Anaheim Wants to Take Over San Diego Comic Con

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After 40 years in its San Diego home, Comic-Con International is being courted by Anaheim tourism officials interested in its 125,000-plus attendees, reported the Union-Tribune.

Officials hope the lure of greater event space and cheaper lodging will be enough to rend the decades-long relationship between San Diego and Comic-Con, but San Diego Convention Center officials hope to have expanded their own space by the end of Comic-Con's contract in 2012.

This news is not surprising, because it is many years coming. As an elite broadcast video crew that has collected interviews and B-roll at the San Diego Comic Con over the last decade, we have observed that it is getting too big for its britches.

But there's a Catch 22 or two. It's a convention that was born and raised in San Diego. Convention attendees enjoy the amenities, beauty and moderate weather of San Diego. They like going to the beach, Zoo, Wild Animal Park and SeaWorld when they've had enough of walking the floors at the Comic Con. They enjoy the fact that there are so many great restaurants within walking distance of the San Diego Convention Center. And did I mention the great weather?

So, if you take the SDCC away from San Diego, then it's no longer considered the San Diego Comic Con. Anaheim is okay, but it's no San Diego. Anaheim's got Disneyland. In the middle of summer, when Comic Con is scheduled, who wants to go to Disneyland at the hottest time of summer when all the kids are out of school and - at Disneyland. Um, not me. And can you name any great restaurants in Anaheim?

So Las Vegas? Plenty of room for large conventions? Yes. Good eats? Of course. Except, again, middle of summer, hotter than Hades, yada yada.

I believe that if the San Diego Comic Con move sout of San Diego, there will not be as many attendees. It's like trying to move a palm tree to Michigan. I just don't think it will survive the move.

There are several options on the table. They include enlarging the San Diego Convention Center, spreading out the Comic Con panels and events to outerlying hotels, extending the length of time of the Comic Con, etc. It's all up in the air right now. It's a real quandary. San Diego has until 2012 to think of something. In the meantime, if you haven't gotten your passes for the 2010 Con already, you're too late. Here it is, late March, and snoozers are already losers.

Qualities of a Leader - by David C. Baker

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Qualities of a Leader
What are the characteristics of a leader that others want to follow? As you’ll soon see, this list is a very personal one. In other words, we’d all come up with different elements when building the list. What I’ve tried to do, though, is to think of a complete leader. So I’ve asked myself this question: can I imagine a leader who isn't fair, for instance. The answer is obviously no. Each one of these, then, describes a leader’s characteristics, any one of which might hinder their effectiveness if missing in any significant proportion. What I’d encourage you to do--maybe even before you read this list--is to first make up your own list and compare it with mine. (These are not presented in any particular order.)

Approachable
A leader (which is really nothing more than the ideal form of a manager) is approachable, even with bad news. There’s an evenness and steadiness that gives those who must approach him or her a confidence that they won’t be yelled at or blamed unnecessarily. At the heart of approachability is simply a willingness to listen, first, before reacting to a particular piece of news.

Articulate
A leader doesn’t need to be some master spokesperson or have a Ph.D. in English, but they need to be able to articulate what they are thinking and feeling. A vision is not that useful unless it can be imparted to the others who will join along in that journey. It’s not just the words, either, but the tone and the speech patterns and the actual words that are chosen. You might say that a leader doesn’t have to be articulate, but they do need to articulate.

Authentic
A leader needs to be the same person on the surface as they are in reality, deep inside. Employees can smell a rat, and that rat often takes the form of a leader who dons a suit when at work, trying to be somebody they aren’t. The opposite of authentic is fake, and that fakeness can be manifested in the form of fake friendship, fake listening, fake humor, fake caring, etc. Real leaders are the same person at work as they might be if you bump into them at the grocery store.

Communicative
Not only are leaders able to articulate their vision, they actually do so. That’s what I mean by communicative. They frequently impact the environment by speaking to it. They are present and involved and know what they want, communicating that in ways that make a favorable impression on those they depend on to get the work done.

