Great Festival Weekend for Visitors to Summerton, S.C.

It was a great weekend for visitors to Summerton, S.C. in Santee Cooper Country. It kicked off Friday night with Birdfest at Pineland Farm just outside the town. This Bluegrass Festival drew thousands of visitors and campers for an enjoyable weekend of music, BBQ cookouts, and family fun.

On Saturday, Summerton hosted the Annual Spring Fling Car Show in the town square. The car show is fun, informative and educational. Funds raised through the show are used to help Clarendon County families through the Community Angels Fund. 

Finally, the Briggs vs. Elliott Festival was also held in Summerton this weekend. The historic Briggs v. Elliott court case led to the end of nationwide school segregation across the US. The parade and festival started at noon Saturday, followed by a worship service at the Historic Liberty Hill AME Church. 

In the meantime, tens of thousands of visitors to the area were also out on Lake Marion and across Santee Cooper Country – fishing, hunting, camping, boating, hiking, biking, kayaking and much more. For more detail, check out the Summerton SC: Nature & Outdoor Recreation web site.

* Also, don't forget to check out the online Summerton Weekly News and visit the Historic Summerton web site.

Growing Market for Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Solutions

“In my day, we didn't have virtual reality. If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just had to hope you could outrun him.” – Anonymous

Virtual reality (VR) is a multi-disciplinary field of computing technology, that emerged from research on three-dimensional interactive graphics and vehicle simulations in the 1960's and 1970's. Back then, VR helmets were too heavy and cumbersome, computers were too slow, and touch/feedback systems were still in their infancy. However, technology has changed dramatically over the past 40 years. Computers are now thousands of times faster and today we are seeing the emergence of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) systems that deliver a greater sense of feedback and immersion to their users. The development and use of AR and VR systems have really started to take off over the past couple of years.

Definitions Augmented Reality - A live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated technology and sensory input devices. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality Virtual Reality (VR) - A three dimensional (3-D) technology which allows a user to navigate around and interact with a computer-simulated environment. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality

 

Augmented & Virtual Reality in Healthcare

Healthcare is one of the biggest adopters of augmented and virtual reality which encompasses surgery simulation, robotic surgery, skills training, mental health, phobia treatments, therapy, and much more. One of the advantages of this technology is that it allows healthcare professionals to learn new skills as well as refreshing existing ones in a safe environment. One example, first-year medical students at Case Western Reserve University have been utilizing HoloAnatomy and HoloLens to study the human body from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. According to an IndustryARC report, AR and VR reality in healthcare is predicted to generate more than $3 billion globally by 2021. Read 10 Specific Ways Virtual Reality (VR) is Revolutionizing Medicine and Healthcare.

 

Augmented & Virtual Reality in Business

Over the next five to ten years, the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in business is going to be huge. A recent Goldman Sachs report estimates the combined AR and VR markets could grow into an $80 billion industry by 2025. All the big technology companies are now moving quickly into this new space, e.g. Google, Facebook, Microsoft. Both AR and VR are taking root with a growing number of companies that are using the technology to help customers understand a product, visualize an idea or project, provide complex immersive training, and to explore homes, tourist destinations, and even outer space. For many more examples, read Virtual Reality Will Change Business as We Know It

Augmented & Virtual Reality in Education & Training

The education and training industry appears to be poised to finally take advantage of the latest innovations provided by AR and VR technologies. The military and healthcare industries have already been using this type of for some time in training pilots and surgeons. This new technology now appears to be moving into many other industries for use in a wide range of professional development training programs. It is also slowly becoming a proven medium to help students at all levels to learn faster, be more motivated, and expand the boundaries of what is possible. For more detail, read Real Applications of Virtual Reality in Education.

Selected Links to AR &VR Resources

AR/VR Organizations AugmentedReality.Org Augmented Reality for Enterprise Aliance EuroVR Association Virtual Reality Society VR/AR Association * List of AR & VR Conferences

Open Source AR/VR ARToolKit Blender mixARE OpenSimulator Wikitude * List of AR Software

Are you or your organization using Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) solutions for education and training - or in your daily business operations? Tell us about your experience with this new technology.

 

Management in the 21st Century

Management practices in the 21^st Century 'Information Age' are changing! New techniques and approaches are replacing many traditional methods that worked well in the 'Industrial Age' of the 20^th Century.

Early on in my career I decided I wanted to be a manager, even before I understood exactly what that meant. I have since spent a lifetime studying management and trying to become the best manager I could be – while primarily working in the healthcare, information, and technology sectors. The foundation for my understanding of management was laid back in the 1970's, when I formally studied and obtained a Masters Degree in Management. I then spent over 40 years of my career putting into practice what I learned.

