on young people.

“Rather than just discovering something that they’re relatively good at, and a way of contributing to society that might require perseverance and resilience … they also now have to find their passion,” Muirhead says. “Sometimes it’s easy for some people to discover their passion, but it’s difficult for others.”

Watch: Boys to Men? ‘Guyland’ Now Comes In Between (VIDEO)

Russell Muirhead

The idea of a work ethic has also shifted as a consequence of the transformation, he says.

“In the past, the work ethic meant steadfast devotion in spite of finding your work activity disagreeable,” Muirhead says. “Today the work ethic is something that’s much more spontaneous, that’s meant to be much more fulfilling.”

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the contributions from experts on the site: Sign Up for genConnect.

Taittinger: How to Properly Uncork & Pour Champagne (VIDEO)

Vitalie Taittinger — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:30:13 +0000

You can’t just open a bottle of good champagne and pour it into a glass. There’s a proper method to getting the most out of your bubbly, particularly when it’s a beautiful bottle of French Taittinger Champage.

Watch as Vitalie Taittinger, artistic director for the renowned Taittinger Champagne of Reims, France, demonstrates how to properly uncork, pour, and inspect champagne, as well as the benefits of running a longtime family champagne business:

WATCH: Danny Meyer on How Hospitality Can Make or Break Your Restaurant

Despite popular opinion, particularly in America, what sparkles isn’t necessarily a champagne.

“Champagne is really coming from a region and everything in its flavor is coming from the soil, the temperatures, the area … that makes a difference,” Taittinger explained.

And how does the Taittinger brand distinguish itself in the growing champagne business? It’s all about family.

WATCH: Beer and Cheese – A ‘Match Made in Heaven’

“We are a family champagne house,” Taittinger said. “We are free to decide which flavor or quality we are putting in our bottle. It’s not a financial decision, it’s a heart decision.”

Click here to subscribe to genConnect’s new YouTube channel for more great video interviews with top chefs andsommeliers from the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food Wine fest, as well as expert advice on sex and relationships, health and fitness, career and business, and more!

Follow us on:

Twitter @genConnect
Facebook
Google +
genConnect.com

Craig Newmark: This Is the Decade of ‘Pivotal Change’ (VIDEO)

Craig Newmark — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:30:13 +0000

Craig Newmark, American Internet entrepreneur and founder of the international website craigslist, uses craigconnects.org to support causes “in the here and now” that will help others in the long-run. Whether it be calling for more “news you can trust” in the news media, helping war veterans and their military families, or how to get more people to work together on the Internet, Newmark says the power of change is in our hands.

Watch Craig Newmark talk to genConnect more about how craigconnects and social media helps give everyone a voice and why he thinks this is the decade of “pivotal change”:

WATCH: Newark Mayor Cory Booker on the Future of #Waywire

“You’ve got to get used to making social media an everyday thing, not just for your friends but to pay attention to the stuff you believe in, that you can get behind,” Newmark says as to how one can help give back and get involved in great causes. “The idea is to get involved and get ready because I think this decade is pivotal in human history and regular people are going to get stuff done that people in charge may not be able to.”

Click here for more one-on-one videos with top movers and shakers at SXSWi on genConnect’s new YouTube channel. Subscribe now!

Follow us on:

Why Lexus Loves Foodies (VIDEO)

Jim Lentz — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:30:46 +0000

Lexus is well-known for its long line of luxury vehicles, and, lately, sportier versions of favorites, like the GS 350F Sport. So what do Lexus and food and wine festivals have in common? People who like good food tend to like good cars.

Watch Jim Lentz, chief executive officer, North American Region, and president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. – as he talks to Sissy Biggers for genConnect about why Lexus comes to events like the 6th Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine, and what Lexus models are hot in 2013:

WATCH: Chef Daniel Boulud’s Inspiration at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota and is a sponsor of Pebble Beach Food and Wine and the Aspen Food & Wine Classic – both of which Lexus is a sponsor. ”It’s really all about interacting with customers,” whether it be at events like these food and wine festivals or in their dealerships, Lentz said of how Lexus decides how to further its brand. “That’s what customers expect today. …They want not only a great quality car that’s fun to drive and great-looking, they want a great experience.”

Whereas customers and festival-goers in Aspen may prefer more of the SUV models, Pebble Beach foodies may lean more toward high-end or sports versions Lexus vehicles. But the bottom line is, they all are looking for high-quality in what they drive.

“It’s a great place to be for us,” Lentz said.

WATCH: Vitalie Taittinger Demonstrates How to Properly Uncork and Pour Taittinger Champagne

Follow us on:

Could Cleaner Environments Contribute to Autism?

Margery Fridstein, MA, LPC — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:34 +0000

During Autism Awareness Month, Child development specialist Margery Fridstein talks new immune system research that may contribute to autism

As a grandparent of adult children having babies, my greatest fear is that their baby will be autistic. So I avidly follow reports on autism research. I had a moment of relief from recent research indicating that the sperm of older fathers increased the chances of autism. None of my families have older fathers. However if I thought beyond my personal concern and reviewed my professional experience, through the years I have worked as a psychotherapist and child development consultant with many young couples with autistic children.