Competent at a Basic Level
Leaders need a basic level of competence. Just enough to understand the issues and be able to evaluate talent. They should not, however, be the most technically competent of the group. If they are, that may be a sign that they have hired helpers instead of experts. It could also mean that they were promoted for the wrong reasons (the best doer rather than the best manager). Let’s face it: all over the world you can find well-run companies whose leaders are managing others who are far more competent than they are.

Confident
Leaders are confident, but this is a tough characteristic to describe with balance. That’s because there’s always a fair measure of self-doubt with leadership. On that other end of the spectrum, too little confidence makes for ineffective leadership. So there’s a balance: enough confidence to inspire those following a leader, but not so much confidence that it leads them astray.

Decision Makers
Leaders who take too long to make decisions, or don’t make them decisively enough, are bound to struggle. To be an effective leader you must be a risk taker. In chaos and ambiguity, you must defy momentum and decide about direction and speed. It is fine--and even desirable--to tolerate ambiguity, but that analog environment cannot prevent digital decisions from being made.

Direct
Leaders are direct. Not rude, but direct. The difference lies in the intent and result. Being direct is motivated by a desire to truly communicate in a means whereby everything that’s necessary is included without any ancillary information or clutter. Hurting someone with directness is an example of poor leadership because it gets in the way of good, honest communication. Leaders are direct so that there’s no confusion about what’s being said or what’s behind it.

Disciplined
Leaders are disciplined. That means that they get things done, do what they say, plan and execute. They can set goals, control their actions, and systematically work toward a set of accomplishments. It’s not one unmet promise after another but real accomplishment, little by little.

Fair
A leader’s fairness will most likely show up when he or she is alone with someone else, talking about a third party who isn’t there. Will they represent the facts accurately? Will they provide an appropriate benefit of the doubt? Are they free from bias and dishonesty? Impartial and unprejudiced might be the best ways to describe a leader who is fair.

Grateful
I’ve noted elsewhere that curiosity and gratefulness are high up on the list of characteristics I’m looking for in a leader. Gratefulness puts things in perspective because, first off, there’s no false pride that something has really be earned. Grateful people understand that luck and circumstances are part of success, and they don’t get too full of themselves.

Honest
What sort of list would this be if we were describing a leader and didn’t include honest. And how could you work well for someone you didn’t trust and respect. It’s impossible. The last thing you need is a leader who says different things to different people, either because they’re afraid of conflict or because they are trying to amass power.

Hopeful
Great leaders are hopeful, even when they know all the facts about the circumstances. That’s not to say they’re optimistic, which can mean that they’re living in denial. Hopefulness is a founded belief in success. Follow the reasonable plan and find predictable results at the outset.

Accepting of a Minority Position
The group, however you define that, is often wrong. The supposed safety in numbers is elusive. In fact, nearly every moment of truth in the collective knowledge of a civilization has been characterized by a very small minority arguing their point until the masses climb aboard the idea. This means that a leader will often look wrong to the majority of those that he or she manages, and they will have to be comfortable with that position in the minority. Caution is called for, of course, because being in the minority doesn’t mean you’re right, either!

Merciful from Significant Personal Failure
Leaders are flawed, and they know it. They are plagued by some consistently surfacing weakness and/or some significant failure in the past. Maybe they’ve been fired, had personal financial difficulties, or were at the helm of a department that failed spectacularly. In any case, their personal failures haunt them to some extent, keeping them humble and merciful.

Pattern Matcher/Critical Thinker
The essence of intelligence is the ability to notice and categorize patterns. Leaders have that critical thinking skill and use it to analyze business problems. They see the possibilities and the outcomes like few others do, and therefore can set an appropriate course of action.

Curious
There are many words I could have used for this component of a leader, but curiosity is critical. Closely aligned with this would be perceptive, observant, and inquiring. All these attributes are utilized with a view towards the possibility that the leader is wrong. He or she holds a belief, but is always testing it against new information in new situations to further refine their learning and thus their convictions. They are always on the hunt for new perspectives that can be brought to bear on their management.

