Wall Street Journal Online, May 22, 2009

By Amy Chozick and Kelly Crow

Barack Obama is taking on health care, financial regulation, torture and environmental policy. He’s also revamping the White House art collection.

The Obamas are sending ripples through the art world as they put the call out to museums, galleries and private collectors that they’d like to borrow modern art by African-American, Asian, Hispanic and female artists for the White House. In a sharp departure from the 19th-century still lifes, pastorals and portraits that dominate the White House’s public rooms, they are choosing bold, abstract art works.

History of White House Art
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The overhaul is an important event for the art market. The Obamas’ art choices could affect the market values of the works and artists they decide to display. Museums and collectors have been moving quickly to offer up works for inclusion in the iconic space. Read the full story>>

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574175453455287432.html

Published 6/1/2009 in Florida Trend
by Amy Keller

CFO Alex Sink’s former deputy chief of staff, Kathy Baughman McLeod, aims to help businesses understand and benefit from efforts to curb carbon emissions.

While working on her master’s degree in geography at Florida State University in the early 1990s, Kathy Baughman McLeod trekked across the state with a backpack containing Global Positioning System equipment to help the Department of Environmental Protection map environmentally degraded public lands.

Today, following two years as deputy chief of staff to Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, McLeod is again charting environmental territory. Hired in April to develop and direct a new public policy group at the Bryant Miller Olive law firm, McLeod is helping guide businesses and organizations as they navigate an emerging economy in which carbon emissions will come with a higher price.

Read the full story>>  http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=51113

-From the McKinsey Quarterly Management expert Robert Sutton shares lessons on handling layoffs and teams in crisis.

The Quarterly: We’re here today with Bob Sutton from the Stanford Graduate School of Engineering, noted author and specialist on management and organizations. You did an article recently for the Harvard Business Review, “How to be a good boss in a bad economy.” Frame the challenge for us.

Robert Sutton: First of all, the article started because it seemed like every executive I know at almost every level was involved in layoffs, pay cuts, the threat of it. So, I was hearing from people everywhere. But the reason it matters and why it’s hard to be a good boss in tough times starts with a [principle] I call the “toxic tandem,” which I’ve stolen from a lot of good social psychologists who do experiments.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Good_boss_bad_times_2365

Carrotmob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment to improve the world. It’s the opposite of a boycott.

It’s easier to understand if you look at an example. In the first ever Carrotmob event, a liquor store agreed to invest in upgrades that made their store more energy-efficient. In exchange, hundreds of Carrotmobbers showed up at once to support the winning liquor store. To the right is a video of that campaign, and the mayhem that ensued…

Find out more at http://carrotmob.org/