Everyone wants to do good, but actually doing it takes a fair bit of supply chain coordination. In this episode, Mike Griswold of Gartner joins Scott and Greg to examine the supply side of charitable initiatives, including current challenges and success stories. Tune in as they discuss the importance of giving forward, how to do your due diligence before donating, the ongoing need for relief in Ukraine and more.

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:31):

Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Scott Luton and Greg right here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s livestream, Greg. You know how we’ve kind of broadened that. I try to use it all the time. Cause our listeners are tuned in from around the globe. Yeah, this morning I got another powerful reminder as we were preparing for one of our upcoming, uh, live streams. And it was, um, it was like 3:00 PM their time. It was, uh, I think eight or 9:00 AM our time. And as I said, Hey, good morning, everybody. They’re like, you mean good afternoon, good it’s dinner time. Right? It, it was three o’clock coffee time. Uh, so

Greg White (00:01:05):

Also, you know, people list, we, I don’t know if everybody knows this, we publish these as YouTube videos and podcasts that people could listen to any time of any day or night. Right. So it’s almost like, I don’t know what we should say. Right. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:01:21):

We, and plus I’m such a, uh, good morning is such a go-to phrase for me. So I’ve gotta, I’ve gotta really embrace that omnichannel approach folks

Greg White (00:01:29):

That are here. I like the, I like making sure you hit all channels. I don’t think there’s any reason not to say it because the, I mean, there’s only so many choices, Scott, right? Morning, afternoon or night, right? Well, you’re covering the whole world no matter what time they listen or what vehicle they listen on.

Scott Luton (00:01:45):

That is right. And Hey, uh, kidding aside. Talk about covering the world folks today. We’re talking about a very special subject, uh, to all of us here, but we’re continuing, it’s all falls under the, our, one of our longest running series supply chain today and tomorrow with Mike Griswold with Gartner. Now, Greg, as I mentioned, special topic ones, that one that is really near and dear to our hearts, as it’s baked into our culture here at supply chain. Now we’re focusing on how some companies, uh, how they’re powering their own do, uh, big, do good initiatives and are making a major impact out there in industry. Is that right?

Greg White (00:02:20):

Right. Yeah. I mean, there’s so many companies that, you know, I think the, well we’ll, I’ll save it for the one that I admire. I happen to know you’re gonna ask that question, Scott. So, um, but there are so many companies that have so many initiatives to do such great things, and it’s great to be able to celebrate that. So, you know, usually when we’re with Mike, we’re talking about the big issues or the big opportunities in supply chain, what to do in the turns. Right, right. Um, and by the way, we’re in a turn now, I wonder if anyone’s noticing that. Mm. But, um, but it’s great that Mike and the folks at Gartner and, and we, and everyone become aware of, of how companies are contributing to the good of humankind. Right.

Scott Luton (00:03:02):

That’s right. You know, maybe, maybe they’ll roll up some of what they hear here today and, you know, elsewhere with, uh, big fillin philanthropic efforts. I can never say that word. Right. Holy cow. Um, you know, maybe it’ll, it’ll guide some folks with where to spend their dollars. You know, I I’m about you. I like to spend money where, you know, companies are really investing and especially to in, um, to those, uh, in those in need, you know? Um, so all of that said, uh, we’re gonna say hello to a few folks here momentarily. We see, uh, a bunch of folks coming into the cheap seats or the, uh, club seats since this football season. Yeah. Wanna share a couple of quick announcements, Greg first? Okay. Uh, let’s see here coming up tomorrow, September 8th, 12 noon, uh, CROX has been on the move. You know, a lot of folks may, when they hear CROs, they may think only footwear, but they have really expanded portfolio. So we’re gonna be talking with Christopher from CROs and John from Infor about how they, the company CROX has been able to digitize their financial supply chain. So join me in C Bura, uh, the eighth at 12 noon. That’s tomorrow, already. Goodness gracious. And then Greg, we’ve got our dear friend, the one only Kevin L. Jackson, back with us. He’s doing big things with digital transformers. Uh, next week we’ve got a webinar on September 13th, better business outcomes with blockchain. Lots of bees there. Yeah.

Greg White (00:04:24):

Well, and my favorite word, right. Provenance.

Scott Luton (00:04:29):

Right, right.

Greg White (00:04:30):

So perfect. I, if anyone is wondering, is I think a lot of people do wonder what the heck do you do with supply chain or with blockchain? A lot of people are wondering what to do with supply chain also, but with blockchain, um, you know, provenance is perfect. It is an immutable ledger, a register of transactions. If you think of it, as simple as that. Right. And it’s yes, Scott, I did give you five bucks for gas money. Right. And you can’t deny it.

Scott Luton (00:05:00):

Right. It was me that gave it here’s the amount you got it. Right, right.

Greg White (00:05:04):

Here’s when, right. Yeah. All

Scott Luton (00:05:07):

Of ’em. But you know, to your point, Greg, uh, it’s, it’s really cool to see some of the really practical use cases, more and more coming out of how blockchain’s being applied out there. So join us on the 13th at 12 noon, especially as it relates to, um, uh, digital document Providence, uh, again, Greg’s favorite, uh, favorite things to talk about for sure. Okay. Uh, so we’re gonna be,

Greg White (00:05:30):

Before you say it better,

Scott Luton (00:05:32):

<laugh> you mean without any international or global

Greg White (00:05:36):

Flare? I think that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it? I think I’m like, uh, Franco it,

Scott Luton (00:05:41):

Whatever. Well, you’ve, you’ve been around the globe and, and that’s where usually I come to you when I get tongue twisted in my Georgia English. So, uh, um, well

Greg White (00:05:50):

You you’ve paid me back now. Okay.

Scott Luton (00:05:52):

Fair enough.

Greg White (00:05:52):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:05:53):

So, so we’re gonna be bringing in Mike Griswold folks. So one only he’s with us. The first wins of each month, uh, goes back probably a couple years. Now. You’re not gonna miss some of what he shared here today. Uh, including maybe some of the things you’ve always assumed you knew, uh, how things worked and the impact they’re making, but we’re gonna get some crystal clarity here today, say hello to a few folks. Katherine is, uh, part of the production team helping to make today’s event happen. Happy Wednesday. She says everybody big, thanks to Catherine and Amanda and clay, the whole gang, uh, behind the scenes, uh, helping to make these shows happen, follow

Greg White (00:06:27):

Supply chain now on Twitter, cuz she’s gonna be sharing some of the undoubtedly brilliant tidbits that Mike shares with us.

Scott Luton (00:06:34):

That is such a great point. Folks, if you love Twitter, you know, then there might be, that might be like a, a yes or no love it or hate it type of equation these days. But if you love Twitter, Chuck do definitely check out Greg and myself and supply chain. Now on Twitter. Um, Balan welcome in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re dialed in from, uh, Nazarene, uh, is back with us from be LinkedIn. She joined us, uh, I wanna say about a month, uh, within the last few weeks. So great to have you

Greg White (00:07:01):

Back. How you, that it’s such a gift that you remember

Scott Luton (00:07:05):

That

Greg White (00:07:06):

Character.

Scott Luton (00:07:06):

We try, we try Greg. We try Farra is in Jordan tuned in via LinkedIn

Greg White (00:07:12):

Evening. There, there you go.

