Expand Your Mind and Views by Exploring the Arts
By Tamara Kenworthy, MBA, IPC, PCM, Editor-in-Chief | QRCA VIEWS Magazine, President, ON POINT STRATEGIES, Des Moines, Iowa, tamara@on-pointstrategies.com
My personal passion is the arts—it makes me happy and opens my mind to other perspectives and other worlds! Arts and culture have always been and continue to be very important to me. I studied dance from ages 3–22, and I continue to dance today. My husband and I have season tickets for the theater, visit art museums, and listen to live music. I love public art; I had the privilege of serving 10 years as a founding member of the Public Art Advisory Commission in West Des Moines, Iowa, where I live.
So when I read our cover story in this issue for the Travelwise column, I was excited for its message in several ways: 1) it features exploring public art on our travels to expand our cultural understanding, 2) it reminds us to slow down in life and smell the roses, which we all need to do, even when traveling, and 3) it reminded me that there will be time to explore public art in Denver for the January 2024 QRCA Annual Conference. Inside this issue is all the conference information—be sure to register! I still take tap dance lessons and do ballroom dancing with my husband, and I will be tapping all the way to Denver for another great conference. Hope to see you there!
In addition to finding joy through public art, our Schools of Thought column features the Year of Joy initiative that was launched in January 2023. With a mental health crisis affecting so many, helping ourselves and others find joy is empowering. Further, in this vein, our Business Matters column helps us learn how to thrive through big change.
Have you ever thought about specializing rather than being a generalist researcher? Our Global column features Susan Bell and her journey in doing just this. In Luminaries, Zoë talks with another successful researcher, Rachel Lawes, and her journey in semiotics from grad student to business owner and published author.
We have a couple of features focused on the healthcare industry. Mike interviews Laura Nozicka for our VIEWS Podcasts and how she started her own podcast, Desperate for a Diagnosis, to increase her healthcare moderating business. Over in Toolbox, learn a variety of tips for interviewing in the healthcare setting; in fact, I found these tips excellent to use beyond healthcare for other sensitive topics.
While I love playing games, I can’t say I’m a video gamer—but it sure fascinates me. Be sure to read our Industry column, where we learn how this massive video gaming industry has reached a level of cultural relevance, and we’re offered various strategies for doing research in this industry. Our second Toolbox article features Part 2 of a series by Andrew Grenville as he outlines a five-step process for generating “Eureka” moments. Thinking toward the future, our Trends column explores how qualitative recruiting is becoming more complex, from dealing with fraud issues to shorter timelines and other challenges.
As always, don’t pass up the Book Reviews section—we have three more great books for inspiration!
Please share this Winter issue (qrcaviews.org) with your network, post the digital flipbook link on social media, and email your clients an interesting article relevant to them. Finally, we love feedback—please let me know if you have story ideas or thoughts on VIEWS.
Happy reading! Until the next issue,
Tamara Kenworthy
