Welcome to our February 2019 Valentine's Day edition of BIC Magazine -- your business and industry connection. Since I wrote my last "From The Publisher" article for the November 2018 issue of BIC Magazine, I have been very excited about writing this article because we have a lot of anniversaries to celebrate in the coming months. This includes my 52nd wedding anniversary with my wife, Bodi, on Valentine's Day; the 35th anniversary of BIC Magazine; and the 20th anniversary of Thomas and Dane Brinsko joining BIC Alliance as "BICsters."
Before going any further, I would like to share a short story about something that happened during an interview about the Sailing Angels and BIC Media Solutions' "Heroes Recognition Cruise," which saluted veterans, first responders and their families on the weekend before Veterans Day. The interviewer asked me what I meant when I said, with enthusiasm, we received great support from our BIC family and fellow BICsters.
I went on to explain that when I refer to someone as a member of our BIC family or a fellow BICster, these are salutations that are near and dear to my heart. Having faced many challenges in my life, such as going to rock bottom and back during the early 1980s, I was once told by my friend and mentor, Butch Baum, that I would now and forever be a member of the "fraternity of the fallen." Butch went on to say there is no greater bond than the one forged by individuals who are starting out or starting over and who share the same values, interests or goals.
Being in the energy and media sectors and living in Louisiana and now Texas, I have been blessed to work in areas where we believe networking and treating others like family is part of our DNA. When I refer to someone as part of our BIC family, I'm referring to those who are part of our staff and those we partner with every day through our BIC Alliance family of companies: BIC Magazine, IVS Investment Banking, BIC Recruiting and BIC Media Solutions. As for our fellow BICsters, this includes our personal and BIC family; our 300-plus marketing partners and their staffs; our approximately 100,000 print and digital readers of BIC Magazine, who read the magazine regularly; those who continue to attend our networking events or seminars; and those who've read one of our BIC Media Solutions books or viewed one of our TV programs or films.
As a result of all this, there could easily be more than 1 million fellow BICsters around the world. And guess what? With our new website and digital editions of BIC Magazine being read globally -- plus more events, books, movies, TV series and videos -- 2019 is going to be our best year yet for achieving our mission and value of connecting individuals in business and industry for mutual benefit.
We are currently in the process of updating our first book, "It's What We Do Together That Counts: The BIC Alliance Story," and producing an "Earl's Pearls" TV series titled "The Power of Networking," which contains interviews with top super-connectors and will be available as part of our 35th anniversary (see pg. 106). We are also rebranding our former "Leisure Connection" magazine to "Leisure Connection" TV.
In this issue, we include insight from Eastman Chemical Co. Kingsport Site Leader Cari Parker, Occidental Oil and Gas Corp. Safety and Process Risk Manager Stewart Behie, Cokebusters USA COO Gary Winter and many more.
We also bring you topics that'll help you stay ahead in 2019, including operational excellence best practices, understanding Industry 4.0, modernizing the industrial maintenance sector and how change drives excellence.
In closing, you may ask yourself how you or those in your company or personal network can become a BICster. The answer is simple: It comes to you free of charge, compliments of the BIC family and other BICsters. All you have to do is invest an hour or two 10 times a year reading your print or digital copy of BIC Magazine and then sharing it. Plus, you should try to attend some of our networking events. I hope you will also read, watch or share some of the books or films in BIC Media Solutions' "Media That Matters" library.
Remember, Valentine's Day is Feb. 14, and it is a great time to let loved ones and others know how special they are to you. Thank you to our BIC family and fellow BICsters. Each of you is special, and we look forward to working with everyone this year. It's what we do together that counts!
earlheard@bicalliance.com
