We speak with Mason and Mary Landrum, co-owners of Nice Guy Technology. As a family owned and operated business we are proud to have served the central Ohio area since 2011. Their team has over 30 years of IT experience and several certifications.

There are number of technology issues in today's rapidly changing environment. This upcoming episode covers a lot of ground in regards to providing you tips on technology. Whether you're working from home or you're going back to work.

We find out lots of things about equipment, programming, security, especially security, and communications on all your devices.

This episode will be in your podcast player, and on our website, Monday March 1, 2021.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

We continue our exploration of the creativity and ingenuity being used to support our “art world” during this crazy time of a pandemic.  

We have lost so much over the past months – our children may not be in school, many people have lost their jobs or had to quickly pivot to working from home, technology has overtaken our world, AND we nearly lost our “world of art”!  

However, the art community is strong and resilient! 

During the spring we began to hear music – playing from someone’s porch, or via Zoom, drive-in concerts, and musicians writing and producing new songs from their home.  TV show reunions were created, often supporting the art world’s nonprofit organizations. Movies were released on alternative platforms. And plays began "Zooming" right into our living rooms.  

Today we are continuing our exploration of how creative artisans have excelled with wonderful new ways to enjoy and experience the wonders of art!

Our guests for this episode include Martha Cotton, Granville, OH. Martha has been a member and active volunteer of Licking County Art Association for many years.

LCA celebrates over 50 years as a non-profit, all volunteer arts organization. Her involvement has included serving as president of the board as well as exhibiting her own artwork. Martha retired from a professional career in Human Resources but continues to offer consulting services.  

We also welcome Regina Belt-Daniels. She lives in Crystal Lake, IL. Gina is a retired teacher, with 28 years of serving children in special education with communications disorders and 5 years in Reading Recovery. 

Gina is active in various theatre organizations, including the Rau Center for the Arts as well as the Woodstock Opera House, The Independent RCLPC Theater and is currently working on “I Hate Hamlet” for the Cosman Theatre (April 2021). 

She has been active in acting, directing, producing, managing, ticket sales and marketing. She has also written reviews on various productions in her region, including online productions during the pandemic.

We have had to deal with incredible transformations over the past months. We likely did not even realize how much we were losing in every sector of our world. What has been the most dramatic adjustment you or your organization has made to keep the public engaged and interested in the arts? 

We are finding that some modifications we have made, due to the pandemic, are actually giving us positive change. Have you seen positive change in your work and your arts organizations, that you believe was needed, even before the pandemic? 

What are some of the innovative ways you have discovered that other artists created or adopted, when they could not have live, in-person events?

Some artists and arts organizations have taken this opportunity to better utilize various social media outlets and technology to deliver art opportunities to students and the general public. How effective have audiences been in adapting to the technology? What are you hearing from those audiences – are they ready to adapt to the technology- or are they pleading for live performances and in-person exhibits?

What other short-term and long-term changes might we expect in how we enjoy art performance, exhibits, and art education? How well do you believe the public will adapt to these changes?

Technology has made a difference in our new normal. However, in your use of technology, do you see the need for additional tech tools, programs,...

We are going to continue our exploration of the creativity and ingenuity being used to support our art world during this crazy time of the pandemic.

You know, we lost so much over the past few months and at first we thought we were losing our live theater and movies and all of those wonderful extras that we have in our lives because everything had gotten closed down.

In our upcoming episode, it's part two of our focus on creativity in the arts, despite the pandemic.

We have two great guests who are great friends of yours, Martha Cotton from Granville, Ohio. She is a member and active volunteer of the Licking County Art Association for many years.

And we also get to talk to Regina Belt-Daniels from Crystal Lake, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. She is a retired teacher, but right now she is very active in various theater organizations in the Chicago area.

That episode will be in your podcast player Monday February 15th, 2021.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

We welcome Danielle Murphy, a Consumer Educator for the Consumer Protection Section of the Education Unit of the Office of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

From impostors posing as government agencies to emotionally manipulative grandparent and romance scams, Danielle Murphy walks us through the most common traps, why seniors are often at higher risk, and the specific warning signs loved ones should watch for.

