The Big Announcement: SkychiTravels New Co-Host of ADT Travels Radio Show

BTB Black Travel Bloggers were invited to be guests of African Diaspora Today Radio Show by Host Dr. Carol Adams on WVON Radio 1690 AM "The Talk of Chicago" during African Festival of the Arts Chicago 2012 .

DuSable Museum of African-American History President Dr. Carol L. Adams interviews BTB Black Travel Bloggers Angela Meyers of 2 Girls & A Bikini and Flight Attendant Janice "SkychiTravels" of The Skychi Travel Guide on WVON Radio 1690 AM .

New Co-Host Flight Attendant Travel Blogger Janice "SkychiTravels" of  African Diaspora Today Radio Show Segment ADT Travels with Host & DuSable Museum President Dr. Carol L. Adams.




BTB Black Travel Bloggers recorded our Social Media appearance on Google LIVE ON AIR Broadcast during the African Diaspora Today Radio Show on WVON Radio 1690 AM with Host Dr. Carol L. Adams, Pres. DuSable Museum of African-American History.

African Diaspora Today is designed to inform audiences on the rich culture, history, and current news of the African Diaspora. Who better to disseminate this information than educator, sociologist, culturalist, and President of the DuSable Museum of African American History – Dr. Carol L. Adams.

Each week, Dr. Adams and her guests explore topics that are relevant in our communities, across the nation, and around the world.

CAROL L. ADAMS, Ph.D. is a sociologist whose varied career and diverse skills have combined to make her a social engineer of international reputation. Currently, Dr. Adams is the Chief Executive Officer of the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, IL. She has held positions as the Chairman of the African American Studies Department at Loyola University, Director of the Center for Inner City Studies at Northeastern Illinois University, and Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Having spent a number of years as the director of African American studies at a major University and a tenured professor in the School of Education at another, Dr. Adams has traveled and consulted throughout Africa and the Diaspora. She is well versed in the protocol and practice of diplomacy and capacity building. In 2003, she was part of a delegation invited to the United Nations by Kofi Annan to discuss fostering relationships between African Americans and the United Nations.

Through her work with the Global Integrated Development Group, Dr. Adams helped to launch two major entrepreneurial ventures that are fostering trade and economic development between Africa and the Diaspora: Made in Africa and BUTTA (Bringing You the Treasures of Africa). In less than two years, these companies created hundreds of jobs in Ghana, Uganda and have plans to expand to Madagascar and Gabon.

Upon learning through DNA testing that her ancestral African roots were Fulani, she encouraged scores of others to be tested and succeeded in having genealogy and DNA testing incorporated into Chicago’s African Festival of the Arts. Dr. Adams has played a major role in the development and sustainability of a number of key African organizations in Chicago, among them: the United African Organization, the Pan African Association, Africa International House, and the African Chamber of Commerce.

A friend to African and African-descended women’s groups, her research and consulting work has informed her activism and advocacy. She is currently helping a group of women from Chicago raise funds to build an orphanage in Benin, at the urging of the advisor to President Boni Yayi, and has recently returned from South Africa where she was a consultant to her human services counterpart on HIV/AIDS prevention in Kimberley. She has been invited to Zimbabwe to assist with the transitional government, and to Togo to help with their upcoming elections.

ADT TRAVELS

(AFRICAN DIASPORA TRAVELS)

ADT Travels is a new segment created to explore and travel to various communities within the African Diaspora as it relates to sites, people, lifestyle, history, language, food, and culture. The segment is not only to inform our listeners, but also to encourage and promote travel to various destinations in the African Diaspora via broadcast radio and social media platforms.

ADT Travels will be co-hosted by travel blogger, Janice Temple, www.skychitravels.com. Janice is the Editor of SkyChi.com, an international traveler, and a linguist. She has lived in France, Belgium, Venezuela, Argentina, and Turkey. Janice speaks French, Spanish, and some Turkish, and has the unique ability to communicate and understand people of other cultures. Janice blogs on her experiences as a professional traveller, as well as her life as a flight attendant.

