Dear friends, welcome to our April 2014 30th anniversary edition of BIC Magazine. As we celebrate this milestone, we want to thank everyone — our family, friends, staff, marketing partners, readers and suppliers — for your support and kindness over the years and your role in our success. As most of you already know, BIC is our abbreviation for Business & Industry Connection and our mission here at BIC Alliance — Business & Industry Communications Alliance — is to connect key decision makers in business and industry with each other and our 300-plus marketing partners for the betterment of all. Storytelling has been the cornerstone of our success at BIC Alliance since we began publishing BIC Magazine and hosting networking and training events in 1984 and started writing books of significance in 2004. Because we’ve been sharing stories, interviews and articles from and about our readers and the companies for which you work for more than 30 years, we decided to begin our anniversary with a few reminders about “Why Great Stories Need Telling” because storytelling has been a key communication and leadership technique since the beginning of time.
In his book “The Leader’s Guide To Storytelling: Mastering The Art and Discipline of Business Narrative,” Stephen Denning writes storytelling is quick, powerful, free, natural, refreshing, energizing, collaborative, persuasive, holistic, entertaining, moving, memorable and authentic. Perhaps before we go any further you may want to jot down three important reasons why you believe great stories should be told and the three stories you remember most.
Storytelling is important for folks of all ages. At www.teachingvalues.com it says telling stories has long been recognized as an integral part of character development, healing, self knowledge and a personal and spiritual tool for connecting us with other people and to God. Now I believe you will understand more clearly why we use and recommend storytelling here at BIC Magazine, in our books, and during our networking events and training sessions. When we think about it, our lives are actually a series of stories or a miniseries in the making every day of our lives. Even the most unsettling stories and stories about overcoming adversity can have a profound positive effect on our lives. In the book “Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals: Weaving Together the Human and the Divine” by Herbert Anderson and Edward Foley, it says stories allow us to dream and believe the future is better than the present.
Stories are an excellent way to help brand and market yourself and your company, and we have been doing just that for the past 30 years — telling your stories on the pages of BIC and in our books. In the fast paced media driven world we live in, stories are a great way to remind children and adults our spoken and written words are very powerful and that listening and clear communications are not only an art but will help us find greater peace, happiness and success in our personal and professional lives.
Now let’s talk about some of the great stories, articles and interviews in this issue of BIC. We feature comments from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and interviews with ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery Manager Mark Northcutt and Forge Tech Inc. CEO John Griffin.
We also include articles on topics important to you including growing your company responsibly, the impact of surging NGL and natural gas production, training and safety in the industrial boom, an update on SB 54, industry programs for veterans and more.
If you love sharing great stories, not only do I recommend you read BIC Magazine and our BIC Media Solutions’ books of significance, but I also invite you to join us at our upcoming 30th anniversary event in Baton Rouge, La., April 24 and our AFPM event annual hospitality and networking function in San Antonio May 20 during the week of the AFPM Reliability & Maintenance Conference and Exhibition.
In closing, we want to thank everyone once again for your support and kindness and your role in our success, and we look forward to the next 30 years. The stories folks have shared in BIC Magazine and in our books have changed my life for the better, and it is our prayer these stories and those to come will do the same for you. If you have a great story to tell, we would love to hear from you! Also, you can ensure you don’t miss a story and also stay abreast of the latest energy industry news updates on our new website at BICMagazine.com.
