Going into year 3 of a global pandemic, who couldn't use a hug? At The Gentle Barn, you can hug cows, cuddle turkeys, and give pigs tummy rubs!

Animal therapy can help with both physical and mental issues, reducing blood pressure and improving cardiovascular health. And the release of endorphins can help to alleviate pain, reduce stress and improve your psychological state.

On this episode of The Backpack Show with Chris Brogan and Kerry O'Shea Gorgone, we'll talk with Ellie Laks from The Gentle Barn, a national non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary that offers cow hugging therapy.

We'll talk about why Ellie founded The Gentle Barn, and how they rescue animals and help people in a way that's very different than traditional therapy. https://www.gentlebarn.org/

And we'll get into how, since its inception in 1999, The Gentle Barn has saved thousands of animals and helped more than 500,000 people.

We've all seen how people of color, women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and people starting out over age 40 are underrepresented in the film industry. On this episode of The Backpack Show with Chris Brogan and Kerry O'Shea Gorgone, we'll talk with Derrick Williams, Steve Deering, and Anna Levine about the Open Door Film Project.

We'll talk about how the project is giving a “seat at the table” to 8 emerging directors from diverse backgrounds, producing 8 short films to create a feature film anthology. We can all learn a lot from the way this group is working with Hollywood power brokers and advocacy organizations throughout the film industry to bring about lasting change.

https://www.opendoorfilmproject.com/

We're talking about SEO for content and AI for marketing On this episode of The Backpack Show with Chris Brogan and Kerry O'Shea Gorgone!

First we'll talk with Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, an award-winning 38-person web design company in Chicago. Over the past 18 years, Andy has given digital marketing advice to 1000+ businesses. He speaks at big marketing conferences, writes for big marketing blogs and he hosts a little marketing podcast, "Content Matters."

Andy's written hundreds of articles on content marketing, search engine optimization, social media and Analytics, and is the author of "Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing." https://www.orbitmedia.com/

We'll also talk with Raj Venkatesan, co-author of "The AI Marketing Canvas: A Five-Stage Road Map to Implementing Artificial Intelligence in Marketing." He's the Ronald Trzcinski Professor of Business Administration in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. We'll talk about the book, and the growth framework for business and marketing leaders to tap into the power of AI.