ADT TRAVELS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

www.africandiasporatoday.com

   www.facebook.com/africandiasporatoday

  

ABOUT WVON 1690AM

WVON AM is Chicago's "exclusive" Black News/Talk Format. WVON has experienced tremendous growth over the past several years. WVON reaches nearly 173,900 weekly.

25-54 audience!

High Household Incomes/High Level Occupations:

69% more likely to have $150K+ Household Income than average Chicago adult between the ages of 25 and 54!

180% more likely to be employed in Professional?Technical occupations

425% more likely to be Business Owners, Partners or Corporate Officers

35-64 audience!

High Household Incomes/High Level Occupations:

21% more likely to have $150+K Household Income than the average Chicago adult between the ages of 35 and 64!

166% more likely to be employed in Professional/Technical occupations!

234% more likely to be Business Owners, Partners or Corporate Officers!

Source: June-August/November-Decembr 2010 Media Audit

Listen on the radio  or live on  the internet to BTB Black Travel Blogger Flight Attendant Janice inaugural  co-host on  ADT TRAVELS  monthly segment of AFRICAN DIASPORA TODAY on Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 2 pm to 4 pm CST.

Written  by Flight Attendant Black Travel Blogger  Janice Temple  

The Skychi Travel Guide http://www.skychitravels.com

Twitter http://twitter.com/skychi_travels

Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheSkychiTravelGuide

  

5 Travel Tricks & Tips for Travelistas on the Go

I was sitting here thinking about what travel tips could I share with travelistas when I discovered an accident in one of my carry-on bags. My shoe polish container cracked leaving  mounds of ooey black shoe polish staining the inside of my carry-on bag. This little disaster is the perfect subject for travel tips. A few weeks ago I had another little disaster in my roller board with lotion spilling in the bottom of the bag. Nothing could ruin a trip faster than having your lotion smeared all over your clothes and shoes or black shoe polish staining your carry-on items. So these are some tips to prevent similar bag disasters.

1.  Place lotion, toothpaste, shoe polish, shampoo, conditioner in separate plastic clear sandwich bags. This keeps spills isolated in the individual plastic bags.

2.  I use hotel plastic laundry/ dry cleaning bags to separate my clothes from my shoes. One can use Target or Macy's shopping plastic bags instead of the hotel bags.

3. I sort my bags by separating hosiery, undergarments, sleepwear, work clothes, casual clothes, swimsuit, workout clothes, and a bag for dirty clothes.

4. The plastic bags in your roller board provide an extra layer of privacy in case the TSA decides to do a bag check at the security checkpoint. You don' have to worry about your intimates being on public display.

5. I carry an extra canvas bags inside the roller board just in case I need an extra tote bag for my bottled water, snacks, purse, light jacket or sweater, magazines or books, change of clothes or shoes, socks, and travel blanket on the plane.

These are some my organizing travel tips for travelistas on the go.

By Janice Temple
Follow  on twitter
@skychi_travels

Office Politics:  You're D***** If You Do, and You're D***** If You Don't
http://www.theolp.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1433235&goback=%2Egde_111780_member_174738152
               By Chere Estrin

It’s a dirty word.  I’ll be surprised if it gets printed here so I’ll whisper:  office politics….  (Shhhhhhh!)  Your mother may have told you that nice professionals don’t do that sort of thing.

      Anyone who tells me they “avoid office politics” is really telling me that they are heavy into the game.  Politics are an integral part of the world of work. No one I know likes to admit that they play office politics or worse yet, that they are pretty good at it. Employees often complain that they are not involved or they just want to do their jobs.  Let me share a time-saving technique:  Do not waste one second commiserating about the horrible politics in your firm. There is no gathering of three or more persons that is free of politics.

Politics come with the office (or cubicle).  U.S. executives say they waste 19% of their time – at least one day a week – dealing with company politics, according to a survey of 150 executives of major U.S. firms by OfficeTeam, a California-based staffing organization.  Executives said they spent a bulk of time dealing with internal conflicts, rivalry disputes and other volatile situations.