Predictable
By suggesting that a leader needs to be predictable, I’m not meaning to imply (negatively) that they always act the same way regardless of the circumstances. No, it’s more about those they lead being able to anticipate how a leader might think and or act. Leaders are purpose-driven and their actions arise from an observable belief system.

Purposeful
A purposeful leader is one who does things with a purpose. They have a plan, can articulate it, and then see to it that the seemingly random activities of a typical day are actually contributing to the execution of the plan. They aren’t willy-nilly in all sorts of fits and starts. No, they see how the small parts contribute to the larger picture and they execute with that in mind.

Self-Aware
Good leaders are self-aware. They know their own tendencies, and they know how their actions affect others. They understand that their great strength, if overused, can be their greatest weakness, and they attempt greater balance and understanding. Good leaders can step outside themselves and make a relatively honest assessment of who they are and how they are conducting themselves.

Stimulation Primarily from Outside Work
You’d think that any leader who throws himself entirely at work would be good to work for, but that’s not the case. Leaders like that expect too much of others, too. No, you want a leader who lives a more balanced life, understanding the role of work and the role of life outside work. A leader with an interesting life outside work is better at work/life balance issues.

Visionary
A leader must have a vision of the future. Otherwise, there’s very little likelihood that individual initiatives will be purpose driven. Why does this department or firm exist? How could it be better? What role could we play in the larger picture that would bring greater enjoyment and impact?

Finally
How do you measure up against this list? Are there some things to work on? Do you see any patterns that hold you back? Make you very effective? It’s something to think about, anyway. Great leaders instigate and nurture great culture, and great culture can really make a difference at your firm.



David C. Baker's company, ReCourses, Inc. ReCourses, Inc., provides individual consulting, seminars, speaking, and writing exclusively for firms in the marketing industry (design, advertising, public relations, interactive, and in-house).



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Perform Your Own Performance Appraisal - by CJ Westrick

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Prepare for your next performance appraisal by reviewing these key issues:

Quality of work. Do you avoid errors and consistently meet required standards?

Quantity of work. Do you manage your workload well and accomplish all assigned tasks?

Accomplishments. What are you most proud of achieving?

Performance goals. Did you meet or exceed the goals set in your last performance appraisal? Do you have new goals for the next review period?

Time management. Do you keep up with production schedules and meet deadlines?

Safety. Do you work safely and avoid accidents and near misses?

Behavior and attitude. Do you work well with others, follow directions, take initiative, etc.?

Attendance and tardiness. Are you at work on time every day? Do you give adequate notice when you have to miss work?

Being well prepared for a performance appraisal will make it more meaningful.

Remember, one of the major reasons for conducting performance appraisals is to help you improve your performance and achieve your career goals. Always be ready for your review.

CJ Westrick is a Human Resources expert and runs the San Diego company HR Jungle.

A Letter From Twitter

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Hi there,

In the early days of Twitter, I used to send out short updates just to keep everyone in the loop since so much was happening. It's been a while, but you signed up for short, monthly updates from Twitter so we thought it was time to start sharing more information. We've had quite a year. If you haven't visited in a while, we'd like to invite you to come have a look at http://twitter.com -- we've been busy!

Growing Up
In the course of a year, registered Twitter accounts have grown more than 1,500% and our team has grown 500%. Recently, we hired our 140th employee! His name is Aaron and he's an engineer focused on building internal tools to help promote productivity, communication, and support within our company. We celebrated with a little dance party.

Features of Note
Some features of note that we released over the course of a year include the ability to create lists, quickly spread information with a retweet button, and an easier way to activate your mobile phone to work with Twitter over SMS. We also built a new mobile web site that looks and works much better on smart phones.

Feeling Inspired
By working together during critical times when others needed help, sharing important information that otherwise might not make the news, and inventing new and interesting ways to use Twitter, you've shown us that Twitter is more than a triumph of technology -- it is a triumph of humanity. Projects like Fledgling and Hope140 were inspired by you.