Scott Luton (00:07:13):

That’s right. So fair. Looking forward to your, uh, dinner time observations in our conversation today. Amad tuned in via LinkedIn, let us know where you’re dialed in from. Uh, let’s see here, Goma, uh, Goma limo, uh, tuned in from Botswana via LinkedIn. Great to see you here today. Uh, Lieutenant Colonel Capla. I think I got that right. Or Rohit, uh, RO it, I think Greg right row

Greg White (00:07:39):

It. Yeah, I think it depends on the region. I’m guessing that’s probably India, but RO I think Rohe is correct.

Scott Luton (00:07:45):

So Colonel, we wanna get this right? Let us know.

Greg White (00:07:48):

Right. Spell, spell it out for us. Give us the phonetic.

Scott Luton (00:07:50):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:07:51):

Uh, pronunciation. I was no help to you there where I,

Scott Luton (00:07:54):

No, you are buddy. Great to have you here. Uh, let’s see here, Dr. LA Griffin tuned in via LinkedIn. Great to see you looking forward to your perspective, Jose Sanchez, who I believe Jose hails from the Metro Atlanta area like you and I do, uh, Greg, although you’ve got one foot on the coast these days, but welcome everybody. I know we ha we haven’t been able to hit everybody, but looking forward to your perspectives here today on one of our favorite topics. So with no further ado, Greg,

Greg White (00:08:22):

And that was some, some ado, there’s

Scott Luton (00:08:24):

Lots of ado, but Hey, we, we try, we try to celebrate, you know, folks, if y’all been watching this for quite some time, we love what Mike or any of our guests bring, especially Mike, but we also love to share the perspective from folks that are dialed in from around the world. So y’all keep that coming, but with no further ado, lots of ado already, no further ado. I wanna bring in our featured guests, Mike Griswold, vice president analyst with Gartner. Hey Mike, how you doing? Hey,

Mike Griswold (00:08:53):

Uh, I’m great. Uh, a couple of years ago, Greg or, sorry, Scott, you could have gotten a lot farther with the five bucks for gas that Greg got you today. I don’t know. You can get very far <laugh> maybe around the block

Greg White (00:09:03):

Go across the parking lot. Mike

Mike Griswold (00:09:05):

<laugh> man. Yeah,

Scott Luton (00:09:07):

Yeah. It’s I can’t even get far enough to avoid the conversation, uh, and the debt. Can I, Mike? Yeah. Uh, but Hey, all of that aside, great to have you back and really enjoy Hey, to be here. Appreciate. Yeah. And, and what we’re gonna be talking about today. So folks we’re talking about companies, leaders, organizations out there that are really, truly doing good, uh, leading with actions rather than words. So we’re gonna talk about all of that momentarily. Um, okay. And really quick. Uh, Raan great to have you here via LinkedIn from the UAE and Krista. Great to have you back from Baldwin, Wisconsin. I bet that’s a, a pretty place this time of year.

Greg White (00:09:44):

That’s two people sounding off from the states. Everyone else all around the globe.

Scott Luton (00:09:49):

It’s global

Greg White (00:09:51):

This day, you have gone global <laugh>

Mike Griswold (00:09:54):

Yes. That’s that’s a bit scary,

Greg White (00:09:56):

Greg born already.

Mike Griswold (00:09:57):

We’ll see how that works out today.

Scott Luton (00:09:59):

<laugh> that’s a perfect segue. Thank you, Greg, because Mike has been going global here recently. Yeah.

Greg White (00:10:05):

Good

Scott Luton (00:10:05):

Point. Yes. And I think that’s gonna feed into no pun intended our, our kind of quick warm up question. Right? So today folks is here in the states is national acorn squash day. It’s also national salami day. So we have plenty, plenty to celebrate so that all of that, cause you know, we love talking food around here, Greg and Mike, uh, I wanna pose this question to you, Mike. What’s one delicious meal that you’ve had here recently. Please share that with us.

Mike Griswold (00:10:31):

Yeah. So my wife and I just got back from a, a trip to Scotland and I’m sure most people, when I tell you what we had that I really enjoyed will not, will initially not put it in the wonderful category, but yeah, until

Greg White (00:10:44):

They more

Mike Griswold (00:10:45):

Right. We had an opportunity to have Haus and it, it was, it, it has a really bad reputation. It was really good. Um, it, it tastes so I mean, people, I don’t need to go into the gory details around how it’s made, but, but basically it’s got the, the consistency of kind of a, a, a sweeter ground beef. Okay. Um, it was really, really good. You know, I, I figured, you know, while in Scotland, it’s obviously one of the national dishes, uh, there was a ceremony around presenting the Haus, so, and it was good. And then, you know, there were other people on the tour who later on in the tour actually had, you know, like a, a Haus pop pie or had, you know, something, uh, a, a full meal built around it versus kind of an appetizer. So, okay. The, the, the Scottish people said, you know, it’s, it’s better than what goes in hot dogs and baloney. So you, you Americans really shouldn’t crinkle your nose. So, so I tried and it was really good. It was really good.

Scott Luton (00:11:45):

So, so

Greg White (00:11:46):

Let’s share why people think it’s gross. Mike, you don’t have to, I will, it’s this ground beef served in, in sheeps and intestines, but correct. Mike, please share why that’s not gross.

Mike Griswold (00:12:00):

Well, you don’t, it’s, it’s basically think of it as a, as a large sausage, right? The, the, the casing is, is designed to hold the meat and, and what it’s cooked in, you know, part of the ceremony is they bring the Hauss out in, in kind of a loaf like this, and then you cut it open, and then you just kinda spoon out the, the, the ground beef that’s inside. You don’t eat the outside. You, you scoop out the ground beef, so, okay.

Greg White (00:12:25):

That’s why it’s not gross.

Mike Griswold (00:12:28):

Exactly. As, as, I guess, as opposed to eating what, who knows what’s in, in actually eating all the baloney, right. Eating all the hot dog. Right. We don’t really

Greg White (00:12:36):

Know what any those

Scott Luton (00:12:37):

Exactly. So thank yes. So it’s important to note, to be fair, um, you know, there’s sausage type traditions globally. And I bet if we investigated all of them with our flashlights and about in terms of how it all was made, you know, there’s probably not a safe and delectable corner across the globe, but Mike, I appreciate you sharing. I hope you had a great trip to Scotland. Um, Greg, I want to ask you one of your favorite meals and folks, we’re gonna get into some of the, uh, do good fill-in topic initiatives that need to be on your radar here in just a minute, because supply chain is a very unique position to lead and to act and to deliver on things like that. But, uh, really quick, Greg, our friend, Fred Tober is back with us from he, he resides in STAM, Georgia now, great day to be in supply chain. He says, Greg, his nickname,

Greg White (00:13:28):

The doc holiday of supply chain. That

Scott Luton (00:13:30):

Is right. Fred. Great to have you back <laugh>. And also Chris, uh, a new first time attendee, Chris, Christopher Anderson from Lynchburg, Virginia tuning in for the first time. Good stuff. I was gonna ask you, um, Mike, you know, the famous Lynchburg is in Tennessee. I didn’t know if you may need some of the famous product from Lynchburg, Tennessee to kind of wash down some of the, your, uh, cuisine you were having in Scotland.