It was Moises Velasquez-Manoff’s August 25, 2012, article in the New York Times that really made sense to me. Velaquez-Manoff is a journalist specializing in science. From his review of the current scientific research he titled his article, “An Immune Disorder at the Root of Autism.” And I think he is right. It makes better sense to me than early immunization shots, age of the sperm, medication used at delivery, better diagnosis or some of the other theories we grab at to understand the phenomenal increase in the incidence of autism. Velasquez-Manoff writes that it is estimated 1 in 88 children are afflicted with the disorder. Wow, that is really scary. When I last researched autism for an article I wrote in 2008, the statistic I quote was 1 in 150 births in the United States.

Velasquez-Manoff reports on a 20-year, population-wide study in Denmark, which concludes that autism begins in the womb. Infection of the mother during pregnancy highly increases the risk of autism. Interestingly, it is not the infection that increases the risk, but rather the body’s fight against the infection that is culprit. The way our body needs to fight infection is more complicated than it was in earlier times when the body was more accustomed to constantly fight infection. Now, with a much cleaner systemic environment, the process of fighting infection causes the body is to be prone to inflammation, which in turn leaves it more susceptible to autoimmune diseases. Examples are the increase in allergies, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Kevin Becker, a geneticist at the National Institute of Heath is quoted by Velasquez-Manoff as pointing out that microbial deprivation attributed to allergic disease should apply to autism, as well.

According to Dr. William Parker, a researcher on the immune system at Duke University, “the immune system we consider normal is actually an evolutionary aberration.” Our body has lost its ability to fight the invader. In a Cambodian population autism was almost non-existent — that population lived with parasites and acute infections.

Research shows that our immune system anticipates microbes, parasites and some viruses, and when they are missing, the organism becomes unhinged. Dr. Parker recommends an ecosystem restoration project. “Fix the maternal dysregulation and you’ll most likely prevent autism,” he says. This doesn’t sound like an easy fix. However, researchers are now directing their attention towards developing drugs with anti-inflammatory properties that will be safe for use during pregnancy.

The hardship of autism is only really understood by the children and parents that live with it day in, day out. My hope is that resources to find a cure are as plentiful as services are to treat autistic children.

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.

Beer and Cheese: ‘A Match Made in Heaven’ (VIDEO)

Marc Stroobandt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:14 +0000

Wine isn’t the only game in town when it comes to being a great beverage to pair with succulent cheeses. Beer, dear friends, rivals that of wine in serving as a tasty partner to cheese, mushrooms, and even chocolate – and may even surpass it.

Watch master beer sommelier and Stella Artois frontman Marc Stroobandt and Belgium native Bart Vandaele, owner of the wildly popular Belga Café in Washington, DC, talk to Sissy Biggers for genConnect about why beer and cheese go so good together, and how to foam cheese:

WATCH: Danny Meyer on How Hospitality Can Make or Break Your Restaurant

“Beer and cheese are actually a match made in heaven – even I think, more than wine,” says Vandaele, particularly when cheese is accompanied by tasty partners such as porcini mushrooms or chocolate.

“Cheese coats your palate a little bit,” explained Stroobandt. “So what you need is something that can cleanse your palate but that also can bring on a little flavor.”

WATCH: Chef Daniel Boulud’s Inspiration at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Follow us on:

Twitter @genConnect
Facebook
Google +
genConnect.com

How Hospitality Can Make or Break Your Restaurant (VIDEO)

Danny Meyer — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:30:31 +0000

Food is only part of the equation when it comes to being successful in the restaurant business; hospitality plays a large part in whether an eatery lives or dies.

Watch renowned New York restaurateur and author Danny Meyer talk to Sissy Biggers for genConnect on Union Square Hospitality Group and the importance of hospitality in the food and wine business:

WATCH: Chef Fabio Viviani After Winning ‘Top Chef’ Fan Favorite

Union Square Hospitality Group also published a book this week called Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals from Our Restaurants to Your Home" target="_blank">Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals From Our Restaurants to Your Home, a collection of recipes from about four dozen contributors, from sous chefs to prep cooks to porters, from cooks with classical training to cooks who learned everything on the job. Some of the dishes are staffers’ personal family favorites, a parent’s or grandparent’s specialty updated with market-fresh ingredients, inspired improvisations, or the result of a cook’s ability to look at a collection of ingredients and figure out how to make them harmonize in a new way.

“It’s one of the things I think a lot of guests who come to the restaurants may not be aware of and that is before you come to the restaurant, we’re cooking for and feeding and taking care of each other,” Meyer said of the concept of the “family table.” “A lot of people in the restaurant business really look to their restaurant job as adjunct to their family … a lot of us really spend more time eating with their restaurant family than with their own.”

WATCH: Chef Daniel Boulud’s Inspiration at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Follow us on:

Twitter @genConnect
Facebook
Google +
genConnect.com

How Chef Dean Fearing Made Hotel Dining So Good (VIDEO)

Dean Fearing — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:45:05 +0000

Fine dining in hotels is so commonplace now, we don’t think twice about it. But it wasn’t always that way.

