Keys to the workplace of tomorrow? Flexibility and autonomy
Posted On February 12, 2020
What will the workplace of the future look like? To answer that, perhaps we should look at the trends that have shaped the workplace of today. In the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” two members of Mobile Bay Monthly’s “Forty Under Forty” shared their ideas about what’s important in a workplace, and what they wish older generations could understand about the millennial workforce. Corey James, is Director of Operations for Innovation PortAL, a startup incubator in Mobile, and Cullen Millsap is a vice president of Legal Imaging, which provides digital forensics and eDiscovery for the legal field…. Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
Knowing your customers is important to every business — and that goes double for casinos
Posted On February 6, 2020
Most casinos have similar characteristics. They’re relatively dark, with few or no windows – nothing to distract the paying customers from the lights of the slot machines or the cards on the tables. They’re owned by large companies that run casinos in multiple markets. And they’re typically fairly secretive about their clientele. The Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville, Mississippi, couldn’t be much more different, however. In its fifth year of operation, it’s a family-owned business operated by a family that is new to the gaming industry. Its floors are flooded with natural light. And its CEO isn’t bashful about… Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
Why advertising can be important for law firms — and their clients
Posted On February 5, 2020
If you drive in Alabama or watch TV or listen to the radio, you have seen or heard an advertisement for a personal injury lawyer. They’re everywhere – on billboards, on the sides of buses, in newspapers and magazines, maybe even embedded beneath the lacquer on the tables in a favorite restaurant. Why are these types of ads effective? What’s the difference between such advertising, which is legal for attorneys to do, and solicitation, which isn’t? Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” shared some answers to these questions. David Greene is the founder and… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
A gift from God? Or a Lucifer?
Posted On February 3, 2020
One of my joys is writing these weekly commentaries for Alabama Public Radio. They make me flex my creativity muscles. I’m very proud of the awards they’ve won and I’m deeply grateful the leadership at APR allows me to do them. I was disappointed when they told me this one was too controversial to broadcast considering the volatile relationship between public radio and the Oval Office today. Public radio wants to avoid their attention, and even my commentary might turn the wrong heads. So I post it here on my blog and on social media. Eager for your thoughts. And… Read More
Categories: Keeping It RealDissecting some Generation X cliches
Posted On February 3, 2020
What does it mean to be Generation X? Are we forever doomed to be the quintessential middle child, overlooked between the Baby Boomers and millennials? Are we the slackers described in the Douglas Coupland book that spawned the name? Are we the Forgotten Generation? Last year, the New York Times took a stab at defining Generation X by shooting down some long-held preconceptions about it. We’re not slackers, author Alex Williams says, and we were never cynical and disaffected. The oldest among us were in our mid-20s when the country pulled out of the mid-‘90s recession, and we actually had… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X
How to throw a party: Hanging out with the man behind the Hangout Festival
Posted On January 26, 2020
In a few months, some 40,000 people will converge on the beach in Gulf Shores for one of the biggest music festivals in the Southeast, the Hangout Festival. What does it take to put together an event of that size? It’s probably not surprising to hear that it’s more than meets the eye. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” can attest to that. As Vice President of Operations for AEG Presents Gulf Coast and Winter Circle Productions, Reeves Price is in charge of managing the Hangout Festival, from ticket sales to booking to hiring… Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
For selling whiskey, a bootlegger’s story helps, but the proof’s in the bottle
Posted On January 17, 2020
How important is a good story to branding? It certainly doesn’t hurt. In a crowded marketplace for whiskey, a great story helps set Clyde May’s Alabama Style Whiskey apart. May was a bootlegger who never sold a legal bottle in his life. But he was also an innovator who found a unique way to create a smooth finish even in batches that weren’t aged nearly as long as they are now. After May’s death, his family took the business legit and now we can all taste why people all over Bullock and Pike counties asked for May’s “Christmas whiskey.” May’s… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
How specialty milkshakes and a lot of work brought growth (and Mark Cuban) to The Yard
Posted On January 12, 2020
What does it take to win on Shark Tank? What does it take to create a successful business in the same space where others in the same industry have failed? Chelsea and Logan Green can answer both those questions. The owners of The Yard Milkshake Bar, our guests in the latest episode of “What’s Working With Cam Marston,” opened their first location just three years ago and now have franchises in four states with others in the works. Among their investors: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who bought a stake in their business after a successful appearance on the ABC… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
Is iGen the Impatient Generation?
Posted On January 9, 2020
“Take it slow and things will be just fine. All we need is just a little patience.” Axl Rose sang that back in 1989 on Guns N’ Roses’ second album. Some millennials weren’t even born back then, and iGen wasn’t thought of yet. Maybe if they had been, they’d be a little more open to his advice. The leading edge of iGen is entering the workforce, and they expect to move up quickly. The Wall Street Journal recently cited a survey by workplace-coaching firm InsideOut Development, which found that over 75 percent of iGen respondents believed they should be promoted… Read More
Categories: iGen, Workplace
The key to a happier new year: Gratitude
Posted On January 3, 2020
Gratitude is important. We have an entire holiday built around it (Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey, you know). But how many of us actually give thanks on a daily basis? As we come to the close of another holiday season, Christmas 2019 and New Year’s 2020, we stepped away from the workplace to look at the concept of gratitude on a live holiday episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Our guests in this episode are Columbia University psychology professor Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, whose book Happier examines the importance of gratitude, and two Mobile residents who have gone through traumatic medical… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston