How The Bellwether League Honors Healthcare Supply Chain Leaders

We sit down with Rick Barlow to unpack why the Bellwether League Foundation exists and what it takes to honor healthcare supply chain leaders the right way. We trace the Hall of Fame’s origin story, the real world hurdles behind building a nonprofit, and why recognition can be the difference between losing talent and keeping it.

• Bellwether League Foundation mission as a healthcare supply chain nonprofit 
• Why the “bellwether” name ties to lighthouse leadership 
• How a research project and a baseball Hall of Fame debate sparked the idea 
• Early challenges launching the organization including legal setup, banking hurdles, and the 2008 crash 
• Why healthcare supply chain leaders often stay unknown despite massive impact 
• Historic and unexpected inductees including Clara Barton and early GPO roots 
• How Bellwether Honorees, Future Famers, and the Dean S. Ammer award differ 
• How the foundation is funded through corporate and individual support 
• What BLFIR is and what happens at the annual induction event 
• “Goes Back to School” campus outreach to grow healthcare supply chain talent 
• SCMAT maturity assessment tool as an operations improvement path 
• How to get involved by attending, nominating, volunteering, or sponsoring 
• Why the nomination process is designed for credibility over reputation 

And don't forget to hit that subscribe button and connect with us online so you'll never miss an episode and can catch up on all the ones you might have missed. Got a topic you're fired up about, or maybe you want to be a guest on the show? Fred would love to hear from you. Just reach out at fcrans@stonge.com.

Transcript

Welcome And Collaborative Kickoff

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello and welcome to a special collaborative episode of Taking the Supply Chain Pulse with the Bellweather League. I'm Megan with St. Company, and we're glad to have you with us. Joining us today is Rick Dana Barlow, the co-founder and executive director of the Bellweather League Foundation and the inaugural Cransey Award winner. This episode delivers an engaging discussion with plenty of insights to take away. Now let's get started with your host, Fred Kranz.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Fred, it is always a pleasure and a privilege to chat with you in any way, shape, or form. So glad to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Well, folks, um, generally speaking, the uh Saint Aunch podcast is audio only. But since we're pairing up with the Bellweather League, there's a possibility that the Bellweather League output from this mutual uh work may have video in it. And so uh you can see I will describe this to the audio folks. Rick is wearing his his uh white mock uh turtleneck and well really turtleneck, and uh I is that a peach colored uh uh blazer.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

It is, you know, I I was going to ask you to do you know that bit from late night with uh David Letterman, or you know, what's what's Hal wearing to what's Rick's what what's Rick wearing? And uh so you've got it so far, yeah. And I'm also doing it as an homage to you, and then of course, as I mentioned at Bellfire 18 uh a week or so ago, I I definitely wore these from the Fred Pants or Fred Crans Pants Club that uh I was so honored to receive there. Second recipient, I believe you said, right?

The Foundation Mission

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Actually, you're the first you're the first recipient of the Cransey Award. The award the award was originally uh entitled by me the Fred Crans Pants Award, and that went to Randy Bradley. But then Joe Joe Nemeth, who is uh a big uh influence on our podcast, said that we should change the name of the award to the Cranse Award. Very creative. And so you're the first you're the first winner of the Cransey Award. And for those of you who uh I I'll have to describe uh the pants that uh Rick is wearing, have a pale blue background with a large lighthouse that's red and white in there, and um it's just they're just uh apropos for the Bellwether League uh in general. So, Rick, why don't you tell us what is the Bellweather League Foundation and what is its mission?

Why It Is Called Bellwether

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Well, Bellweather League Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit, non-stock, charitable organization, and we set it up basically to recognize, to honor, salute supply chain leaders, supply chain innovators, uh, folks who are are really deep thinkers in supply chain and are making great strides in improving the profession and the and the industry. Um we set it up as as really kind of a parent company uh for the healthcare supply chain leadership hall of fame because we also wanted to expand in some other areas like education and uh scholarships to students eventually, and to uh maybe do a little bit of consulting, which we kind of veered into a little bit. So uh it took a number of years, but some of that has come to fruition here in the 21st century. So uh we're we're pretty uh proud of that and happy of that. And um uh so uh we're thinking that with these uh expansions, you know, we will not be you know overlooking our main event, of course, which is that healthcare supply chain leadership hall of fame. So what's the meaning behind the name? Well, there's a there's a confidential uh explanation or motivation behind it that maybe I'll share uh in my memoirs sometime sometime soon. Uh but by definition, a bellwether is is bellwether represents kind of a uh an indicator or a predictor of something. And in our case, it's best illustrated by the lighthouse logo behind me. You know, the lighthouse is something that either serves as a beacon of hope for people looking for land if they're if they're a sea, or you know, it's also a warning to stay away from the rocks if you're on uh at sea and and there's there's there's there's fog all around. So it has a a beneficial uh representation either way. One, it it gives you hope, two, it keeps you out of out of danger. But in the case of this regard, it it represents uh innovative thinking, leadership done by supply chain to help um its customers, which is just about everybody in the healthcare uh organization. Uh and of course, league is a group of like-minded individuals, so we we put the two together to represent uh healthcare supply chain leaders, pioneers, visionaries, innovators, and the like.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Well, I after uh spending my whole life watching professional wrestling, I think it is a good idea to stay away from the rock.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Well, you know, um but you know, I'm wondering if if you know at some of our events we need to bring and introduce the turnbuckle moves, you know, uh by some famous individuals uh in that uh in that profession.

The Hall Of Fame Origin Story

SPEAKER_03 5:56

There you go. So how how did the idea uh of the Bellweather League uh come about? How did how did the idea of the uh healthcare supply chain hall of fame come about?

SPEAKER_02 6:10

It was late 2006, very early 2007. I was working on an editorial project for a client, and what I had come up with, uh I was researching and reporting on the 30 most influential people in supply chain. My goal then was, you know, for all time, uh, going way back. Uh, but I I found that as I started doing this and started talking to people, this was gonna be a a massive, this was gonna turn out to be a massive project that I either needed more time to do because I only had uh a short time in order to make it happen, or I needed to recruit a bunch of people to help me out. So what I did is I I I I massaged the topic a little bit and and got it to something more manageable. Um, but in my research, um I talked to a lot of folks who and I was hoping these folks had such deep memories that they could help me out going all the way back as far as we could, and that didn't turn out to be uh the case in a lot of respects, and so uh gosh, I had uh I had something like 25, 30 calls uh I had made. One of the calls I I I had made uh was a uh veteran consultant that decades, and that was Jamie Kowalski. And he was one of the ones that I reached out to uh because of his experience in the industry and his longevity. I figured he would know a lot of names and then could put me on the right track as I continued my research. But um in talking with Jamie, you know, periodically um I we we came to realize that this was going to be a little bit harder than than we had anticipated. Uh and and for me uh specifically. Now you know as well as I do that Jamie is an avid baseball fan, just like you, and just like uh Barbara Strain, uh the Bellwether League uh board chairman. And so, you know, during our conversations, we'd we'd talk about you know baseball, and uh we got to the subject of a hall of fame. Now, if you're talking about Hall of Fame with me in baseball, I will typically bring up uh Ron Santo from the 69 Cubs, and the the endless uh calls for him to get into the baseball hall of fame, he eventually got in there. But back then it was it was always a case of you know, wait until next year. We started talking about a hall of fame uh for in baseball, and the conversation then kind of moved migrated toward, well, gee, uh you know, we're you're having challenges researching a lot of these folks that you want to profile, you know. We start talking about, hey, what if we did a hall of fame for healthcare supply chain? And that kind of set into motion uh something that that really blossomed from there. Uh the idea of of doing a lot more research on Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame caliber supply chain leaders that would go back decades, if you know, you know, if not uh you know a century or however however long ago we could we could we could go. So Jane and I uh decided to put our our heads together and uh uh launch the organization.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

So what was the easiest part about launching the organization?

Early Momentum And Moral Support

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Um coming up with the idea behind it um and generating moral support. Uh the folks that that we got together uh kind of dovetailed from my project. Um it was probably one of the first uh first what uh conference calls I ever had with more than like 20 or 30 people on it. I had been on international press calls in the past with reporters and and and and so forth all around the country. Uh but this was something a little bit uh a little bit more personal, and getting all these folks on a call and making sure that everyone could could uh you know make recommendations and suggestions and whatnot. So but people on the call immediately saw it as as you know the right thing to do, and that there was a lot of verbal support behind it. And we knew, you know, Jamie and I knew that we touched a nerve, and this was a a way of you know delving the past, looking into some of the foundational elements of healthcare supply chain, where it came from, and potentially uh uh broadcast, you know, where it's going.

Legal Hurdles Banking Red Tape

SPEAKER_01 11:08

So what were was the what were the difficulties you faced? What was the most difficult thing you had to overcome? Um believe it or not, there were probably three.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

The first one uh had to do with uh our attorney. We had uh we were starting, we were starting this from from scratch. Um and we had gone to uh an attorney that uh was recommended to us, and and we we asked the attorney that you know we'd like to start as a 501c3 charitable nonprofit charity, and she didn't see based on the concept that we were sharing with her, what we wanted to do with a hall of fame honoring people, she didn't see that uh that you know would work, and so she's she initially set us up as a 501c6, not for profit, and so we operated that way until about 2020-2021 when we were able to uh uh convert to a 501 uh C3. So um that was that was one. The second part was uh the bank. You know, so we had to set up an account for the organization. And uh we were we were a few years in 2007, we were a few years from 9-11, and um the the government had found during that that time frame that uh terrorist organizations were were were funneling a lot of money through nonprofit, not profit organizations, you know, that may or may not have been related to you know what they were doing in their activities. And so uh starting a non-for-profit or a nonprofit organization from scratch that you know didn't matter how how magnanimous we were or or or generous we were or what we were trying to do, uh I had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to kind of convince the bank that uh we were legit and what we were trying to do and and get that set up. So there was a lot of red tape that we had to go through. And you know, given the circumstances of the time, um I I guess it was understandable, but um it was a lot more difficult than than I thought it was, that I thought it would turn out to be. Then the third thing, you know, of course, is is generating support through through generation uh through donations and sponsorships, but we had some interesting timing uh in when we were going to have our first event and launch our first event in uh the fall of 2008. Our event actually uh happened smack dab in the middle of the stock market crash, you know, in uh that it started in mid-September and one to late October. And we started launched our first uh event during materials management week of October of 2008, like right in the middle of that. And so we were actually happy that we got a number of companies to support us early on. You know, uh Owens and Minor was our was our first company, um uh uh Med Assets, Premier, uh Novation, just a few of the ones, and of course, you know, my company as well, uh, because as I I think I've told you and I've told others, if I'm not willing to put up support for an organization that you know we're creating, then how can I ask others to do it? But it was it was uh the these companies saw the need, they they helped us out very early on, and despite the economic turmoil that was going on, we were able to get this off the ground. We had uh an intimate affair um of uh you know a small group there, but it was a very emotional time. We had some uh very prominent figures there, and uh I I think it was uh when when we when Jamie and I saw the emotional responses that we were getting from people accepting their awards and and from all the chatter uh around the uh the ballroom, actually it was a very small ballroom uh uh during that first event. We knew we were on something and we knew that this concept uh had links. And you know, there are a lot of there are a lot of of organizations that have awards out there, and those and they're and those are great when we salute all of them. They all have uh specific purposes, whether a vendor starts it uh to recognize its customers or an association starts it to uh recognize uh people within their group doing things. It's all great. We wanted to do something just a little bit different that served as more uh of an overlay of the of the industry, you know, like the Oscars or the Emmys or even the Kransies, you know. So we just wouldn't give out we just wouldn't give out uh uh handsome trousers uh to our people. We would just give out Crystal.

Sponsor Message Supply Chain Consulting

SPEAKER_03 16:16

There you go. I no need to bring the Kransies into make that comparison. Um uh so what's interesting, I think, is you look at a difference between the Bellweather League and any of the major sports hall of fame. All those people are well known all over the country. You know, uh if if uh if uh Joe Doe doesn't make it to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, but he was on the roster of the Cubs for a year, he got to play in front of uh a few million fans in his life and got that recognition of being a major league baseball player. Most of what happens in healthcare, nobody knows these people.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

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Elevating Healthcare Supply Chain Visibility

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Uh, and when you started this in 2007, 2008, uh there was uh hospital purchasing news, a few other uh a few other periodicals. Uh there there wasn't much continuity uh to uh or network continuity to the industry, and that's that's improved over time. So uh um who were your first, who were some of your give me three or four of your first notable honorees and and why they were and what uh the reas the reasons for which they were selected.

Historic Inductees And Hidden Pioneers

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah, you raise a great point, and that's one of the motivations behind why we wanted to start the Bellweather League Foundation. It's the fact that supply chain, healthcare supply chain, we didn't feel was getting uh the um exposure, the respect it deserved for everything that it does. You know, as I mentioned at BL Fire 18, everything runs on supply chain. It touches everything and everyone. And you know, you mentioned you know these publications that were out there, and they did a they do an excellent job of sharing the stories of people, uh, you know, and it could be you know from the famous folks, the the that that we all all the famous names we know and love and respect, to uh those that are are serving quietly in the trenches. And that's something that we wanted to bring to the forefront with Bellweather League Foundation. You know, it's not really uh we didn't design it as something that would that would recognize all stars and and and whatnot. We were recognizing we were recognizing people making a difference, whether you were you were publicly known and feeded, or whether you were quietly serving somewhere. It's open to everybody based on you know your achievements that are reported in your your nomination petition, the accomplishments that you're you're doing, uh how you're volunteering, how you're helping clinicians and and and so forth. So, you know, you didn't have you don't have to be famous to be recognized by Bellweather League Foundation, but I will say that once you're recognized by Bellweather League Foundation and the and the Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame, we hope you will become famous and be an example to others. Um, but going back to your question, um I I don't know if you're referring to folks in our first class or you're focused on the earliest historical figures. So I guess I'll go with the historical figures, uh, because one of the things that that one of my personal motivations in in uh uh co-founding Bellweather League uh foundation was for the organization to serve as a uh at first the unofficial, but now I think we can call it the official historian of the industry and going back. And uh we've had some really I had some folks on my list that I wanted to to really uh profile and recognize and share with the industry. I'll just give you a few. Uh I think the the one that I initially raised the most eyebrows was perhaps our oldest or perhaps most vintage. And and um and that would be the uh that would be Clara Barton, most known for uh the American Red Cross and for uh helping the troops during the Civil War. I uh you know, back in a number of years ago, uh Nate Mikish, who was the first future famer on Bellweather League's board of directors, he contacted me and and said, you know, Rick, I have an idea for uh uh a nominee, and uh I want you to hear me out. I don't want you to think that I'm crazy or anything. And he's like I I I want to I want to I want to nominate Clara Barton, and here's why. And once he mentioned the name and started talking, you know, I was already the the wheels were already going in my head, and I thought it was a brilliant idea. And so he and I worked together on on um pulling her nomination together and and and and profiling her. And so, you know, I and he uh were were so proud of of bringing her forward. Um and and the other one, another one that I'll I'll I'll mention is um uh the the founder of Hospital Bureau. And this was uh an individual. On my list from the very start, you know, when I was chatting with people during my earlier editorial uh project, I knew I wanted to focus on whoever founded what was known as the first GPO in the nation. Now, back in the back in the 19 teens, it was known as cooperative purchasing services or cooperative uh uh collaborative purchasing services uh back then. And so um I had this individual on my last we we did uh we did induct someone who was kind of the the big promoter of Hospital Bureau in the 1950s and 60s, but and he was he was very prominent in the industry uh back then. That was uh George Ainsworth. But I wanted to go back to the founder, and it was always my intention to if I could find the founders of a lot of these organizations that we know of today that are either still around or uh became part of other organizations that that uh work in the uh healthcare supply chain uh industry and profession. And so I I was I would I would be doing it uh on the side as I'm researching other individuals that we are nominating, or if I'm checking up on nominations that come in. And I remember one night uh it was probably in the 2020 teens, I was doing uh some searching, and then I got off on a rabbit trail, and I'm going through and going through and going through, and I and I started feeling I was getting close. Who that I was getting close to the guy that I really wanted, if it was a guy or I didn't know who it was, and I started, you know, I somehow got into researching railroads and whatnot, and that's when I found the guy deeply embedded in a story. I think it was a um a New York Times story or something. Uh I was looking through archives going back to like 1911 and 1910, 1911, and that's when I found uh uh William Forn, and and uh uh oh man, it was you know, the the elation of finally, you know, getting what would had been my unicorn, my holy grail, or whatever. Uh it was great. We were able to induct him in the 2017 class, which was our 10th anniversary. Um, and so that was great. You know, there are several several other individuals that I think were historical, you know, Irving Mills, who was responsible for uh, you know, event what eventually became Medline. Uh, you know, just recently uh we we um uh inducted Pat Neff Groner, who was the co-founder of VHA. So uh a lot of individuals, these are you know, oh the other one, uh the uh the annual award that that ARM gives out, the George Gossett Award. We were able to induct him. I was able to uh talk with his son, and what a truly remarkable individual George Gossett was uh to supply chain. And I mean these this was a guy that you really wanted to know, not only to have as a colleague and a friend, but as someone uh who could uh you know buttress you in in times of need, and he would do it as well. Didn't didn't matter if you were a competitor or not, he would be there for you. Just tremendous individual. I'm thinking of Stan Costello as well from the Healthcare Materials Management Society. Um these are names from the past that people may know of, some they may not you know recall or remember, some may be who, uh, but that's that's that's what I like to do with this organization, you know, for people to ask, but for people to say, I didn't know that, or wow, uh who is this person, and how did we how did we not know about him or her until right now? So um I guess another one would be uh Lillian Matiska, who was uh in our second class, I believe, in 2009. Uh she was someone who was instrumental in starting a hospital from scratch, as well as being the supply chain leader at that hospital. So that was the time when supply chain, you know, she would she made a situation where she was very influential with the C-suite back then and um uh really made uh made some headway for supply chain and then creating a hospital. So those are just a few.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

