boiMAG.com "Pride Fest"

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Editor: Nate Daniels COVER:
Feature Editor: John Stephens
Media: Sylvia Stewart Pridefest Chicago 2022
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CHICAGO pride fest

Information & Performance Schedule

The weekend before the 2022 Chicago Pride Parade (June 26), the Chicago
Pride Fest returns for 2 days: June 18-19.
The festival features live music by headline artists and local favorites, 3
stages, food and drink, 150+ arts/crafts vendors, DJ’s and dancing, drag
shows, pet parade, sponsored presence, games, giveaways and more.
The annual Chicago Pride Fest® is a legendary street festival, held the
weekend before the Chicago Pride Parade (last Sunday in June). With
upwards of 60,000 expected to attend, join us in celebrating LGBTQ+ life,
culture and community.
A $15 suggested donation for entry helps pays performers and festival
workers, and funds community programs. Generous public donations paid
for the Chicago Pride Crosswalks; 14 rainbow paved intersections installed in
2019 that make up the longest installation of it’s kind in the world.

boiMAG.com





FITNESS

Stay In Shape, Get Fit and Stay Healthy

RunRepeat’s 2021 fitness trends report
showed that 59.1% of active adults
chose outdoor activities as their go-to
way to stay fit. Whether it’s walking,
hiking, mountain biking, or trail
running, outdoor fitness will remain a
popular fitness trend in 2022.

“Outdoor exercise, like biking and roller To understand how exercise can
skating, are going to remain popular, positively impact anxiety, it helps
E-bikes, in particular, are great for older to have a sense of what’s actually
adults because they allow them to go happening in the brain and body when
farther distances with less effort.” one is in the thick of it.
Last summer, some fitness studios
and gyms also hosted outdoor fitness When you feel anxious, your body is
classes, and these classes will continue alert, signaling your brain to prepare to
during the warmer months. fight or flight. What this means is that
The last few years has forced many your brain floods your central nervous
to consider where and how they can system with cortisol and adrenaline,
work out outdoors. Whether you had which tell your body to prepare for
to bundle up or stay cool, we got a bit danger. Whereas the sympathetic
more resilient when it came to being nervous system typically helps the brain
outside. Almost everyone can find a and body calm down after sensing a
park, a boardwalk, or any available threat, when you’re dealing with an
outdoor space to get it done. anxious brain, reaching that level of
For people with an anxiety disorder, calm may seem close to impossible.
exercise is often touted as a miracle
cure for managing symptoms. And, The exercise-anxiety connection, enter,
in some ways, it is. There’s a growing exercise. Hitting the gym releases
body of research that suggests working mood-regulating neurotransmitters
up a sweat and moving your body and chemicals including dopamine,
can help you both cope with (and serotonin, and endorphins, which
prevent) anxiety. It can be a powerful can help chill out those feelings of
way to divert your focus from spiraling anxiety and stress. It’s not more-is-
thoughts and even help regulate brain more, though. Exercise has been
chemistry when you’re doing it on a shown to help “restore” balance in the
consistent basis. brain in terms of neurotransmitters,
That said, “just work out” is a wildly rather than creating more. In anxious
oversimplified solution, and honestly, brains, neurotransmitters are not being
being told that feels trite when you’re transmitted from one cell to the next
living with the impacts of anxiety on very efficiently, so it doesn’t get around
the daily. the brain as effectively as it should.
Exercise is one of the practices that can
help regulate this.