Major Management Functions - POSDCRB

Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing,

Controlling/Coordinating, Reporting, Budgeting.

A number of recently published books have captured the key findings about new management approaches and techniques that are gaining strength as we move deeper into the 'Information Age' in this 21^st Century. The following are a selection of just a few of these books that I would recommend today's managers ought to consider reading:

• The Cathedral & The Bazaar
• The Essential Drucker
• How Google Works
• Medical Informatics 20/20: Collaboration, Open Solutions & Innovation
• Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
• The Zero Marginal Cost Society

Modern 21^st Century Management Practices

The purpose of this article is to distill many of the best lessons learned about managing in the 21^st Century that might prove useful to managers today. While the major management functions remain largely the same, many new management techniques and approaches have emerged as we move deeper into the 'Information Age'. So without further ado, here is a fairly concise list of advice and lessons learned that may complement some of the older, traditional management practices you may have have been taught before you first started out. Here we go!

• Management processes still used in many industries and companies today were designed and developed over a century ago for the 'Industrial Age'.
• Almost every industry or company today is information-driven to some extent, e.g. publishing, healthcare, government, finance, transportation, manufacturing, energy…
• While traditional command and control management structures are still applicable to some organizations, most modern information-based companies rely on knowledge workers that thrive on freedom, collaboration, self-direction, experimentation, communications, sharing…
• Culture, mission, vision, and strategy go hand-in-hand. They are key to the success of your organization over the long term.
  • Take the time to carefully capture and define the culture, mission, vision, principles and values of your organization – write it down!
  • Authenticity and honesty are key! People know when an organization's mission and vision statement are simply nice sounding 'bull shit' sound bites.
  • Continually communicate and reinforce the culture, mission, vision, and values to your management team and employees, as well as to your stockholders and customers.
• Continuous innovation and quality improvement are key to the long-term survival of organizations today.
• Maximizing short-term value should always take a back seat to a commitment to long-term plans for success.
• Traditional hierarchical organizational structures may not be a good match for many information-based companies of today. They tend to restrict communication, collaboration, innovation and productivity.
• Traditional office structures and layouts may not be a good match for many information-based companies of today. Again, they tend to restrict communication, innovation and productivity.
• Stop listening exclusively to your Highest Paid Person's Opinion (HIPPO); start listening more to your smartest and most creative people.
• Keep the organization as flat as possible, with many small to mid-size productive teams that have ready access to senior management.
• Senior managers or leaders should be productive people that fully understand the business, e.g. technology, healthcare, military, transportation...
• Focus on building an 'open' platform that will allow you to grow quickly and globally, e.g. Internet, Linus, Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, …
• Many mature organizations with roots in the 20^th Century tend to be hierarchical, 'closed' systems versus today's more 'open', flexible and 'flat' organizations.
• Many mature organizations tend to prioritize short-term revenue goals over creative new solutions and long-term growth.
• Collaboration, Open Solution, and Innovation (COSI) are key management strategies for success in today's global knowledge-based economy.
  • 'Open' systems allow one to harness the power of thousands of external partners.
  • Defaulting to 'Open' tends to foster increased innovation, while also lowering costs.

[Collaboration + 'Open' Solutions = Innovation]

• Recruiting and staffing for today's knowledge-based companies is even more important for success than in the past. Great care should be paid to every new hire. People truly are your organization's most valuable asset.
• Direction and Decision-Making remain key management functions. The primary difference today is that major decisions are often made by consensus after examining a wealth of hard data and information versus the more traditional authoritarian approach of the past.
• Knowledge-based companies in this 'Information Age' tend to favor the Consensus & Coordination versus Command & Control approach.
• Reporting remains a key management function to track progress towards major goals and objectives. The primary difference today is that reports must be primarily based on hard data and shared with as wide an audience as possible – both up, down, and across the organization.
• Budgeting and financial management are key management functions. Approximately 80% of your finances should be focused on supporting and enhancing your core business, while at least 20% should be spent on exploring and developing new products and services for future growth.
• Again, in today's knowledge-based 'Information Age' organizations, communications up, down, and across the organization is key. Default to 'open' – sharing all you can with others.

Major Resources to be Managed – 4M'S & I

Manpower, Money, Machines,

Materials, Space, Information.