Mike Griswold (00:13:55):

Well, funny story. So when you’re in Scotland, you drink a lot of scotch, which was no problem to me, but we were in a pub in Glasgow our first night looking for something to eat. And I’m in, I had a nice scotch, but I’m looking at the bar and they’ve got a tap with cores light. It’s like what we’re in, we’re in Scotland. And someone actually is gonna buy a cos light at anyway, no disrespect to Coors light, but that’s not what I expected to see when I was, was in Scotland.

Greg White (00:14:26):

Yeah. Kidding

Scott Luton (00:14:26):

To the system. All right. So Greg, Greg, uh, whether you wanna comment on what Mike just shared there, or comment on one of your delicious meals you’ve had recently?

Greg White (00:14:35):

Yeah, well, I’ve had a traditional, uh, Irish meal. Okay. Coastal Irish ancient historical American Irish immigrant meal.

Scott Luton (00:14:48):

Okay.

Greg White (00:14:48):

Of, of shrimp recently, that was just absolutely spectacular. So just cooked, real simple, just steamed, uh, or, or boiled and steamed with, with, um, old bay seasoning. And of course here, it was the shrimp that you literally saw come off the boat, go into the pot and into my tummy. So love that. That’s just, you know, that’s just one, uh, that I think of, you know, if we’re thinking experientially about meals. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:15:18):

Sign me up. I I’d love to partake in that meal. Hey, really quick. You’re just talking seasonings there and then we’re talking food. I, I was one day old when I found out that low’s the seasoning salt. It actually, the restaurant came first and then they launched a line of seasonings, which eventually became, uh, acquired by McCormick. Had no idea thought it was just first

Greg White (00:15:39):

Company where what’s the restaurant,

Scott Luton (00:15:42):

Uh, California, I wanna say Beverly Hills or, or LA, they got one in Vegas now. And a couple of the places called,

Greg White (00:15:48):

Called low’s.

Scott Luton (00:15:49):

Yeah. Low’s my, my grandparents not even using, yeah. My grandparents used their seasoning salt, you know, all the time growing up. So, um, Amanda already knew that, but I’ll say that rest of that story for another time. Um, cause we wanna talk about one of our favorite things here, especially really outcomes, action, real impact. And, and Mike, you know, uh, with all the conversations we’ve had, you’re, you’re part of the kindred spirits, part of the, uh, do good family here for sure. Um, I wanna lead with this one and then I wanna, I wanna get Mike and Greg to weigh in with some of their favorite initiatives. So I was talking, we were interviewing, uh, Tom Mar with Dell, uh, a few weeks back. He’s been with us before. Uh, he’s very connected with making an impact far beyond what to do at Dell. Um, he just joined the advisory board for this group called pay it forward nine 11.

Scott Luton (00:16:41):

Now this was new to me. Um, it is inspired by the actions of the townspeople of Gander, which is a town in new Finland, Canada of what took place on September 11th, 2001. And the organization seeks to have individuals take action and do good deeds for their communities over the course of September 1st through the 11th right now, Greg, Mike, we all know the power, the simple gestures and life simple, good deeds and ripple effect. It can have, I love the simplicity behind this effort, as well as the, you know, the powerful impact that I could I could lead to. Um, so y’all check that out, pay it forward nine 11. I think we’re dropping the link in the comments there and folks, even if you have nothing to give nothing to give, you know, it’s about, there’s simple things you can do to make it, uh, a better day, better time in your community. Um, alright, so Mike, I’m gonna start with you, what’s, what’s a couple of your favorite really do good initiatives out there.

Mike Griswold (00:17:41):

Yeah. So let me circle back to that one real quick, because that’s a really interesting story, which I didn’t know about. Um, but they’ve actually turned that whole story around that town into a Broadway show called come from away. It’s actually coming here to Boise, uh, at the beginning of October, it’s on Broadway it’s I believe won several Tony’s, but they it’s. It’s about the, some of the passengers and it’s really about the town and how the town rallied when they had, you know, I, I think it’s something like the regular population of that town was like 15,000. It grew to almost 40,000 when all of these planes had to be diverted in land in this little airport. So that’s a great, uh, it’s a great, um, organization and it’s, and it’s a great story. And I’m really excited just to go to the show and see how they’ve turned that into, into a Broadway show,

Scott Luton (00:18:35):

Come from away, come

Mike Griswold (00:18:37):

From away from away. There’s actually a book. Um, my wife was looking at the book on Amazon. Um, I might get the book and read that first. I tend to do that, but anyway, so that’s a great story. Um, but back, yeah, sorry, back to your question. You know, when, when I think about, um, kind of the, the charitable aspect, it’s hard for me not to think about it through the lens of the supply chain, if you think about charitable and sense in, in the sense of product and charitable in the sense of supply, right on the product side, you know, Walmart comes to mind with a lot that they do both on the food side in terms of donating to, to local food banks, um, to even just having overstock product that they find places to put in the, in the community, temp, Seally, the mattress company, a lot of those same activities, you know, we mentioned, can I say in the green room makes me feel special right. In the green

Greg White (00:19:29):

Room? Yeah. Say that. Yeah.

Mike Griswold (00:19:30):

Impress the green room. Thank you. Yeah. It makes me feel special. Um, we talked, you, you mentioned Scott about, you know, wanting to, um, patron or, or be a patron of, of organizations that do those types of things. I would encourage folks to look at even your local supermarket, cuz I’m sure without a whole lot of fanfare, they’re doing a lot of stuff to local food banks. I know Albertsons does a lot here, um, in the Boise area with our local food banks in terms of donating food. So that’s one on the product side, but probably where I would spend most of my discussion is, is on this idea of the supply side. Hey

Scott Luton (00:20:08):

My, so before I, yeah, before you shift gears there, can I get Greg you,

Mike Griswold (00:20:12):

Oh please.

Scott Luton (00:20:13):

Yeah. You know, Greg wait at Walmart temp, temp silly some of your local supermarkets, like Albertson’s Greg weigh in there. What your, what some of your thoughts are.

Greg White (00:20:21):

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think I hadn’t really thought about it this way, but there’s almost always an opportunity to do something, even just throw a change in a bucket at your local grocery store. Right. Um, and you see that more, you know, more and more places. Um, but I, you know, I think about, and I know we’re gonna talk about some really big initiatives, but some think simple things like throwing your, your spare change in for the Ronald McDonald house at McDonald’s or various and sundry other things. I mean that turn into really big initiatives. Right. So, uh, to me the message here is, you know, give small, give simple give now. Right. And there are so many opportunities where, you know, somebody, I, I, I just went to the store the other day, I’m allowed in the grocery store again, by the way guys. So <laugh>, and I’ve gotten a lot better at it. Yep. Um, where somebody just taps on a little bucket and says, do you want to give I’m like, yeah, sure, whatever. Right. It’s spare change, whatever. Um, and you know, EV that adds up. Right, right. So I, I just think that that is the key thing for people to understand these big corporations do big bold initiatives, but everyone can give some spare change that is going to matter

Scott Luton (00:21:37):

Well said, well said one, one more quick thought. Uh, and we’ll get to a comment and just a minute, but my one more quick thought before you continue is as much as I love. And this is just my, my opinion here, as much as I love the, you know, the movement to, you know, buy fast food or Starbucks for the person behind you. I love that. But you know, where I think some of the biggest value, even if you, you only have the $6 or whatever you wanna give to, to Greg’s point is focusing on those truly in need. Cause there, I mean, you know, globally, there’s, there’s a, there’s massive in, in your own community. You’d be surprised about how many folks are, are under, um, um, um, from a food standpoint, U under, under, um, what’s the word I’m trying to look for nourish. Thank you. Under nurse. Thank you, Greg. Uh,

Greg White (00:22:24):

Okay. We’re back even. Thanks. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:22:25):

<laugh> but really targeting, you know, everyone’s got limited resources targeting that to those in need. Uh, I think there’s a big value there. Okay. So Mike, you’re kind of talking to man side and supply side. Yeah.