boiMAG.com







CULTURAL CHANGES

2022 has been the year to hear about Social Behavior
the great cultural change. 2021 led It’s an area that is so crucial and driving
to many changes where companies so many trends and is amplified by the
began a process of great restructuring existing social medium. The current social
triggered by the pandemic. This created world will transform into a new meta
a lot of challenges for organizations, and world where we will interact more digitally.
primarily many of us hear a lot of the great Imagine yourself working in a virtual office
resignation. However, there is a saying, with your view of your office is going to
“problems are opportunities for the one be where you can bring your pets or have
who takes right actions at the right time.” your favorite food on your table without
The problem is more profound when a disturbing your colleague.
trend sets on a global scale. Let’s for a Privacy will be one of the most critical
minute focus on what is obvious. aspects employees will demand, with a
Old apparatus need change constant need for policy transparency. We
We are following career architecture which mostly have policies heavy on Intellectual
is a decade old. It primarily focuses on property in today’s world, but there is no
skill-based segmentation and has become focus on individuals.
a tool to measure competence. It does Changing Workforce Composure
not address people’s aspirations from all In today’s work environment will have
segments of the workforce. Old days a three segments:
template was deciding the future of the A) A segment that has changed the
masses. We cannot run career aspirations world, they have lived through many
by a single template of offers and policies iterations and changes. They have learned
in today’s world. rules matter, and they feel patience and
New age technology discipline drive success.
Pandemic could have been far more B) A segment which hungry and is brewing with
destructive if not for the 4G and confidence and is willing to bend the rules
technology provided and enabled by the C) A segment that is seen it all and is pretty
tech industry. However, what we saw in much in the last phases of the work live.
the last two years has paved the future. They are more focused on purpose and the
New employee trends like a workcation, outcome.
virtual offices, and virtual retail (meta) Today’s organizations will challenge
are the reality, which will further disrupt amalgamate these three segments to drive
the workforce. An organization needs to their growth. The art of balancing their
address new HR policies and be agile to aspirations will be essential for success
implement them. New-age companies are which needs to be ably supported by
emerging and paving the way for massive technology. So technology, while it disrupts
transformation. the way we do things, should ideally
New players play the balancer between these three
Today’s consumer demands have been segments.
disrupted by technology, which start- So the first step will be to acknowledge that
ups are now disrupting. Mammoth it’s time for a change, second be the change,
organizations are adapting quickly third help others to sieve the change.
and are seeding start-ups within their
environments. Digital twins and more boiMAG.com 13
remote working will be the go-to solution
of the future.

HOOKING UP: MEET THE COLLECTION

At the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA)

“The College of DuPage has an amazing
permanent collection featuring pieces
by some of the most recognizable
names from art history, and this
exhibition highlights that,” says Cleve
Carney Museum of Art Assistant Curator
Julia Walker. “It’s rare to find artists like
Rembrandt and Warhol in a suburban
museum, that’s why it was important for us
to also bring in contemporary works that
are capable of playing off these masters.”

The Cleve Carney Museum of Art For this exhibition, the museum’s
(CCMA) in Glen Ellyn, located at 425 gallery space will be transformed into a
Fawell Blvd. on the College of DuPage creative gathering space where visitors
campus, is presenting the “Hooking are encouraged to sketch, write and
Up: Meet the Collection,” on June 4 converse while taking inspiration from
through August 7, 2022. This exhibition a wide range of artworks. Visitors are
celebrates the recent conversion of the encouraged to participate by hanging
Cleve Carney Art Gallery to the Cleve their own work on a dedicated wall next
Carney Museum of Art. to those of famous artists like Joan Miró,
In this dynamic presentation, masters entering a piece of writing or visual art
such as Toulouse-Lautrec and for publication in the Prairie Light Review
Rembrandt Van Rijn to 21st century and writing letters that will be delivered
artists Maya Lin and Kehinde Wiley to artists featured in the exhibition.
from the College of DuPage Permanent “Museums should be lively, welcoming
Art collection will be in conversation and enriching spaces where the
with works by notable contemporary community can come together,” says Julia
Chicago artists including Theaster Walker, who hopes visitors to the CCMA
Gates, Sam Jaffe, Christopher James, this summer will make themselves at
Troy Lehman, Riva Lehrer, José Lerma, home in the museum.
Britni Mara, Audrey Niffenegger, The works of these artists and others
Julia Phillips, Jeffrey Swider-Peltz, from both the College of DuPage
Taylor Smith and Amanda Williams. Permanent Art collection and
beyond will spark a dialogue between
historical precedents and issues
contemporary artists address
today, while bringing members of the
community together to engage in
thoughtful discussion about
works on display.