Okay, so uh we're nearing the end of our allotted time, so we're gonna have to go rapid fire on some of these things, okay?

Awards And Career Stages

SPEAKER_02 26:43

I'll have to talk like the FedEx guy.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Um, what are the categories of the Bellweather League Awards and what does each one mean?

SPEAKER_02 26:52

There are three. We started out with the Bellwether Honoree that honors uh those, those are the ones that are inducted into the Hall of Fame. They are at or near uh the end of their career, you know, and they have a minimum of 25 years experience. Uh we did that for a number of years, and then uh about 10 years ago, we decided to flip it and go to the earliest uh group and created future famers. And these are not rising stars, the future famers are within like a dozen years, 10 to 12 years of the start of their career. These are folks that we recognize as being future famers or potential Hall of Famers. And then a number of years ago, we uh we then completed the the span with the uh the an award that recognizes those active in the field, and we named it after our first inductee, which is uh uh uh Dean S. Ammer uh PhD. So there are three.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Okay, well, um how is the B uh how is the Bellwether League funded?

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Through the uh generosity of corporations and professionals in what I would call a multifaceted industry, you know, and they they we have companies and individuals who uh will support us annually through commitments, they'll support us monthly through commitments. We'll have others that support us through our event uh and then through periodic donations. So it's strictly from individuals and companies willing to support this cause uh to promote and recognize supply chain.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

And what events does the Bellweather League sponsor or host?

Campus Outreach And Maturity Tool

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Well, we have our annual event. Uh we call it the acronym is BLFIR, and that stands for Bellweather League Foundation Induction and Recognition Event. That's where we recognize future famers, Amor Honorees, and we induct the Bellweather Honorees into the Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame. Uh, we just had ours uh about a month or about a few weeks ago on the eve of Veterans Day and on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Car. And uh prior to that, we held it during uh the first Monday of healthcare supply chain uh management week. But uh so we have that, and then what we're trying to do now is launch a Bellweather League Goes Back to School uh program where we'll go to college campuses and speak to college campuses about the benefits and possibilities of a career and healthcare supply chain. Uh, enables us, you know, experts like you and people on the board and on the advisory council to share their expertise and their experience with students to get them jazzed about uh not out not just about supply chain, because a lot of them will be already interested in supply chain outside of healthcare, but to get them interested about supply chain within healthcare. And then, you know, we also have our our uh supply chain mature maturity assessment tool, our SCMAT uh program that that we're trying to get off the ground to help uh healthcare facilities kind of check out their supply chain operations. It's kind of an offshoot of the consulting idea that we uh I had mentioned early on.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

Well, if someone were listening in right now and wanted to become involved with the Bellwether League, uh what's the best way they could do that?

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Contact me. I'd love to chat with them. We always uh would welcome uh new folks getting involved, those that are interested in learning more uh about the foundation, learning more about the Hall of Fame. Uh, you know, what I always tell people if they're new to uh uh to BLF, which is Bellweather League Foundation, I say, you know, one, attend one of our events, because if you do that, you'll you'll understand the emotional appeal and you'll get the gravity of what's going on and what we're trying to do. Uh two, uh I ask them, hey, have you nominated someone? I mean, chances are you know of someone that that is worthy of recognition or worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. Go to the website, download the uh the not the appropriate nomination form, fill it out, send it in. Uh they can they can also participate in committees, uh, they can participate in our advisory council. And of course, you know, we always welcome donations and sponsorships and uh you know the fiscal help that the uh organization needs to uh to to survive and thrive and continue to uh do what we do best and what we think the industry and the profession needs, which is recognize and honor and promote uh healthcare supply chain.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Well, hey, these are all the questions that uh I've had. Uh Rick, is there anything out there that uh I didn't cover that you'd like to mention?

