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Voices September 18, 2020

Pay attention: TikTok has already changed the world

By DAVID CHAUVIN // For those who don’t regularly interact with Generation Z, TikTok’s meteoric rise to the forefront of public attention is somewhat bewildering. Throw in the president’s public feud and the battle over TikTok’s pending “sale,” and suddenly the video-sharing app seems everywhere. As trivial as the entire saga can seem, it’s really the opposite: TikTok is fundamentally changing social media and the ways people create and interact with content. And even with…

Voices September 11, 2020

Without galas and dinners, will charities go hungry?

By JEFFREY REYNOLDS // If this were any other year, our mailboxes would be overflowing with charitable-event invitations and we’d spend the next three months sprinting between Crest Hollow Country Club, Oheka Castle and the Garden City Hotel. There’d be small talk, speeches, swag, silent auctions and a nice chicken, fish or vegetarian entrée. Every night of the week. But this year isn’t like any other. Most charities, on Long Island and across the nation,…

Voices September 3, 2020

A ‘common sense’ call for nursing home visitations

By TERRY LYNAM // We buried my 91-year-old father-in-law on Aug. 21 at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, one day after his wake, where most of his family saw him for the first time in five-and-a-half months. Because he was in an assisted-living facility, a hospital and a nursing home during that time, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from receiving visitors. He survived COVID-19, but spent the final 161 days of his life in isolation,…

Voices August 28, 2020

On bread alone? Definitely willing to give it a try…

By KATE FULLAM // As we enter month six of dealing with COVID-19, the scope of this unprecedented experience begins to come clear –  and so do our national coping mechanisms. Much of the country turned to food as a source of comfort, part of a routine to get through it all. I found myself clinging to culinary comforts (with a balance of exercise) to get through the pandemic. It’s no surprise that baking is…

Voices August 21, 2020

This land is my land: Eminent Domain to the rescue?

By MICHAEL H. SAHN // We need to get serious, now, about protecting the world from the catastrophic impacts of global climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic will seem uneventful compared to the long-term and irreversible consequences of the world’s rapidly changing environment. In time, we’ll have a COVID vaccine; there is no vaccine for global warming. Enter eminent domain, the governmental authority to acquire private property – “condemn” it – in exchange for just compensation,…

Voices August 14, 2020

Science must win the COVID-19 info war (and it can)

By DAVID CHAUVIN // As schools throughout the country start the school year – whether it’s 100 percent in-person, 100 percent remote or a hybrid of both – one thing is clear: This school year is going to look very different. While parents, students, teachers and administrators determine what the new normal will look like for this school year, the big-picture question remains: How long will this last? Unfortunately, the most common answers to this…

Voices July 31, 2020

Long Island’s helping hands need a hand, and a plan

By JEFFREY REYNOLDS // COVID-19 has driven Long Island’s economy into a deep recession, creating budget gaps of more than $750 million in each county and shuttering – perhaps permanently – thousands of “non-essential” small businesses: stores, iconic restaurants, gyms, hair salons and other enterprises. Most of our region’s health- and human service-focused nonprofit organizations, on the other hand, were deemed “essential.” They remained open and sprang into action, marshaling volunteers and resources and collaborating…

Voices July 24, 2020

Understanding executive orders (at least, trying to)

By MICHAEL H. SAHN // Federal and state governments have issued numerous emergency executive orders to cope with COVID-19. Simply keeping track of these orders is a full-time job; compliance poses unique challenges for individuals, businesses, industries, not-for-profit institutions, even local governments. Not all the orders have been consistent, or coherent. In many instances, contradictory orders have created confusion, discontent and, ultimately, a failure to achieve much of anything. In some cases, in some jurisdictions,…

Voices July 17, 2020

For employers, Direct answers to important questions

By TERRY LYNAM // Working in the medical field, you become accustomed to certain things in your social life. It’s a running joke that doctors are often asked to diagnose their friends and family or “take a look at something” during casual get-togethers. Now we’re hearing a new question: What will our world look like after the pandemic? It may feel like we’re finally on that other side. We have reached Phase Four on Long…

Voices July 10, 2020

As summer sizzles, East End farmers make their stand

By KATE FULLAM // July on the East End of Long Island is magical (aside from the traffic). Foodies marvel at the local bounty, which starts trending now toward its peak in August and September. This is the time of year when cooking by stove or oven is traded for a chopped local veggie and herb salad … just perfect. Soon we’ll see heirloom tomatoes and baseball bat-sized zucchinis on farm stands, like the stand…

Voices June 26, 2020

After perpetuating racism, marketing/PR must step up

By DAVID CHAUVIN // In the weeks following the brutal, inexplicable murder of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis by a man sworn to protect him, this country has faced a racial reckoning unlike any since the 1960s Civil Rights movement. For days on end, protestors, the vast majority of them peaceful, have taken to cites in every state, on every day, fighting for justice, equality and an end to police brutality. Now is…

Voices June 12, 2020

Sustainable land-use: A pandemic-recovery priority

By MICHAEL H. SAHN // We are at a pivotal moment in history. The unlikely but seismic convergence of a global pandemic, economic collapse and sudden, stark protest of social inequality have awakened us all to the need for change – our culture, our laws, our economy. This is a time to rethink how we live and work, and that especially includes how we manage our land and our environmental resources. From a global standpoint,…

Voices June 5, 2020

Citing precedent, healthcare will be ready next time

By TERRY LYNAM // As New York State begins to reopen, it’s important to take a step back and assess what we’ve been through, and how we move ahead. The impact of COVID-19 is more than just unprecedented. The virus has fundamentally altered society, office structure, economies, infrastructure and healthcare. Companies and cultural institutions are working toward establishing what the “new normal” will look like to keep everyone safe. COVID-19 and the ways in which…

Voices May 29, 2020

On pandemics, and a lifetime of kitchen lessons

By KATE FULLAM // Cooking has always inspired me, but I was not always good at it – my mother still pokes fun at me for using corn oil instead of corn syrup (just once, in my early teens). Just like a scientist, I learned from failed experiments. Through trial and error, I committed to memory the techniques, ingredients and unexpected flavor combinations that delighted me most. Upon joining the East End Food Institute as…

Voices May 22, 2020

Don’t discount the discount, and other PR principles

By DAVID CHAUVIN // As a marketing professional – and someone fascinated by the inventive ways in which brands engage their audiences – I often find myself torn between being scared about the potential overreach of targeted advertising and being excited about its possibilities. On one end, it is startling when the movie I hadn’t thought about in years – until a colleague quotes it in the office – suddenly appears at the top of…