Watch Sissy Biggers talk to Chef Dean Fearing , whose Fearing’s Restaurant was named “Restaurant of the Year” and “Table of the Year” by Esquire Magazine, and No. 1 in Hotel Dining in the U.S. by the prestigious Zagat Survey, about how he took the lead in bringing fine dining to hotels:

WATCH: Chef Daniel Boulud’s Inspiration at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Dean Fearing

The creator of Fearing’s Restaurant and its “Elevated American Cuisine – Bold Flavors, No Borders,” chef/partner Dean Fearing has developed oneof the hottest dining concepts in the country. Fearing’s was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best New Restaurant, and has received countless accolades from The New York Times, Newsweek, Food and Wine, Garden & Gun, Texas Monthly, and Modern Luxury, among others. Chef Fearing has been recognized as a “Pioneer of American Cuisine” by The Culinary Institute of America and presented with the Silver Spoon Award for sterling performance by Food Arts. His namesake restaurant has created an ongoing buzz with its seven distinct dining venues, acclaimed farm-to-table seasonal menu, and the personal presence of Fearing himself.

Follow us on:

Twitter @genConnect
Facebook
Google +
genConnect.com

Top 3 Tips to Slash Menopause-Induced Stress

Ellen Dolgen — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:20:48 +0000

You’re hot, you’re cold, you’re mad, you’re sad. So you ask, how could menopause not stress you out?

“Menopause, itself, is a stressful life event because of the various types of change that occur,” says Dr. Jeff Brown, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Great Health.

Hot flashes are tightly linked with stress and anxiety, according to a six-year study published in Menopause. Researchers found that anxiety and stress preceded hot flashes among perimenopausal and post-menopausal women. Women with the highest levels of stress were more than five times (I repeat, five times!) more likely than normally stressed women to report hot flashes.

But what exactly is the deal with stress? Stress is your body’s reaction to any kind of demand—good or bad. While acute (aka brief) stress can make us more efficient and effective (think: deadlines), too much stress—called chronic stress—can be harmful to our mental and physical health.

“Chronic stress comes out of conditions, relationships, or health issues that don’t have an identifiable termination point or extend beyond the timeframe of what would typically be expected,” Brown explains.

Dr. Jeffrey Brown

What’s more, chronic stress can compromise our immune systems, making us more prone to illness. Between 50 and 60 percent of all medical issues originate from stress or stress-related events, he says.

So how can you tell the difference between a stressful situation and a real stress rut? Signs that you’ve hit your acute-to-chronic tipping point include changes in appetite and sleeping patterns, headaches, crying, irritability, and even panic attacks, according to Brown.

“When it comes to stress and menopause, it’s crucial to keep your finger on the pulse of physiological, psychological, and relationship aspects of your life. Change is occurring and knowing yourself well is vital,” he says.

Of course, you likely won’t feel the exact same way pre-menopause as you do post-menopause, and some of that is natural. But there’s no need to feel like a totally different woman, especially if that woman is stressed all of that time! You can slash your stress levels. Remember though, while your youth’s stress-busting tactics (like bubble baths, exercise, and meditating) still work wonders, you might have to go above and beyond them to beat stress during menopause—especially when menopause is the actual stressor!

“Each woman who deals with menopause may find that her typical stress-coping strategies may need to be adjusted because of the high levels of stress that may be occurring as a result of physical changes during menopause,” Brown says.

Here, the top three tips for fighting menopause-induced stress:

1. Take charge. Don’t let menopause and its symptoms take control of your day-to-day life, says Brown. Commit to an open and close relationship with a perimenopause and menopause specialist, healthcare provider, or therapist who can help you manage your symptoms and find hormone happiness. “The alliance you have with a physician or therapist can mean the world to you during tough times,” Brown says.

2. Invest in friends. Misery loves company—but so does happiness. Recognize the people in your life who are healthy for you and invest in those relationships. Healthy people are the ones you want to hang out with, and who make you feel better about yourself, Brown says. It is especially helpful spending time with the women in your life that have already traveled the menopausal road you’re currently cruising. The support, understanding, and even learning opportunities can help make this time in your life a little less stressful, he says.

2. Say no. I know, this is a hard one for us people-pleasing, I-can-do-it-all types. While we women are famed for multitasking, it takes a huge amount of time and cognitive energy, and adds unneeded stress to an already stress-filled time of our lives, Brown says. During menopause we often don’t have the same amount of energy we did in our twenties! For your health’s sake, scale back a bit. Say no from time to time, and don’t feel guilty about it afterward.

Ellen Dolgen

WATCH: How to De-Stress Your Life

Don’t let menopause stress suck the joy out of this amazing chapter of your life! Having conquered falling in love, raising children, launching a career, and so much more, we have plenty of reason to be confident—and most importantly, happy—in our lives right now. Mourning the past and worrying about the future just deprives us of the joy in the present moment. And trust me, there is plenty of joy to be had in menopause!

Reaching out is IN! Suffering in silence is OUT!

Read Other Posts by Ellen Dolgen:

Check out what this renowned women’s health expert is giving away!

For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
To stay on top of the latest contributions from experts: Sign Up for genConnect.