Jess is a writer, editor, and all-around word nerd. They are known for their sunny personality and contrasting sardonic wit. Their prowess for prose is paralleled only by their ability to turn the most terrible text into compelling content.

Jess enjoys books, TV, cats, art, fashion, cats, photography, nature, cats, and researching every topic under the sun--including cats.
 

Okta Blog •

Identity Insiders: Basketball coach turned Identity coach Jami Baker

“Choice, not chance.” 

While simplistic on the surface, Jami Baker’s driving motto — learned after years playing college basketball despite her 5’2” frame — is her formula for success.

“I’ve always set goals and worked hard to achieve them,” Baker, Identity and Access Management Engineer and Okta SME for Michigan State University, says.

Baker took advantage of available Okta trainings to jumpstart her career in [i]dentity.  “I won’t sit back and hope something great comes my way."
DayBowBow •

The Club is Open: The “classic lineup” of Guided By Voices is back on tour … and Tobin Sprout tells us all about it

Guided By Voices is one of the most prolific and legendary bands to somehow barely crack the mainstream. Formed in Dayton, OH, in 1983, and originally a band known almost exclusively by family members and friends, they first made their name in the indie scene with 1992’s Propeller. And tales of their alcohol-fueled, marathon-length live shows spread in the underground rock scene. Within a couple of years, the band had begun building what would become a cult-like following...
Versare •

Breaking Waves: Sound-Dampening Partitions Demystified

In addition to creating visual privacy, our sound-dampening partitions offer enhanced acoustic control. There are ways of measuring the acoustical control of a partition, but it can be innitially difficult to understand. Acronyms like NRC and STC may have you thinking things like WTF, but relax - we've created a quick guide to help you better understand acoustics and how our sound-dampening partitions work. It’s time to break down some barriers (metaphorically speaking, of course) and explain wh
Versare •

Formal Event Center Partitions Hide Catering Carts Quickly

Remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when the Wizard himself orders Dorothy and her friends to, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”? Well, perhaps if he had hidden behind one of Versare’s sturdy room dividers, he would have a much better time eluding them. When Earle Brown Heritage Center, in our very own city of Minneapolis, needed to hide their wizards at work on food and beverage carts, they came to us.
KillBot 86 •

Frances McKee Feature

Frances McKee is first and foremost a rocker. She and Eugene Kelly form the original duo behind Glasgow’s cheeky cult band The Vaselines, known for their sexually-charged, playful lyrics. After breaking up in 1990, the group released “Sex with an X” in 2010, followed by this year’s “V for Vaselines.” In between, McKee took up yoga and she now runs her own Iyengar studio.

When our conversation begins (a conversation that began about a half hour late because she had gone out to dinner and forgotten about the interview … “I knew there was something I had to do,” she tells me, apologetically but laughing), she asks me what the sound of my typewriting is. “Is that a mouse tap-dancing?” she asks. At this point, I know I’ll be on my toes. Yoga has given McKee a Zen attitude about life and music, but it hasn’t softened her signature sardonic wit.
35 Denton •

Mavis Staples Feature

Mavis Staples has had a long, respected career as a Gospel and soul singer that has earned her a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as a Lifetime Grammy for her work with The Staple Singers. She won her first solo Grammy this year, an award for best Americana Album for 2010’s You Are Not Alone, produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. 

After decades of maintaining a legendary status and garnering numerous accolades, Staples remains a down-to-earth, hopeful voice for the poverty-stricken and downtrodden.