You’ll learn why simply not answering calls from unknown numbers is crucial, how scammers use caller ID spoofing, and why certain payment methods like prepaid gift cards should always raise red flags.

We’ll also talk about practical advice on protecting your cyber identity, safeguarding social media activity, and navigating tricky situations when fraud involves those close to us.

Whether you’re a senior, a family member, or simply care about protecting your loved ones, this episode is filled with actionable tips and essential resources to help keep your finances—and your future—safe.

This is a conversation that’s as informative as it is empowering, and don’t forget to check the show notes for links to all the resources mentioned in today’s episode!

If you like this episode, please let us know. We appreciate the feed back, and your support of offset costs of producing the podcast!

Here are our top 3 takeaways for protecting seniors (and all of us!) from scams:

If it sounds too good to be true, it IS. Whether it’s a surprise windfall, a threat from a “government agency,” or a suspicious phone call, skepticism is your best first defense.

Never give out personal information or send money without verifying. Don’t trust caller ID—scammers can spoof numbers to appear legitimate. Always verify requests for money or sensitive data by calling organizations back at numbers you look up yourself, not those given to you over the phone.

Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. As Danielle Murphy shares, “the more you answer, the more your number gets marked as active and sold to more scammers.” Let unknown numbers go to voicemail—legitimate callers will leave a message for you to return.

Moments

00:00 Ohio Law Enforcement & Officials Support

05:45 Common Scams Affecting Ohio

09:16 "Stop Robocalls, Report Spoofing"

13:00 Imposter Scams Explained

16:05 Spotting Scams on Dating Sites

18:45 Charity Verification and Service Issues

22:20 Recognizing Elder Abuse Signs

23:34 Cybersecurity Tips for Protection

26:56 Password Updates and Security Concerns

29:58 Facebook Privacy Concerns Explained

36:02 "Beware: Too Good Is Fake"

38:02 "Consumer Resources and Protection Tools"

39:54 "Scammers Exploit Weak Moments"

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Mentioned in this episode:

Listener Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the experts interviewed on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast hosts or any affiliated organizations. The information provided in these interviews is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified professionals for specific advice or information related to their individual circumstances. The podcast host and producers do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information provided by the experts interviewed. Listener discretion is advised.

In our next episode, we interview Danielle Murphy. She is the Educator for the Consumer Protection Section of the office of the Ohio Attorney General.

We cover some great tips focusing on how to recognize scams targeting older adult scams.

And we have so much information to provide listeners.

We are looking at scams and focusing on older adults. But in actuality, all these tips are for everyone in your family, phone scams, Internet scams, you name it

This episode will be in your podcast player Monday February 1, 2021. Here's a little bit of what we talked about.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

In this episode, we are on location. We are at Otterbein University, with Professor Gerckins, who is the chair of Otterbein Department of Theater.

Through this pandemic, we have lost a lot. Our kids aren't in school. We're stuck at home.

And we started to realize that we were also losing our world of art.

Suddenly, what happens? The musicians are back in Zoom or sitting on somebody's front porch and creating music. Or the movies were being streamed.

What we also saw was that live theater was coming back in different ways, different formats, different software, Zoom or whatever.

Our conversation with Professor Gerckins covers how Otterbein pivoted and Carol, being an alum of Otterbein, had to bring them in.

But this is just an example of everything this is going on across the world through this pandemic to bring our art world back to us.

What has been the most dramatic adjustment you or your organization has had to make in order to keep the public engaged and interested in the arts?

Have you seen positive changes in your work and your arts organizations, that you believe were needed, even before the pandemic?

What are some of the innovative ways you have discovered that other artists created or adopted, when they could not have live, in-person events?

What short-term and long-term changes might we expect in how we enjoy art performance, exhibits, and art education? How well do you believe the public will adapt to these changes?