Mike Griswold (00:22:36):

I wanna circle back real quick though, to Greg’s comment, which I, which as Greg normally does triggers another thought in my head, which was Greg. You’re exactly right. I, I can’t, you know, it’s almost now every store I go into and this it’s an observation, it’s not a bad thing. Almost every store I go into, I was in the other day. They all have now this Roundup capability, which to me is fantastic. Yes. And, and it’s, it is a push of a button and, you know, I go to the checkout. Right. And I spend, you know, let’s say $8 in, in 10 cents. I can round it to nine. Yeah. It’s only 90 cents, but if we all do that, right. And it, and for at least the Dick stuff goes to some local, um, activities here in Boise where, you know, getting athletic equipment for kids that may not have access to athletic equipment. Right. So my message is, I, I, I know when it’s time to pay, we all just wanna get the heck out of wherever we are <laugh>. But I would ask people maybe just to pause and see if there is that Roundup capability. And if it aligns with something that, that you’re passionate about, give them that 50, 60, 70 cents, whatever it might be. Right. It, it, it, it, it, to your point, Greg, which was a really good one, if everyone gives like 60 cents, you know, things will add up pretty quickly.

Greg White (00:23:54):

Yeah. No doubt said, you know, I’ve totally forgot about the Roundup thing, but that is fantastic. Cause it is who carries change these days anymore. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:24:03):

It’s easy and it makes it too easy not to do it. Um, yeah. Alright. So, and then I’ll shared a couple. Yeah, I’ll go, Scott. I shared a couple comments here. Y’all keep it coming. Uh, Dr. LA Griffin, uh, give, as you can and for the right need. Now I love that message there. Good morning, Gloria. More great to have you here. And Amanda says, I’ve actually heard paying for the person behind you in Starbucks causes logistical problems and confusion for the employees. How about that? An alternative idea is to give the baristas a tip at the window or through the app. Hey, that talk about folks. Um, you know, that could use that support. I love that idea, Amanda. Okay.

Mike Griswold (00:24:41):

Yeah. My, my, my advice to people that want and Amanda, great suggestion, Scott, great suggestion of a paying for the car behind you when you’re in Starbucks. So you gotta be careful, right. If someone’s behind you in a minivan, I mean, that could be, that could be a second mortgage. So you might just wanna be careful. Who’s actually behind you, particularly at Starbucks and I love Starbucks, but

Greg White (00:25:02):

Yeah. Cause you know, they don’t need it, first of all, they’re in line waiting in a car to buy coffee so they don’t need it. Right. And, and, you know, I wonder, I hadn’t thought about this, Mike. I wonder if people load up in cars and just hope that somebody will pay,

Mike Griswold (00:25:18):

They go around and around and around

Scott Luton (00:25:20):

Yeah. Target the folks on the motorcycle if you’re gonna do that. I think Mike, yeah, there you

Mike Griswold (00:25:25):

Go. Perfect. Scott, sorry to digress.

Scott Luton (00:25:28):

So on,

Mike Griswold (00:25:29):

On this supply side, there’s a couple and, and, and this, I mean, if, if you go in and Google, um, kind of supply chain ch uh, charities, there’s, there’s a couple of interesting things. One that I don’t think we’ll talk about, which is just the challenges that charities have with their supply chains. Mm-hmm <affirmative> right. Given how much people are now relying on different types of charities, whether it’s natural disasters, whether it’s just a byproduct of the economy charities in general, their supply chains are getting stressed. That’s maybe a topic for a different day. Yeah. But when I think about supply on the charity side it’s it’s organizations like the American logistics aid network, as an example, is an organization that, that acts as a matchmaker between people that have disaster relief supplies and getting it to the disaster site. So everything from, Hey, I need a warehouse to store a bottled water because I need it near where, you know, Katrina was to, Hey, I’ve got this warehouse full of stuff, but I have no way to move it.

Mike Griswold (00:26:34):

Right. I need forklifts. I might need tractor trailers. So organizations like that, excuse me. I think play a critical role in kinda matchmaking between people that have stuff that they wanna give and actually getting it to the people that need it. And it’s, to me, it’s those infrastructure types of companies that we probably don’t talk enough about in terms of making sure that people get what they need when they’re impacted by a natural disaster. So, so that’s one, the other one that I think is probably known, but not necessarily known is the Ronald McDonald house. Yep. So we see the ads, you know, you see the ads every once in a while for the Ronald McDonald house. And I think just, just the idea that, and to me, when I started looking at the Ronald McDonald’s house and the Ronald McDonald foundation, there, there’s a couple elements to that.

Mike Griswold (00:27:29):

There’s certainly the, you know, the housing next to hospitals or near hospitals, so that families can be together when kids are going through, you know, usually not really good times. I think being able to keep the family together and, and try to, to, to, you know, inject as much, you know, spirit and family as you can, during an incredibly difficult time, I think is really important. But the other thing that I learned is, is they’ve started to, to build and have, you know, mobile facilities where they can take, you know, semi-trailers that have exam rooms have, x-rays have blood work, have all the things that you would want in a hospital. And the ability to take that into remote regions, whether that’s remote regions in the states, whether that’s remote regions worldwide. So thinking about kind how, you know, what, what Ray CRO started in terms of the fast food restaurant and the impact that, that had obviously on the fast food industry, but also the impact. I think the Ronald McDonald house has on people’s lives and just overall care for people. Um, I, I think is, is one that I, that I would like to recognize

Scott Luton (00:28:43):

Mike so well said, Greg, we get your take here in just a second. Sure. I, I shared pre-show that, you know, having gone to McDonald’s thousands of times y’all might have forgotten about the chicken fajitas McDonald’s rolled out in the eighties. I was one of the three people that actually loved those things. Uh, they were like a bucket piece ate ’em before Wednesday night church all the time. They broke my heart when they went away. But all that kidding aside, I, I think you, you, when you walk into a restaurant, you I’ve heard that Ronald McDonald house a million times, but Mike, what I love, what you’ve done here is I never stopped to think about the real impact that they’re making and the investment they’re making and what it means to gosh, can you imagine all those families that are going through those tough times that have very few places to turn to that’s what we should be doing, you know, as business leaders, as, as supply chain leaders, you name it and, and they’re writing a check, Greg, uh, your thoughts there,

Greg White (00:29:34):

You know, as Mike was talking, it made me think of a tiny book, um, that someone gave me ages ago and they said, you wanna be wealthy. This is the first thing you need to read. It’s called the gospel of wealth. And it’s by admittedly a Robert Barron, Andrew car Carnegie. But it’s about a 40 page book that talks about how, if your goal is to become wealthy, that you have to not have to for, because you owe it to anybody you have to because you owe it to yourself to give back and how simple that is. And rather than, you know, continuing to enrich yourself. I mean, I, I think we’ve realized by all the seizures, um, that have, that have occurred since, uh, the Ukraine war that even, uh, even, uh, what do they call those guys? Oli GARS only need one 800 foot yacht.