14 boiMAG.com





HEALTH & WELLness

What's Art Got To Do With It?

by: Dr. Charla Waxman searching, it’s not about perfection.
Art is more about the process than the
BS, MBA, EdD product. Art is all about you. It boosts
self-esteem, fights stress and anxiety,
It is said that what provides emotional release, and
is created under promotes self-discovery (rtor.org).
the auspices of If art therapy is something that peaks
art cannot fail and your interest, start with the best. Find
cannot lie. This is a qualified art therapist. A good place
just one reason to try is the Art Therapy Credentials
among many that art for healing and Board website. You may even be
recovery is so valuable. able to use your health insurance to
Art is many things. Art is dance and help cover costs. Find a psychologist
movement, art is music, journaling and or master’s degreed therapist who
poetry and art is mediums of drawing, has art therapy credentials; this may
painting and sculpting. Art is the insure that your health insurance will
essence of creativity. approve your sessions.
Combine creation and healing and a
“newness” happens naturally. A new Finally, make sure their art specialties
way of seeing things, a new reason for match your areas of interest and that
doing things, and a newly developed the therapist feels your mental health
sense of self can spur emotions, concern can improve with the use of art
dialogue, and hope for a future well- therapy. Be ready to talk through issues
lived. that bring you to seek support and
Have you taken the time to use your what your personal goals are in working
idea of self and of art to energize you? on healing through art.
Have you ever found that a blue mood The healing benefits of art are proven.
was made better by writing or drawing? If you would like a new perspective and
Are there certain songs that take you maybe a new way of finding yourself; so
back to another time or place? If so, you why not try it?
have utilized the arts for the purposes
of mental health.
Think about what inspires you and what
you would enjoy doing: paint, dance,
collage, or sculpt? Whatever it is, try
it! Art can help you reduce stress and
anxiety, manage behaviors or help you
process feelings and past life events.
You say you have no artistic talent?
It just doesn’t matter! Art is about

boiMAG.com 17

by: Dr. Charla Waxman men as “at-risr for eating disorders. In
this study, surveying 516 New York
BS, MBA, EdD, City residents (126 straight men, the
rest were gay and bisexual men and
Eating Disorders: Widespread and women), 15% of the gay and bisexual
Dangerous men struggled with some form of
Eating disorders has been addressed eating disorders. In a discussion of
in BOI magazine before. This time we’ll potential causes, it was indicated
take a look at how it specifically affects that this may be related to body-
gay and bisexual men. centric focus and high expectations
No matter the population, eating of physical appearance in the gay
disorders has the highest mortality rate community. Other related causes
of any mental illness (National Eating included stress and prejudice-related
Disorder Association). As an example, interactions with community members
from NEDA, we learn that 20% of and the work place.
those with an rexia nervosa (the state
of eating disorders that features an According NEDA (unrelated to the
obsession with weight loss or control study), gay and bisexual men report
through minimal food intake) die from fasting, vomiting, use of laxatives and
complications of the disorder; ie, heart diet supplements to control weight.
attack or suicide. Although gay men represent only 5%
Although eating disorders are often of the total male population, 42% of
associated with women, gay and men who identify as having an eating
bisexual men may even be at higher disorder are gay or bisexual. Of all of
risk. A Columbia University study, the “States” of eating disorders, NEDA
from the Mailman School of Public indicates that bulimia (characterized
Health (2007), completed a first-of-its- by binging on large amounts of food,
kind review of eating disorders that often in a short time period, then
definitively identified gay and bisexual purging to rid oneself of the calories)
affects gay men more than others
18 boiMAG.com forms of eating disorders.

