And i started mindsite news as the only National News site focused solely on Mental Health reporting. We did so to fill a void, but long before we launched guest today, Meg Kissinger was plowing that ground as one of the only reporters, the country working squarely on the Mental Health beat for 35 years at the milwaukee sentinel, meg covered the workings and mostly the failing of what we euphemistically call the Mental Health system in this. But meg also about those issues on a much more personal as well talk about today her memoir while you were out tells the story of growing up in chicago suburbs with Seven Brothers and sisters, a charming but manic father, a brilliant but melancholic and often absent mother and messy pile of secrets. Welcome, meg. Its great to be with you and talking about amazing work. Thanks, rob. I cant think of anybody i would rather be talking to about it than with you. So its privilege. Thanks much. I have to say, what i love about this book is that you, the k
Beat for 35 years at the milwaukee sentinel, meg covered the workings and mostly the failing of what we euphemistically call the Mental Health system in this. But meg also about those issues on a much more personal as well talk about today her memoir while you were out tells the story of growing up in chicago suburbs with Seven Brothers and sisters, a charming but manic father, a brilliant but melancholic and often absent mother and messy pile of secrets. Welcome, meg. Its great to be with you and talking about amazing work. Thanks, rob. I cant think of anybody i would rather be talking to about it than with you. So its privilege. Thanks much. I have to say, what i love about this book is that you, the keen eye of a reporter the storytelling chops and wit that may be part of the kissinger dna and the passion of someone who has looked squarely at human and institutional failure and wants to expose it. So lets start here. What prompted you to write this book, to dig through and air your
Weekend. Americans are expected to spend, on average, about 147 on valentines gifts this year. Thats up about five bucks from last year. But how and what were spending that money on is changing. Thats our cover story. Red is the color of valentines day, but retailers should be seeing green. The National Retail federation predicts americans will spend a record amount on the holiday of love this year. Nearly 20 billion. Almost 2 billion of that on flowers. Another 1. 8 billion on candy, and even more on jewelry and going on that special evening. Much of that spending has moved to the internet. 28 of americans will shop online, an increase of nearly 12 since 2010. And consumers are also going mobile. More than 17 plan to use their phone to shop for valentines day. But how we celebrate is also changing, and its not just chocolate and roses. While the percentage of americans buying flowers and candy has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of consumers buying greeting
Almost 2 billion of that on flowers. Another 1. 8 billion on candy, and even more on jewelry and going on that special evening. Much of that spending has moved to the internet. 28 of americans will shop online, an increase of nearly 12 since 2010. And consumers are also going mobile. More than 17 plan to use their phone to shop for valentines day. But how we celebrate is also changing, and its not just chocolate and roses. While the percentage of americans buying candy has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of consumers buying greeting cards has fallen off nearly 15 and the number buying clothing has increased by more than 5 . Many couples now celebrate the couple with a night out, which may include dinner to a restaurant or tickets to a show. 30 years ago, jim mccann was a disrupter before we ever knew what that term meant. He changed the name of his flower stores to a 1800 number. More than 1 billion in sales. Jim mccann is 1800flowers. Com founder and ceo, a
Times and whats the next wave . Its a multiheaded wave. Everything about local, everything about social. I think the best way for us to stay connected is to be, is to be paranoid about whats going to come next, the change. If you look at the essence, becky, of why we embrace all the new technologies, its all about being convenient, and its all about being accessible. And if we do that, we can really help our customers to act on their thoughtfulness. The more convenient and accessible you are, the more likely when you have that good thought like, oh, its valentines weekend, and geez, i ordered in my case, i want to make sure im sending those boxes of butter cream cookies to my grandkids for valentines weekend, im more likely to act on that if its as convenient as picking up my smartphone and placing an order in just a minute or so. And we still have stores, we still have the internet, we still have telephone access when its appropriate. And most of our customers are multichannel or omni