Greg White (00:30:29):

So I think once <laugh>, I, I think what’s cool about that is, is you can translate that. Having read that book, you can translate that in, at any level of wealth that you’re at, if you’re struggling paycheck to paycheck, but you want to figure out how to give, you’re trying to save for your first home. All of those things. It’s just such a simple formula anyway. Gospel of wealth, Andrew Carnegie. Yep. Um, and then the other is, you know, Scott, I love this philosophy instead of giving forward or giving back, give forward. Right. It’s kind of like paying it forward, but it’s really give forward. So organizations like, um, like, oh my God, I totally forgot. Enrique’s company’s name vector global,

Scott Luton (00:31:12):

Global.

Greg White (00:31:12):

Right. Um, and you’re gonna talk about, uh, um, some of their initiatives, but that comes from their philosophy of giving forward. And more companies are taking the approach of doing good as part of their corporate culture. Right. As, um, give for the good before you give for the shareholder in a way, right. Cause you’re gonna do it either way. You’re gonna, you’re gonna return goodness to your shareholders, but, but why not make impacting humanity positively a part of your culture and do it as, as generously or minimally as you possibly can. I mean, not every company is as equipped to give right. As every other, but, uh, if you make it part of your, part of your business plan, um, then it doesn’t hurt so much. It’s kind of like when the feds take taxes out of your paycheck rather than having you write them a check at the end of the year.

Scott Luton (00:32:12):

Uh, alright. We gotta say the tax discussion for much later day. That’s

Greg White (00:32:15):

Go there. Let’s keep this good.

Scott Luton (00:32:16):

<laugh> really quick. Um, really quick. A couple comments there. I love Mike brought up Alan, the American logistics aid network. We’ve had Kathy Fulton on with us a couple times. In fact, she’s probably do, we can reach out and make that happen again. Y’all should check out Alan a.org.

Greg White (00:32:32):

I’ll call her right

Scott Luton (00:32:33):

Now. Yeah, please don’t please. But you know what I love there is the marshaling. They do, you know, she’s made the comment numerous times here. We all wanna help when there’s a disaster, but one of the worst things we can do is flood a, a local area, right? With pallets of water, you know, cause it, they could, it could go to waste. So I love the Marshing of resources. They do. Y’all check out a, a.org and then a couple of quick comments and then Michael will circle back and make sure, um, we have checked off everything on your box. Greg says, always thought that each state should have two to four facilities that have disaster, um, semis that are built with showers, bathrooms, washers, and dryers, sandbag equipment, and the like that could be sent to disaster areas to help the devastated community. It’s a good thought that staging is a good thought there. Um, Catherine talked about taking actions every day. She says, instead of dropping more stuff, stuff off at Goodwill, I donate my extras to a local women’s and children’s shelter to help domestic violence survivors. Let

Greg White (00:33:32):

Great idea. Let me make this incredible clarification. Goodwill is not a charity. It is a core profit entity and their CEO makes $2 million a year. Wow. You are not giving to charity. When you give to Goodwill,

Scott Luton (00:33:46):

Hey, do your

Greg White (00:33:46):

Homework. It has its own business model and it, it, it, um,

Scott Luton (00:33:53):

Don’t

Greg White (00:33:53):

Does a little bit of good, but if you have a church or, or something like that must ministries is a, is a Methodist thing. If anyone’s familiar with that, that every church and other community organizations do things where you can actually make sure that that gets to people in need.

Scott Luton (00:34:11):

Well said, and Hey, don’t take Greg’s word for it. Do your homework, do your own due diligence, especially whether it’s related to good will or anyone else that’s really important. Yeah. Uh, Dr. Ronda, and I’m coming back to you, Mike, Dr. Rhonda says, Hey, be of service and give what you can win-win for everyone to fill a sense of purpose in life. Beautifully said Dr.

Greg White (00:34:30):

Ronda. Yeah. Time is as important as money in some cases more so that’s

Scott Luton (00:34:33):

Right. Excellent point. Okay. So Mike, before I share a couple others that are, and certainly on me and Greg’s radar and team here, anything, any final thoughts from your end, Mike?

Mike Griswold (00:34:43):

Yeah, I, I think just, I wanted to, again, react to, to a, a comment that Greg made, you know, and we’ve talked here at length in, in different segments around our supply chain, top 25 in 2021. Some people may recall one of our macro trends in the top 25, what’s this idea of purpose driven organizations, right. Which is exactly how Greg just described that. It’s recognizing that an organization, you know, exists for shareholders, but it also equally exists for the community and for the ecosystem. However you wanna define that you kicked off the segment, Scott with Dell, I mean, Dell has long been recognized within our top 25. Not only is it leading supply chain, but also they, they were a purpose driven organization before we were calling it a purpose driven, uh, organization. You know, they have their legacy for good. They, they are extremely committed to everything around ESG, right?

Mike Griswold (00:35:41):

Environmental, social, and governance. So this idea of, of purpose driven I think is, is definitely gaining traction. I think it’s definitely taking hold. We see that within our top 25, um, community. And I think, you know, for individuals, I think we can ask ourselves the same question, right? Can we, are we purpose driven, whatever that purpose might be? You know, for me, as I’ve shared on here before, I’m a huge, you know, military charity type of, of person, those are those, those entities are really important to me. Um, for others, you know, it could be, it could be something else. You know, my message is, you know, I think, uh, as a couple of our, our guests have, have already mentioned, find what you’re passionate about and give what you can cause. And my last observation to Greg, uh, Greg, I could tell you wanted to say more, I appreciate your restraint on, uh, on Goodwill, but it is about doing due diligence, right? Because yes, you know, there are some, some I’ll put it in quotation fingers, right. Charities around some really important topics, things like cancer and those types of things that if you do some due diligence, you will find that not a whole lot of your dollar goes to where you think it should go. Mm

Greg White (00:37:06):

Excellent point, charity, navigator.com, best resource on the internet to find out that exact thing.

Scott Luton (00:37:14):

Excellent point

Greg White (00:37:14):

Is how much of your money actually goes to help those yeah. In need.

Scott Luton (00:37:19):

And, and as we know, as we know Greg, some of the newer ones, there may not be as much information on any site, including charity navigator, and you’ll have to take the extra step, have the right conversations. Right. But

Greg White (00:37:31):

Scott, you, we at supply chain now give to one that’s so small and so early that they’re not on there yet, but we’ve done. We you’ve done, you’ve done our due diligence.

Mike Griswold (00:37:42):

<laugh> a collective we,

Scott Luton (00:37:44):

Yes. Collective we, you know, right. And, and that’s, uh, I don’t know about y’all, but as much as I love, there’s some really big organizations, we’ve all, we’ve all shared plenty that are doing really big things and we can, they deserve our support, but there’s something I, it might be the startup, um, uh, in my DNA, I love where, you know, you can make an impact with folks that are, you know, not just getting their sea legs together, but just, you know, they’re, they’re, they’re closer to their birth than they are, you know, um, their death station. So, yeah. Um, anyway, one of the last thing, uh, Mike, and I appreciate your last thought there is when I grow up, I hope to trigger a thought for, uh, Mike Griswold. I will know I have arrived when I do that.

