Cleveland poet-performers to present at BGSU Firelands

Two of Cleveland’s finest poet-performers will present an evening of poetry and music Thursday (March 18) at BGSU Firelands. The evening begins with a talk by Ray McNiece and Terry Provost on “What It Means to Be a Poet Today” at 7 p.m. in the Firelands Room (115 West Building). At 7:30 p.m. in the Central Lounge, McNiece and Provost will present music, poetry and a special open mic session. The events are free and open to the public.

Writer, actor, singer and teacher McNiece will perform with members of his band, Tongue-in-Groove, who will also perform by request with readers during the open mic session. McNiece has toured throughout the United States and Europe, most recently with Lawrence Ferlinghetti in Italy and with poet laureate Yevgeny Yevtushenko in Russia, where he was dubbed “the American Mayakovsky.” McNiece has two new books of poetry, Song That Fathoms Home (Bottom Dog Press) and Wet Sand/ Raven Tracks: Haiku (Deep Cleveland Press).

Provost’s first book of poetry, Compassionate Imperialis (and Its Links to Terrorism): Prose and Poetry, has just been published by Deep Cleveland Press. The book is described as "a wake-up call to a slumbering country." Poet Katie Daley praises it as "rising to the occasion with outlandish imagery that in one stanza shimmies and in the next, blowtorches its way into the heart of the matter."

The events are sponsored by the Firelands College Peace and Justice Club, the Firelands Writing Center, the Department of Humanities, and Student Activities.

Peter Block to reveal secrets of successful leadership in the
public eye

Because business leaders are finding themselves accountable to broader audiences than ever before, they need to know themselves, take stands and act with confidence.

This April, BGSU will bring nationally recognized consultant Peter Block to campus to keynote a conference devoted to demonstrating how business leaders can excel in the spotlight of public scrutiny.

A well-known speaker, Block wrote the best-selling book, The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters, as well as a series of Flawless Consulting books. Joining him at the conference will be a trio of high-profile presenters: Geoffrey Bellman, Diane M. Porter and John Carter.

The daylong conference, titled “Leading in a Glass House: Coach and Inspire in Times of Global Scrutiny,” will be held April 2 at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

According to conference organizer Steve Cady, management, this year’s program features the most powerful presenters ever to appear at an Organizational Development Best Practices event at BGSU. Participants, he said, can expect to walk away with proven techniques for releasing creativity, change and excitement in the workplace.

Block will explore how to achieve organizational freedom to promote high performance while maintaining a livable work environment.

Bellman, an award-winning author, will show how searching for answers to the “big questions of life" releases people’s creativity.

Carter, a veteran consultant, will stress the importance of seeing oneself in relation to others, rather than focusing on tools and skills.

Porter, drawing from her experience with leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat, will use the interdependence of the leader and the band as an example of successful leadership.

Fees for the conference are $299 for individuals and $279 per person for groups of three or more from the same company. Alumni of BGSU’s MOD program can attend for $199. Prospective graduate students and students from other universities can register for $99. All fees include lunch.

A pre-conference event, “The Heart of Consulting: Facilitating Change in Organizations and Being True to Yourself,” will be led by Bellman from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 1 at the union. He will emphasize bringing “who you are to what you do” at the session, which costs $99.

For more information, contact Ann Betts, Continuing & Extended Education, at abetts@bgnet.bgsu.edu. To register, call 2-8181. Registration is also available online at http://conted.bgsu.edu.

Local-history conference looks at mapmaking, ‘Banksters’ and
Civil War photos

History is both big events and small details with major impact. The annual Conference on Local History, sponsored by the BGSU Center for Archival Collections, will look at both on April 1.

Authors Andro Linklater, Timothy Messer-Kruse and Dennis Keesee are this year’s featured presenters.

Linklater, a British journalist, is the author of Measuring America, which examines how mapping the boundaries of America has strongly influenced the landscape and the way people use it.

Messer-Kruse, chair of the University of Toledo history department, will speak about his coming book on Toledo’s great bank crash of 1931. The title of his presentation is, “Uncovering the Banksters: New Directions for the Study of the Causes of the Great Depression in Local Communities.”

Keesee will discuss his collection of Civil War photographs and memorabilia, many of which illustrate his book, Too Young to Die: Boy Soldiers of the Union Army.

“The Civil War is always a very popular topic with the people who attend the conference, so we are pleased to offer a slightly different perspective by looking at the young boys who served in the war,” said Ann Bowers, interim director of the Center for Archival Collections.

In addition to the presentations, this year’s winners of the Local History Publication Award will be announced at the event. Cash prizes of $300 each will be given to an academic scholar and an independent researcher.

The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. April 1 at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg. The conference fee is $30, including lunch, and the registration deadline is March 26.

For more details or a registration form, contact Sue Frost at 419-372-2411.