            With competition rising for sought-after positions, it is crucial for those seeking to rise in their career, to be aware of the struggle, its purpose and how it operates.  Promotions and the decision to keep you on board during turbulent times are based as much on loyalty to the firm and its supervisors and being politically astute, as they are on performance.  Staying out of the game is an option.  Not playing the game is a strategy for dealing with the game. Political skill requires knowledge of how the organization operates and who operates it, the unwritten policies as well as the written rules.  People who don’t play and don’t get kudos give politics a bad rap.  However, I have never heard anyone complain about politics who has been the beneficiary of some savvy actions.

            Here are a few drawbacks to that can result for not being politically savvy.  You may be perceived as:

v  Not promotable;

v  A loner, not a team-player – a critical skill needed in law firms;

v  Lacking career-management skills;

v  Untrustworthy of confidences and critical information.

I’m not talking about cutthroat office politics – the stab-you-in-the-back-don’t-dare-meet-me-in-a-dark-alley-I’ll-take-credit-for-your-every-idea-gossipy politics.  That’s not politics.  That’s dirty play.  Not a good idea.

I’m referring to knowing how the game is played that in turn allows you a good chance of competing competently with those who undertake the lifestyle of cubicle warfare.  “Politics is really the play of human interactions at work that can make your job easier or more difficult,” write co-authors Ronna Lichtenburg and Gene Stone in Work Would be Great If It Weren’t for the People.  “Being a good office politician means you know how to turn individual agendas into common goals.”

How can you be a good office politician?  Here are a few starters:

1.      Politics are about power.  Just as there is no real definition of the practice of law, there’s no standard definition of power.  You need to pinpoint the factors considered “powerful” in your firm.  Blaine Pardoe, author of Cubicle Warfare:  Self-Defense Strategies for Today’s Hypercompetitive Workplace provides examples of how firms measure power:

·         Headcount – how many people report to one manager

·         Office location such as a corner office

·         Company-paid perks such as club memberships; first-class travel

·         High-profile project assignments

·         Merit bonuses

·         Amount of budget

·         Most powerful computer or system

        Individuals who receive a high degree of acceptance by upper management for failures.

1.      Learn from the past.  The unofficial history of your firm is  important.  How were past employees rewarded?  Who was a hero?  Who was fired? Why? 

2.      Don’t ignore (or believe everything you hear from) the grapevine.  Although the grapevine is an unofficial communication channel, it can be a rich source of information.  It’s a good idea to become friends with people tapped in.  Sometimes it’s the “sacred cow” who has been with the firm 25 years or the receptionist with her ear to ground. 

3.      Start with your boss.  It’s your job to make managing partners look good.  Know what is expected and find out how to add value.  If moving up the ladder is a priority, find out if your a) department is profitable b) results are measured c) boss has the power to make decisions that affect your goals, and d) boss is perceived favorably.  If you’re with a loser, chances are pretty good you are not going to be first for promotion.

4.      Find out where the power resides.  Promotions and survival are usually based on loyalty.  Identify where the power resides and select the winning side.  If possible, become a part of that department or work in connection with to it.

5.      Perform at a level beyond reproach.  In office politics, negative stereotyping can have a devastating affect on how fast and far you go. For example, if the tax department is not favored, chances of succeeding are limited.

6.      Be careful how you socialize.  The firm is not your family.  Tread carefully.  Opinions are based on observations.  Avoid getting involved with conflict as it is very easy to get labeled as someone who does not get along with others.  Dating a colleague on the job is something that should probably be avoided.  In fact, make that a no-no.

7.      Avoid cliques.  Managers tend to view cliques as detrimental to teamwork and feel that they often undermine authority.  The ultimate result of a clique is that it may affect your raises. 

8..      Cultivate alliances in high places.  Insulate yourself from some of the effects of nasty office politics and get advice on how to cope.

9.     Don’t get consumed with office politics.  Politics can be necessary but be aware it can have a negative impact. Participate positively as a point of survival but avoid becoming consumed.

10.  Don’t get consumed with office politics.  Politics can be necessary but be aware it can have a negative impact. Participate positively as a point of survival but avoid becoming consumed.

     Don’t be a novice at the oldest game in corporate history.  Philosopher Plato knew the importance of managing the perils of politics.  His advice?  “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.”  Amen to that.