Greg White (00:38:22):

You just don’t talk as much. That’s why,

Scott Luton (00:38:24):

Yeah. Way all in good fun. Let’s so let’s shift gears in, uh, so Mike, really, again, I knew this would, um, hit your heart, so to speak when I shared, you know, what we wanna talk about here today, cuz you’re geared much like we are in this regard and you know, really finding powerful ways of taking action. Do good. Uh, a couple of those that are on our radar, we already mentioned the pay it forward nine 11. And I think, uh, the production team dropped that into comments. Um, this other one that, uh, Greg, you, you remember, we interviewed, uh, the one and only Donald Fry, uh, Friesen, uh, with Lowe’s right. The, the fearless supply chain leader at Lowe’s. Right. And Lowe’s doing some really cool things. Um, but one of the many things that we talked about with Don was this, um, this hometown initiative, uh, basically the companies picked a hundred cities across the country and they’ve committed to investing about a hundred million across these a hundred cities build things like, uh, Q <laugh> community centers, man, difficult for you to say I met, uh, community centers, shelters, parks, schools, and a lot more, some of the towns, Greg and Mike Overland park, Texas Madison, Georgia, not too far down the road here, Ontario, California, and a lot more so big fan.

Scott Luton (00:39:43):

You talk about, you know, practical investments, uh, for some infrastructure, uh, that, you know, any community needs man, a hundred million dollars. That’s the kind of, uh, initiatives I love to get behind Greg. Your thoughts.

Greg White (00:39:57):

Yeah. I mean, I think, um, what was funny about that discussion was the way Don talked about it, which was not, it was just so matter of fact, just like it was just part of everyday business for them, you know, Mike, to your point, um, that it, it was part of their business model, right? So Scott, that’s the thought that you’ve prompted in my mind, <laugh> with what

Scott Luton (00:40:20):

You just <laugh>

Greg White (00:40:22):

Is, is just how matter of fact that discussion was that it was just right. Is just part of the every day. And I think if you can get to that point in your life and it’s not hard to do, you just look for opportunities to give and there are plenty of them out there. Right.

Scott Luton (00:40:38):

And, and I think, uh, important to note is this is just one of many, you know, when, when the floods took place in, in Kentucky aid that the company brought that was over above and beyond these major commitments they’re having. Right. So with consumers, I mean, consumers should really know, um, you know, who they’re spending their dollars with. So I love that from Lowe’s Michael will give you a chance to kind of comment on this hometown initiative that we were just talking about.

Mike Griswold (00:41:06):

Yeah. I, I think it it’s a great example. I mean, I, you know, I’ll go back to the, kind of the rounding up at and some of the other places, you know, I try where I can to, to, to mix between kinda large organizations. I’m a huge basketball fan. So I give regularly to the V foundation as an example, mm-hmm <affirmative> cause I know to earlier point, Greg, you know, almost all of the money I give the V foundation is going straight to cancer research. Right. Um, but I also try to find things locally, cuz I know just even within everyone’s own community, um, you know that the shelters, the food banks, all those types of things locally, they all need help. Right. You never see on the news a report that the local food bank is like, oh, we don’t need anymore food, please don’t give us more food. Right. We, we have enough. Right. You never hear that. So, um, my, my ask of people is, is to, is to also look locally. Yeah. And where can you help cuz then, you know, for sure that, you know, in, in some ways you, you are helping your neighbors, you’re helping other people in your local community,

Scott Luton (00:42:13):

Well said, well said, Mike, uh, alright, couple quick comments. Glomar great to have you back with us. It is so crazy to see how much money goes to the charity management than the needy. I wish they had monitored more closely, excellent point there Glomar and that’s where Greg mentioned the charity navigator it’ll help you, um, really figure out the overhead percentages and some of where, where the money goes. Right? Greg.

Greg White (00:42:37):

Yeah. And charity navigator gives you kind of a go be warned and no go, uh, alert. So for instance, I’m, uh, I am very involved and have been, since I started college with the ALS association Lou Gehrig’s disease. And last I saw about 86% of the money goes to those in need. Now the rest of it is, and I, I know because I’ve been on boards at, at this organization. Hmm. It it’s very, shall we say, uh, conservatively positioned to administer all of that because it’s, you know, there is no cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease. There’s not likely to be one in the near future. Most of the, what that association does for instance is provide equipment and materials. There’s a ton of logistics, right? There’s a ton of volunteers. So you have to think about very few charities where a hundred percent is gonna go to right to those in need. But, but I think charity navigator likes it when it’s between 80 or 80, maybe even 85 or more goes to the charities or goes to the, those in need, right.

Scott Luton (00:43:43):

Four star I believe is what they call those, those organizations to your point, Greg. Um, alright. Solomar great point there. Jose jumping on the Goodwill thing, Goodwill, he says is more expensive than Walmart. Um, then, uh, Dr. Rhonda, if you haven’t for any folks out there, if you haven’t heard of charity navigator, really, and if you’re a big fan of doing due diligence, it is a great tool. So check it out. And I think it’s free to use you don’t it is register. Um, so good stuff there and we dropped in the Lowe’s hometown initiative. So y’all can learn more about, uh, what the good people there are doing. Okay.

Greg White (00:44:22):

Charity, navigator.org.

Scott Luton (00:44:24):

Thank you. Dot org. Thank you very much. Uh, so I just said good people and Greg you’ve alluded to good, good people, you know, beyond Mike Griswold, beyond some of these organizations we’re mentioning, we’re big fans of Enrique Alvarez and all the folks over at vector. Now check this out and folks take note because this is an easy one to get involved in. So this leveraging logistics for Ukraine, this has been an ongoing thing going back probably now six, eight months even, um, you know, Ukraine, depending on the day, depending on the week, it may, you know, other things may TA take the top headlines, but as we all know, there’s tons of suffering going on there. So vector has made it easy, hard for them, but they’ve made it easy for folks to tune in. You know, there’s a monthly planning meeting and all they do Greg is they, um, they find they vet the need, right, right.

Scott Luton (00:45:19):

In Ukraine, Poland, and in the region, right. Figure out what they really need, not the things we assume, but things they really need. And then they find the folks that can either donate the resources or donate the services to get the humanitarian aid there. Now I try to get an updated figure. You know, this is on top of their business and many other, uh, philanthropic, uh, initiatives, right. Uh, but, but as of like a month ago, over 300,000 pounds of vetted targeted need had landed in the region, right. Gotten to the folks in need. So one last comment and Greg, I wanna get you to weigh in here is if that appeals to you, you know, even if you’re not in position to write a check or donate anything, Hey, join the monthly planning sessions. The next one, September 13th, you can listen in to, as a share market Intel, they share updates on, on, um, what they’re doing on the needs, on updates on containers that are on their way, you name it. And once you’re informed, it may be something where you can jump in and help in some way, shape or form. But Tuesday, September 13th, 11:00 AM Eastern time, uh, we’re dropping a link into chat and we’d love to have, y’all be a part of that. And, and again, big, thanks to folks that really, uh, lead with logistics with purpose. And that is Enrique and the vector team, Greg, your commentary on, on this, um, initiative here.