Chirp!
While there may only be 140 full-time employees working at the Twitter offices, there are thousands of dedicated platform developers who have now created more than 70,000 registered Twitter applications creating variety and utility for all of us. We'll be gathering this spring at Chirp, our first ever official Twitter developer conference.

Thanks,
Biz Stone, Co-founder (@Biz)
Twitter, Inc.

Five Golden Rules of Facebook - by Patty Mooney

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According to the latest statistics at Facebook's "Press Room," there are more than 400 million active users as we speak. More than 35 million of them update their status each day. There are now more than 1.5 million local businesses with active pages on Facebook.

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I knew that Facebook would be as useful to me as my membership in our local San Diego Chamber of Commerce for many of the same reasons. It's a way of keeping myself and my "status" in front of many pairs of eyes. I rarely talk about business at my personal site, but I recently started a Fan page for Crystal Pyramid Inc. and am starting to accrue fans. And there I can share pieces of advice about business, photos from interesting video production gigs, and other tidbits that will be of interest to our fans. Just as one finds when attending local networking events, you will probably not reap any immediate benefits, but your database of people interested in your business will grow, and if nothing else, it's a great tool to keep track of friends and associates.



Here are five Golden Rules of Facebook for the business person who wants to use Facebook as a way to enhance and acquire business.

1. Keep your personal page separate from your business or fan page. I have been known to indulge in a game of Bowling on my personal site, but it's critical to keep your business page "businessy." Friends and colleagues who are really into Mafia Wars, Farmland and all kinds of other applications will try and woo you, but these apps will rob you of your precious time. Any post that does not pertain to your business should be summarily deleted.


2. Keep It Positive. As many times as I have felt lured to post scathing reviews of restaurants, companies, or people, I have not gone down that road. Why? Those kinds of negative rants only reflect on you. Also, as they say, "Any P.R. is good P.R." So why give any press to people who don't deserve kudos or recognition? My mom always used to tell us, "If you can't say anything positive, don't say anything at all." This rule has held me in good stead for five decades, and for good reason. To attract the positive in life, you must emanate positivity.


3. Make positive comments on people's status updates. Not every status update needs or deserves a response, but when someone wins an award or achieves recognition, add a congratulatory comment. You never know who may read and appreciate what you have said, and become a friend, a fan, or even a client.


5. Post at least twice a week. Make sure you share stories, quotes, photos and videos that will be of use to others and not a running commercial about yourself. Be the good-hearted person you are, and have a consistent presence on your site. When people are ready to use your services, they will come to you because you are one of their Facebook friends.

"The Invisible Ones Homeless Combat Veterans" Garners Three More Honors

I am pleased to report that our documentary, "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans" has been making its rounds in the awards circuit and we've just learned that it has won a very prestigious award called the "Golden Reel." It's a high honor in that the judges are all people who work in the media industry and so, where any normal person would not hear the sound of an air conditioner during an interview, this panel of judges would react as though it were fingernails on a chalkboard. If THEY appreciated the documentary, it's almost as good as receiving an Oscar, to us!

"The Invisible Ones" has also been accepted into two more film festivals, The Riverside Film Festival and the Fallbrook Film Festival. Both Riverside and Fallbrook are within driving distance for us, and so we look forward to attending and watching our show on the big screen.

Now, with Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" winning Best Picture and Best Director in the latest go-round, the attention of the film-viewing audience appears to be focused on our troops and the psychological damages caused by war. That adds up to good news for "The Invisible Ones." Stay tuned for further updates.

Constructive Criticism - by C.J. Westrick

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When you must criticize, here is how to do so in a constructive way that gets your message across without offending.

Critique in private. Do not embarrass a co-worker by discussing his or her shortcomings in public.

Begin with a positive statement. Praise something about the co-worker’s performance. This sets a positive tone for the conversation.

Use objective feedback. Focus on the situation, not the person.

Explain what you believe went wrong and talk about how, together, you can rectify the situation.

Set clear expectations. Be specific about the changes you think need to be made.

End on a positive note. Stress how the changes you’ve suggested can help both of you perform better.

CJ Westrick owns and operates a human resources firm called HR Jungle in San Diego.