If you could change Zoom or the other programs you use, what changes would you need or wish for?

Here is link to the resource sheet me mention in the podcast.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Coming up, we were actually on location. We were at Otterbein University, with Professor Gerckins, who is the chair of Otterbein Department of Theater.

Through this pandemic, we have lost a lot. Our kids aren't in school. We're stuck at home.

And we started to realize that we were also losing our world of art.

Suddenly, what happens? The musicians are back in Zoom or sitting on somebody's front porch and creating music. Or the movies were being streamed.

What we also saw was that live theater was coming back in different ways, different formats, different software, Zoom or whatever.

Our conversation with Professor Gerckins covers how Otterbein pivoted and Carol, being an alum of Otterbein, had to bring them in.

But this is just an example of everything this is going on across the world through this pandemic to bring our art world back to us.

This episode will be in your podcast player next week, Monday January 25, 2021.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Regardless of the news of the day, our economy and our workforce are always at the forefront. We all want to know if our jobs are secure, or, if we need a job that one is going to come our way.

In this part two of our two-part series, we continue our conversation with Kelly Fuller, Director of Workforce Development for the Columbus Chamber and John Hambrick, Work-Based Learning Coordinator at the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio (ESC).

We look at the issue of skills in our workforce and the concerns from employers on finding skilled workers.

Plus, we provide local employers with information on resources to build to capacity. Kelly and John have suggestions about programs, services, and funding that provide skills training to current employees.

Who ever thought a larger number of employees would be working from their kitchen tables?

There is on-going development of “best practices” for employers to help them through a “work from home” environment. Employers can receive that information much easier than they would have thought.

Older worker employment issues are still part of our workforce conversation. Especially those who have likely been greatly affected in the pandemic. 

This population is vulnerable to the disease, and possibly concerned about their work situation. OR, they may have lost their employment.

Kelly and John provide some tips for those who may be older adults either trying to reenter the workforce, or who are looking for a different work situation.  

Here is a list of resources mentioned in the podcast.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Regardless of the news of the day, our economy and our workforce are always at the forefront. We all want to know if our jobs are secure, or, if we need a job that one is going to come our way.

In our next episode, we continue our conversation with Kelly Fuller, Director of Workforce Development for the Columbus Chamber and John Hambrick, Work-Based Learning Coordinator at the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio (ESC).

We will be covering over a two part series...

• Information on the Central Ohio workforce, current state and outlook for the future – short term and long term
• Review of the skills needed in this current workforce scenario and methods for building skills – from the employers’ standpoint as well as advice for job seekers
• Connecting those skills to those 50+, both management and skilled labor

This second of two episodes lands in your podcast player and our website on Monday February 1st, 2021.

Here's a preview of part two.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Today, we are in a whole new situation with job searching --- pandemic workforce stagnation.

Sharon Hamersley joins us for this episode. Some of you may know Sharon as “The Resume Coach.” 

She generously provides job searching information to Central Ohioans in many formats, including working with local nonprofits and the libraries with various workshops and training programs.

In this second part of a two-part series (here's a link to part 1 if you missed it!), we target some ideas on Job Search Strategies.

Does it make sense to send out hundreds of resumes? Or is it more effective to target a job search?

You should also know the economic picture of industries that are actually growing. There are particular types of jobs or industries that seem to be more available in this market.

Networking is key to moving your resume to the right hiring managers. Are the networking steps different today because of the pandemic, besides the limitations on face-to-face meetings?

We were utilizing LinkedIn and Facebook and many other social media avenues in 2020. Now the social media have blown sky high with the pandemic. What should we be doing now to get noticed on social media with hiring managers?

What skills should a candidate show in their application/resume that demonstrates they are qualified for a job based outside of the “business office”? Our world has completely turned around and nearly everyone is working from home! The job market may be targeting clients they deem are able to effectively work from home.

Here is a link to the resources page we mention in the podcast.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

And of course everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.