Greg White (00:46:43):

Yeah. I mean, you, you don’t even have to be able to do anything to join those calls, just join the call. If you think you might know somebody that might be able to help at some point. So, um, Enrique and the team at, at vector have hooked up with Greg OSH, which is how you say Greg and Polish, by the way. Okay. I forget his last name. Um, but remember we had him on the show some months back, um, yes. Who has put his own startup technology company on hold or, you know, stepped away from his role in large part to facilitate a lot of this. So this is not gonna be on charity navigator, um, but still worthy and well vetted. I can verify that Scott and I have vetted this cause. So, uh, you know, if you can give money, give money, if you can ship goods, if they’re having trouble getting stuff out of the Midwest or whatever the issue is, just figure out what their problem is and see if you can maybe help ’em out, just get on the, uh, the link that we have here and, um, and join the, the call and see if there’s anything you can do to help

Scott Luton (00:47:49):

Excellent point com uh, Greg expertise is really needed. Uh, Mike, any, uh, response when you, when you, when you come across projects like this that are really more initiatives than they are organizations, right? It’s a C of folks and resources coming together. Any thoughts on your end, Mike?

Mike Griswold (00:48:03):

Yeah. I, I think that the challenge with this and, and I think Scott, you alluded to it is how, how do you keep this top of mind? Because it was, you know, I’ll date myself, it was front page for weeks and now it’s not, and it’s not like things have stopped over there. So with these types of initiatives, whether this particular one in the Ukraine or other initiatives, it’s really important to figure out how do, how do you keep people aware of the problem? Because just because we don’t talk about it or just because the media chooses to talk about other stuff doesn’t mean this conflict is, has stopped. It is still going on. People are still dying and, and people are still being displaced and people still need help. So I think the work that you Scott and Greg do to continue to raise awareness around this, through your platform is incredible. And, you know, I think everyone needs to just kind of keep their eyes and ears open to things that maybe aren’t talked about as much anymore. Right. Because other things have come up. Right. Um, but there’s still opportunities and there’s still challenges. And, and, and the worst thing we can do is just forget about it because you know, the media isn’t talking about it, it’s still a problem.

Scott Luton (00:49:28):

Yeah. Right. Well said. And, and, uh, you know, I cannot remember the ocean carrier that stepped up, but, uh, Greg APO

Greg White (00:49:35):

Lloyd,

Scott Luton (00:49:36):

Thank you. They stepped up and are shipping all that stuff, uh, across upon at cost. That is a at cost. Yeah. That’s major. Which, so, which

Greg White (00:49:46):

Is both, uh, it’s both endearing and angering when you see what cost is versus what’s being

Scott Luton (00:49:53):

Charged. <laugh> well, regardless, Hey, join the planning sessions, join the planning sessions. You’ll be better off, you’ll leave that call more informed and probably with some new perspective on what’s going on. So Mike and Greg, I, I appreciate how eloquent y’all were, uh, in talking about those initiatives. And Hey, we’ve got the link as Greg alluded to, we’ve got link right there to do your own, Hey, due diligence, check it out, kick the tires, make sure something that, um, is important to you. Something that you’re in position to, to be a part of and would love that T squared holds down a for force on YouTube. Great to see ya. Uh, this was a good discourse. Uh, I appreciate that. And I always appreciate your perspective, uh, through all of our live streams. Yes.

Greg White (00:50:35):

Fellow gener Tyrone Thorpe.

Scott Luton (00:50:38):

That is right. That, and we finally, our, our prize <laugh> are the item from the prize vault, the still local radio stations, uh, approach here finally made it to, uh, T squared. Okay. So folks check out all those links. Mike, uh, love the good work that you and Gartner team do. Um, we, that you’ve got a big event coming up, uh, right. Many probably yes, but, uh, one in Orlando coming up around the corner. What what’s next, uh, in your world.

Mike Griswold (00:51:08):

So we’ve got, um, London, actually, Scott London, uh, at the end of this month, I’m looking at my calendar. It is the 27th through the 29th out at the oh two venue outside of London, still trying to figure out how, how I’m gonna get from Heathrow out there. I may, I may take my chances with, uh, I mean the underground system in the UK is fantastic. The tube within London is fantastic. I’m thinking I can find my way from Heathrow out, uh, out to Greenwich. Um, but yeah, that, that event’s already, that event’s already sold out, um, which is, which is great for us. Um, the other thing I’ll, I’ll let people know right. Is, is we’re thinking about, I know we’re still in the middle of 20, 23, but in 2024, not only are we gonna have our, our two symposium, it’s gonna be in Orlando.

Mike Griswold (00:52:00):

And then we’re going back to Barcelona for those people that are, that like Spain will be in Barcelona in June, but Greg, this will be near and dear to your heart. We’re running two planning summits next year as well. So smaller events focused just on planning, hot, uh, one, one in London and one in Phoenix in the October, November timeframe. If I put us in the way back machine in 2019, we had our first planning summit in Denver and it was a huge success. We expected like two 50, we got over 500 and then this little thing called COVID happened. So that put a KIBO on all that. But 20, 24 for people that are really interested in planning, uh, we’re gonna have two summits, uh, in the fall.

Greg White (00:52:46):

Outstanding.

Mike Griswold (00:52:48):

Exciting about that

Scott Luton (00:52:49):

Is planning kind of an important topic here lately.

Mike Griswold (00:52:52):

Greg, it depends who you talk to. Yeah, yeah.

Greg White (00:52:54):

<laugh> yeah. Uh, there are some companies where I would argue that it, I think that, uh, both their inventory results and their stock price reflect that maybe it ought to be a little more important

Scott Luton (00:53:06):

To them. Nice. I, I like that foreshadowing. Yes. Uh, speaking of, uh, folks, if you’re not checking out Greg white supply chain commentary every Monday, Wednesday, Friday on LinkedIn, you are missing out. So, uh, I love, love what you’ve been sharing. Um, alright, so Greg and Mike, and by the way, I also wanna mention, um, the, uh, in our Orlando, October 17th through 20th, uh, the Gardner it symposium expo. Mm. Uh, I’m gonna be there, uh, with Mark Holmes from InterSystems. Uh, again, we had a blast last time, few months back. So looking forward to that, um, okay. So Mike, our four of our favorite questions as we wrap and, and let you go, cause we know you, you’ve got plenty, plenty to get to here today. How can folks connect with you and the Gartner team?

Mike Griswold (00:53:52):

Uh, so email, uh, Mike do al@gardner.com. If you go to gartner.com, it’s, it’s a great, we’ve done a lot of work on the website to give kind of a better perspective to people that may not know what we do in terms of research and advisory. So that’s a good place to start. LinkedIn. I’m still kind of getting, you know, slowly better at that. Um, but maybe for me, I’m still old school, just drop me an email. Mike griswold@gardner.com.

Scott Luton (00:54:19):

So Hey, asking you shall receive so Dr. LA Griffin, um, shoot Mike an email or go to gartner.com. I bet y’all have a, a, a nice vibrant, um, uh, email reminder that kind of keeps these events on people’s radar, right?