Other Management Suggestions

The following are some last observations and thoughts for today's managers to seriously consider:

• 'Our people are our most important asset' is a cliché that is often tossed around loosely by many organizations that don't really believe what they say. To them, people are simply 'human resources' to be hired and replaced without any real concern. Employees are brighter than you think and will soon see right through this lie.
• Day-to-day decision-making should be distributed downward, leaving only the major decisions to be made by senior management. Decisions then need to be communicated up, down, and across the organization as widely as possible.
• All key knowledge-based employees should be encouraged and allowed to spend 20% of their time at work reading, studying, or working on new innovations. This will ultimately benefit the organization in many ways.
• Intelligence, creativity, passion, character, integrity, honesty, self-learners, … these are the qualities you want to look for when hiring and retaining staff. Be wary of employees who are 'bullies', hostile, manipulative, dishonest, loners, …
• Many traditional communication techniques still apply in today's environment of email, instant messaging, televideo,… Management by walking around and face-to-face conversations remain extremely valuable techniques.
• One last note: CEOs and other senior management officials must accept responsibility for their actions – the good and the bad. Avoiding responsibility and blaming others for failures is not acceptable. People will see right through that approach.

 

If you have other key observations and recommendation on how to better manage organizations in the 21^st Century 'Information Age', please feel free to share them with our readers.

Senator Kevin L. Johnson Legislative Update - April 30, 2016

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: A message from Senator Kevin L. Johnson District 36- Clarendon, Darlington, Florence, and Sumter Counties 

With approximately five weeks to go in this legislative session, the Senate is finally making progress on some of the issues that I predicted would be our major priorities when we began in January. 

After several years, the Senate finally passed and sent to the House an ethics reform bill, which among other things requires legislators to disclose all sources of income. Another part of this bill realigns the SC Ethics Commission and allows it to investigate allegations against legislators. Hopefully, we will go further before the end of the session and deal with “dark money” by requiring the source and the amount so that we will at least know who is funding elections and at what amount. Although I don’t feel that the bill goes far enough, it is still a vast improvement over what we have now. 

The Senate also passed and sent to the House a farm aid bill that provides $40 million to aid farmers who experienced substantial hardships as a result of the floods that we experienced this past October.  Although it appears that the governor is poised to veto this bill, the support seems to be there to override a veto if necessary.    

The Senate also passed a roads bill and although the bill does not provide all of the funding that SC Department of Transportation needs to fully address our hazardous road conditions, it is much better than what I thought we could get done just a few weeks ago.  The senate bill provides $200 million in state revenue that will be used to borrow $2.2 billion over the next ten years that will allow us to fix roads and 400 bridges.  Additional funds will be budgeted and sent to the counties that will allow for the repair of even more state roads.   

Debate has just begun on the Senate Finance Committee version of the state budget. Although the total budget is approximately $28 billion, our debate centers around the $7.5 billion general fund portion of the budget.  Some highlights are an increase of $27.5 million to the Local Government Fund which increases this allotment to $240 million. It also allows for a 4% cost of living adjustment for state employees and fully funds the increase in their health insurance premiums. In addition, $5 million dollars is included to help fund the world class African American Museum that will be built in Charleston. 

Public education benefited in this budget also, by increasing the base student cost from $2220.00 to $2350 per weighted pupil unit.  $28 million is included for new school buses and $19.2 million for bus driver salaries.  Teachers receive a total cost of living adjustment of 4%.  Also included in this budget are funds that will help rural and poor school districts in response to the school funding equity lawsuit (i.e. The Allendale Case).

There are many other important aspects included in this proposed budget and I will highlight all of them in my June newsletter since we will have a final budget by then.   

Please remember to visit www.scsenate.gov to see the bills that I have sponsored and co-sponsored as well as to receive more information about the aforementioned bills. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time that I may be of service. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Contact Information: 
Sen. Kevin L. Johnson, PO Box 142, Columbia, SC 29202 - kevinjohnson@scsenate.gov 
Ashley Stewart - Administrative Assistant---Office Telephone: (803) 212- 6048       

Results of Santee Cooper 'Big Fish Big Bucks' Fishing Derby

The Big Fish Big Bucks Fishing Derby sponsored by Santee Cooper Counties Promotion Commission on Lake Marion, SC, was held March 28 - April 24. 2016.

One daily $100 prize and one weekly $500 prize were given for the biggest fish of each species: Bass, Crappie, Catfish, and Striper. At the end of the tournament, the overall big fish of each species won $5,000. The 4 Grand Prize winners receives $5,000 - but only after they were all subject to a polygraph test and passed.

The Grand Prize winners included:

• Benny Ross – Bass
• Jim Leggett – Crappie
• Donal Pope – Catfish
• Richard Wimmer - Striper

For more detail, go to www.bigfishbigbucks.com