Continued >>







Eating Disorders 4. Reduce stigma by sharing facts from
places like NEDA and NAMI. It may
Widespread and Dangerous help your loved one understand that
they are truly not alone. Read all you
Part of the reason that so many in the can, get yourself knowledgeable, so
gay community suffer, and sometimes the facts you share are real.
die from eating disorders is that there is 5. Never promise not to tell. You
always stigma related to mental health. may need to make calls to get them
For all populations and all cultures, the support or notify a friend who can
National Alliance on Mental Illness, help you be a helper.
indicates that about 40% of those 6. Set a time and place to talk. This
needing mental health services do may take a while. It will be emotion
not seek or receive treatment. In the charged and those kind of discussions
gay community a barrier to treatment take time.
may include fewer gay-friendly or gay- 7. When you do meet up, have an idea
unique therapy services. In addition, of what you want to convey. Practicing
there may be reduced friend or family or even writing down what you want
support. Education, of course, Is to say may make it easier on you.
always a factor and information about 8. Remember when you learned about
men who have eating disorders and “I” statements in grade school? Well
how to effectively treat them may be that applies here. Starting a sentence
unavailable. with “You” can mean a defensive
If you love someone who has an eating answer will follow. Open with: “I
disorder, consider these ways to provide noticed that , I am worried because, or
Support and offer them a chance for I am concerned about you...”.
recovery. Use these eating disorder hotlines to
1.Take all threats of suicide seriously help you help others:
and seek immediate help. NEDA: 1 800 931 2237 (a help line, but
2. Tell them what you observe and that not 24 hours)
help is available. Even if the observation Hopeline Network: 1 800 442 4673
is not well received, maybe you have they may answer with “suicide hotline”,
sparked interest in what kind of help is but they serve all emotional disorders,
out there and you will have certainly let 24/7)
them know you are paying attention Overeaters Anonymous: 1 505 891
and that you care. You don’t have to 2664
be a nag, but keep them on your radar. TalkLine: 1 800 273 8255 ( they also
When the time feels right, try again. deal with all mental health struggles
3. Stay away from the“just eat a sandwich” and will route you to the best place to
or“I’ll show you how to eat healthy” help you)
solutions. Remember, what looks like
a decision may really be an obsession.
Mental illness can’t just be“willed”away.
Don’t withdraw support if the eating
disordered behavior continues.

22 boiMAG.com





boiMAG.com 25

ALASKA THUNDERF*CK
One of the Many Performers at Chicago Pride Fest
A bizarre cosmic collision propelled
Alaska to Earth…and onto the fifth
season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,”
where she finished in the final 3
before returning and taking the
crown as winner of season two of
“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.”
She has released three chart-
topping studio albums, “Anus,”
“Poundcake” and “Vagina” (available
on iTunes), been a cast member of
VH1’s hit reality series “Scared
Famous,”released a young adult
novel titled “Alaska Thunderfun
and the Inner Space Odyssey”
(part of the “Sickening
Adventures” fiction series,
available everywhere books are
sold online), stars as Hattie in
the short horror film “The Quiet
Room” directed by Sam Wineman
and toured the globe spreading
her otherworldly message of
love, kindness and gender non-
conformity.
Alaska also co-hosts the wildly
popular Race Chaser podcast with
Willam and her Youtube videos
boast over 60 million views with 15
million views alone (and counting)
for 2017’s “The T.” She has over 1.7
million insta followers and over 1.1
million twitter & FB followers. Her
message to humankind? “If you’re
not wearing nails, you are not
doing drag.”