Mike Griswold (00:54:35):

Oh, yes, yes. But yes. Please reach out to me and, and I can, um, yeah, you mentioned the event in October, Greg. I mean, that’s the granddady if I can, you know, uh, chat on my inner Keith Jackson, right? That’s the granddaddy of them. All right. 20,000 of your closest it friends. Oh, Nelly. Yes. We’ve just lost half the audience, Greg that’s right. Um, but 20,000 of your closest it friends, it is our flagship event. Um, I’m glad you you’re going, Scott. You should, you’ll have a great time. Lots of stuff going on at that event pretty much takes over the venue, um, for those days that they’re there. So everyone will have a great time.

Scott Luton (00:55:18):

Uh, so everyone connect, uh, you can learn more. I think we’ve got some, uh, the, the links in the show notes than the commentary. So y’all check that out. Uh, Mike Griswold really admire you and, and love, uh, appreciate, really appreciate you spending time outta your really busy schedule to be with us each month in particular. I really, uh, appreciate the message you shared here and that yeah. Initiatives you’ve highlighted, uh, Greg, your final thoughts with, uh, for Mike.

Greg White (00:55:45):

Well, my, yeah, my final thoughts are, if you think about Mike Griswold folks, um, Mike is very busy influ to actually too busy influencing people who are leading technology and practitioner companies and CPG retailers and that sort of thing to be an influencer. <laugh> so true. Don’t expect him to get too active on LinkedIn <laugh> but understand that the influence that he provides is influencing the people that you either are, want to become or hope to sell to. So, um, beautiful.

Scott Luton (00:56:20):

A hundred

Greg White (00:56:21):

Percent. Yeah. Heavy, heavy hitter. I don’t think you can overstate, uh, how important, what it is that Mike and the team at Gartner do for, uh, not just supply chain, but you know, technology and industry in general,

Scott Luton (00:56:34):

Well said, all right, Mike I’m knew Greg, nice. Greg I’m knew Greg had hit the mark with that. And

Greg White (00:56:39):

I was gonna do that after you went off the air, I knew you hate it, but I did while you were on the, but

Scott Luton (00:56:44):

Yes, well, we agree with

Greg White (00:56:45):

Came to, then

Scott Luton (00:56:47):

We agree with each syllable. So Mike, always a pleasure. Uh, we’ll be back in touch with Mike Griswold, uh, from Gartner next month. Thank you, Mike. Perfect.

Greg White (00:56:55):

Thanks everyone. Byebye,

Scott Luton (00:57:00):

Greg, uh, I guess, uh, prompted you to lose your closing comment a little bit early, but I, uh, but I wanted Mike, but you

Greg White (00:57:07):

Know, what I should have said was go Broncos, you know, he’s Boise state grad, right. And it’s college football season officially now. So probably should have said that then. Yeah. Um, and saved all the rest of that for this. But, uh, I think it’s important for people to understand that. And I don’t think we’ve ever actually said that in front of Mike before. Um, so, uh, you know, I, I, I think it, you know, we have to recognize the difference between being an influencer and the difference between influencing the shape of an industry. Yeah. Right. Some people influence people, Mike influences an entire industry. So,

Scott Luton (00:57:49):

Uh, alright. So folks, hopefully we’ve put some things on your radar. Hopefully we’ve, we’ve, we’ve brought some initiatives that are really making a big impact for folks in need. Uh, you know, brought it to surface level. We’d again, I’d ask you plead with you get involved in this leveraging logistics for Ukraine effort. I promise you, you won’t ever regret it. There’s no obligations that comes with that’s true. September 13th is next planning session and y’all can check that comment out. Um, Greg, one final, uh, call out here, as we wrap on today’s show, Mike always brings it love his perspective here. Yeah. But one of the other organizations you’re part of, um, uh, they, they appeared on the livestream and, and, uh, neuro diverse, um,

Greg White (00:58:33):

Oh, um, McKenna farms. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:58:35):

Share that really quick.

Greg White (00:58:36):

Yeah. McKenna farms therapy services. So it’s, it started out as a horse farm for horse therapy with one horse, by the way, and a very, very gener generous veterinarian, um, horse therapy for the neurodiverse people on the autism spectrum. So if you’re watching love on the spectrum right now, which if you’re not ought to, it’s an amazing show. Yes. Those are the kind of people that we work with every day, but now, and, and some are less functional than others. Um, so we’re, so not only is it horse therapy to help people cope with maybe Asperger’s or, or, or, uh, milder autism, but also speech therapy and physical therapy for those who are, are seriously, um, handicapped and disabled and, and occupational therapy. Right. And, um, and even work therapy. So we’re building a new facility at McKenna farms to not only, uh, expand and, and, um, enable us to, to solve the, or, or, or, uh, reach the enormous waiting list of families who want to get their kids involved and, and young adults involved with McKenna farms, but also to give them a place to work. And let me tell you, when somebody has the kind of focus that someone on the narrow diverse spectrum has, they make a hell of a cup of coffee.

Scott Luton (01:00:00):

<laugh>

Greg White (01:00:02):

Perfect. <laugh>

Scott Luton (01:00:04):

Well, and, and so this has been something you’ve been involved with for, uh, what going back a year or so, right.

Greg White (01:00:10):

Uh, coup a couple years now. Believe couple years now. Yeah, yeah. Just before COVID started. Okay. So,

Scott Luton (01:00:18):

Well, I just

Greg White (01:00:18):

Dropped, it seems like forever. Well, it seems like not forever, but it has been a minute.

Scott Luton (01:00:23):

Well, folks check that out. Uh, I just dropped that in the comments and there may be a McKenna farms type organization in your local communities. Right. Going back to what Mike said,

Greg White (01:00:33):

Unquestionably yeah.

Scott Luton (01:00:34):

Investigate. What’s there in your neck of the woods to get behind and make a impact in. So Greg, I appreciate your leadership, your deeds, not words, leadership in that regard. Um, it, it’s just so critical that folks follow in your footsteps and, and do that a big part, as you mentioned, it should be an important part of anyone’s business plan. Okay. Folks, thank y’all for this journey over the last hour. Thanks for being a part of it. Thanks for all the comments we got. I know this is a different episode, but it’s a really important episode, an important discussion, uh, don’t lose sight of, of these folks in need, regardless of what we see on the news headlines, find a way to make your impact and, uh, and have your voice, uh, help others, uh, your voice or your wallet or your actions or your expertise. There’s all these different levels you can get involved in. Uh, big thanks. I hope that

Greg White (01:01:25):

Barge lift that bail, right? The other way around. Isn’t it. <laugh> I’ll take,

Scott Luton (01:01:30):

I’ll go with it. I will go with it. Um, but big, thanks. All everyone that showed up big. Thanks. Of course, Mike Griswold and, and the Gartner team, the production team, Amanda, Catherine Clay, Chantel, you name it, Greg, always a pleasure to knock these conversations out with you.

Greg White (01:01:44):

Yeah. Likewise

Scott Luton (01:01:46):

Folks, whatever you do, uh, on behalf, our entire team, Scott Luton signing off challenging you. Hey, it’s about deeds, not words, right? Do good. Get forward and be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see next time, right back here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:02:01):

Thanks For being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.