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Well, I mean, you know what's what uh Bellwether League Foundation means to me. Um, you know, it's an opportunity to recognize, salute, and honor folks in the industry that uh that deserve it, that have earned it, so that the industry can always uh remember them. I guess my question to you is, you know, you were inducted in 2020. What does uh being uh inducted to the Hall of Fame mean to you and your ongoing participation with Bellweather League Foundation?

SPEAKER_03 32:32

Well, I I thought that the only reason that I was inducted into the Bellweather League was so that Clara Barton would have someone to sit with. Um and then I I realized that she died in 1912, so that must not have been the case.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Um would have admired your fashion sense, believe me.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

Um, you know, it it's it's really funny because I I will tell what it means to me by what I've seen that it means to other people. If you know this it's a little circuitous here, but uh last year I nominated uh Gail Kovacs, and I I saw she gave a heartfelt a heartfelt uh uh acceptance speech. Uh this year, Mike Langloy and and and Joni Rittler, uh, you know, people uh that that really um were surprised and overwhelmed and honored to be part of the part of the group. Um I know a lot of the bellwethers that uh probably uh especially in the earlier groups, many of the people probably expected that if there were a Hall of Fame, yes, I'll be there. But uh that doesn't that doesn't uh really impact me as much as I see the people that were that were surprised. Most of the people in our business uh work 30, 40 years doing thankless tasks, and since they're thankless tasks, they receive no thanks or little thanks. Uh and to have someone not only recognize them, but then bring them forward and recognize them in front of their family and peers is really uh a heartfelt thing. And uh and uh I was overwhelmed uh and I I never I never had uh I never thought that I'd be a bellwether, number one. Number two, since I've been in the bellwether league and now that I'm on the board and I see the process that's involved, hell it's easier to get into the uh baseball hall of fame if you haven't beaten your wife or taken steroids than it is to get into the bellwether league. That's a very, very arduous uh uh uh activity to uh to get there. So it means everything to me to be there. I I think it's great. I think it I think it though from an operational standpoint honoring the the the younger and the middle uh career folks is more important to the industry because the hardest thing for the healthcare supply chain is to acquire good talent and encourage good talent and keep good talent. And these awards uh these awards give recognition and help uh retain the really good folks that we need out there.

The Vetting Process And Credibility

SPEAKER_02 35:20

I agree. You know, your your sentiment is is precisely uh what Jamie and I thought when when we created this and we wanted to carry this forward. You know, and you mentioned the the uh the the process of doing it. Uh I I want to give a shout out to Jamie who kind of came up with the the the matrix that we at least used to start it, you know, and we've since improved that matrix, but we wanted to reinforce the fact that you know this wasn't a popularity contest or an old boys club or anything like that. You know, when you submit a a nomination, uh you know, we you know, I read every single word in every single nomination that comes in, and it goes through a very, very detailed process. And we've got videos on the website that not only talk about how to how to nominate someone, but it also talks about the process uh by you know which we uh change a nominee to uh someone who's recognized uh or inducted. And so um it's come a long way. Uh you know, I'm particularly proud of how the process has progressed and developed, and I think it it's good for the credibility of the organization, but it's also good for the credibility of the individuals being recognized because they they know that they are being recognized truly for who they are based on what they do or what they did, and not so much on reputation. You know, it's not hey, he's a nice guy or she's a nice, nice, nice gal, let's put her in. No, no, no. It's what uh it's what you have contributed to the profession, to the culture, to society, and uh these are stories that need to be shared because they not only reflect that person, but also can serve as examples for those that are uh going forward.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

Well, Rick, thanks so much for your leadership in the Bellweather League. Thanks for being uh a friend uh for 30 plus years. I never would have made it uh to the Bellweather League if you hadn't published the uh completely innocuous stuff that I've written over the years. Uh I appreciate that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

I wish you the same. I wish you the same. Thanks, Fred.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

Well, that's all for today. Thanks so much for joining us. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button and connect with us online so you'll never miss an episode and can catch up on all the ones you might have missed. Got a topic you're fired up about, or maybe you want to be a guest on the show? Fred would love to hear from you. Just reach out at F C R A N S at S T O N G E.com. We'll see you next time.