26 boiMAG.com





by Jack Santo off the potential of AI, as is the case

AI is the “brains” that will guide the now, in 2022, we will increasingly see
autonomous cars, boats, and aircraft them applied to routine creative tasks,
that are set to revolutionize travel and such as writing headlines for articles
society over the coming decade. 2022 and newsletters, designing logos and
should be a year to remember when we infographics. Creativity is often seen
look back in the future and contemplate as a very human skill, and the fact
with horror the fact that we thought it we are now seeing these capabilities
was normal that 1.3 million people died emerging in machines means “artificial”
of traffic accidents every year, 90% of intelligence is undeniably coming closer
which were caused by human error! in terms of scope and function to the
somewhat nebulous concept we have
As well as increasingly effective of what constitutes “real” intelligence.
autonomous cars, Tesla says its cars will
demonstrate full self-driving capability The topic of Robotics is not new and
by 2022, although it’s unlikely they will has been steadily growing in the manu-
be ready for general use. Its competitors facturing and healthcare industry ever
include Waymo (created by Google), since more intelligent automation took
Apple, GM, and Ford, and any of them off many decades ago. A lot of the
can be expected to announce major robotics systems seen today are mainly
leaps forward in the next year. The hard-to-program stationary robots like
year will hopefully also see the first robotic arms for welding, etc. The trend
autonomous ship crossing the Atlantic, now goes into making these easier to
as the Mayflower Autonomous Ship program with machine teaching and
(MAS), powered by IBM and designed getting these stationary robots on the
in partnership with non-profit ProMare, move, which we see more and more
will once again attempt the journey with autonomous mobile robots (AMR).
(having been forced to turn back during Predictions say that by 2030, 75% of
its initial attempt this year). the robots shipped worldwide will be
mobile (6 out of 8 million). The Reply
We know now that AI can be used to Network is at the forefront of this trend,
create art, music, poetry, plays, and being part of a few selected companies
even video games. In 2022, as new in the Boston Dynamics Early Adopter
models such as GPT-4 and Google’s Program for the SPOT robot dog, which
Brain redefine the boundaries of what’s has been applied to interesting chal-
possible, we can expect more elaborate lenges with our clients. We also an-
and seemingly “natural” creative output nounced our deeper partnership with
from our increasingly imaginative Microsoft and the reference architec-
and capable electronic friends. Rather ture for autonomous mobile robots.
than these creations generally being
demonstrations or experiments to show Continued >>

boiMAG.com 29

TECH TRENDS CONTINUED Devices can sense the physical world
and provide more precise context for
IoT and Digital Twins have been an Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality
ongoing topic for the manufacturing (AR/VR/MR) scenarios. Valorem Reply
sector but now they are also entering is a long time Microsoft Mixed Reality
retail, utilities sector, automotive and partner, and our experienced team
many other industries and their con- developed many innovative solutions
sumers. The topic becomes even more gaining ROI for our clients.
interesting with the bigger picture of In 2021 a 30-year-old terminology
Smart Spaces which market research gained new traction and became top
companies also feature for their trends of mind for many business leaders:
to watch closely. Smart Spaces are The Metaverse. We also looked at
physical or digital places and locations the whole topic from a 10000-foot
with interconnected sensors to give view in our November 2021 article
owners, occupants and managers bet- and also mentioned the potential
ter information and how the system is benefits for professional users with
leveraged. Smart Cities is a flavor that the Enterprise Metaverse. There’s
is often discussed where whole cities currently a lot of hype and potentially
become smarter and allow for more re- a bit too much hype in particular on
source sensitive usage. Smart spaces of- the decentralization web3 aspect of
fer a great way across industries when- the Metaverse with NFTs. Aside from
ever traffic, people, robots and other this overhype, we believe there’s real
machines require analytics and efficient potential in web3 and the Metaverse,
management. Smart Spaces also tie into that will enable new beneficial
the Real-World Metaverse technology experiences not just for consumers
allowing to add a smart, digital layer on but also for corporations with their
top of the world. own branded Corporate Metaverse
spaces. Another interesting flavor is the
Spatial Computing is a favorite topic of Real-World Metaverse, the AR Cloud,
our R&I team and we have been creat- essentially a Digital Twin of our world,
ing content around it for quite some a digital content layer that is persisted
time and will continue the journey, as it and mapped to real objects and
is still very much an emerging technol- locations in the physical world. Virtual
ogy that will change how we interact content can be anchored in the real-
with computers and the world. Mainly world, shared cross-platform, between
driven by AI computer vision and ad- platforms and over time.
vanced sensors. It’s just the beginning of the Metaverse
30 boiMAG.com with the puzzle pieces of AI, Spatial
Computing and decentralized protocols
like blockchain becoming mature
enough. We are deeply committed to
this and recently launched a Metaverse
landing page as we expect to see more
gain this year, just like Forrester and the
rest of the world are expecting huge
growth opportunities here.