Back to School

I went back to the San Francisco Bay Area this week for press event and took some time out to visit my old school.

First I visited my old dorm, Branner Hall which looks pretty much like it did when I lived there 27 years ago. We used to put a kiddie pool on the 2nd floor balcony and have "hot tub" parties.


Then I went to see Lake Lagunita. Back in the fall of 1979 it was a picture of the lake in the Stanford admissions brochure (and my high school classmate friend Don Nagle) that convinced me to apply to a school 3,000 miles away from home in a part of the country I had never visited.


But today the lake is gone, a victim of too many years of drought.


But the old quad where I took so many classes


and Green library still remain as always.




It seems the further in time I travel from those years, the more I cherish them.

Summer Streets - Car Free Park Avenue

For the past three Saturdays New York City has been experimenting with limiting a 7 mile stretch of Park Avenue to only bike and pedestrian traffic. It's called Summer Streets.



Normally the city streets are a jungle of traffic, noise, and pollution.



But it's amazing how calm and wonderful the city feels when you take away motor traffic.



Without the motor traffic New York feels like a quiet small town, just with a bunch of tall buildings.

Taste of Tennis

It's my favorite time of year in New York city. Late August brings another U.S. Open tennis season. It started for me last night at the annual Taste of Tennis charity food event at the W hotel on Lexington Ave at 49th street.

The proceeds went to the New York Food Bank to fights hunger in the city. The event featured Food Network's Ingrid Hoffman cooking with 2003 US Open champ Andy Roddick.

I won the silent auction for an autographed Roger Federer tennis shoe. I'm not a big sports collectibles kinda guy, but I really love Federer.

and I met Nik Pace, runner up in cycle 5 of America's Next Top Model, my wife's favorite TV show.

Changing Times

Intriguing story in the New York Times today about the decline of Soul Food in Harlem.

Says:

Soul food is dying in Harlem and elsewhere in the city. The reasons can be chalked up to the vagaries of contemporary city life: Changing tastes; health consciousness; the fast-food culture; and an influx of wealthier young adults — including African-Americans, long a customer base for soul food restaurants — who are more comfortable eating Indian or Thai dishes.

At Georgetown University, a white student has been elected to lead the school's chapter of the NAACP.

From the article:

This fall, the sophomore has gained quite the reputation, and anyone who knows a little about her story—and many people on campus do—understands why.
A few highlights from the bio: Gunderson’s from a predominantly black working-class suburb of Detroit; she aspires to be a civil rights lawyer, either at the Southern Poverty Law Center or the NAACP; she never planned to be the group’s president this year, but someone nominated her, and she cared about the issues. She figured, Why not?
One last thing: Gunderson is white. Listen to her speak, and you might never know. Her vocal inflection is unmistakably “urban.”





Finally, a photo of me with the youngest members of our marketing team. Never has assembled a more talented, diverse, and inspiring group.





At least not since I was their age back in 1991 - see photo below.

Sunny Anderson and Aida Mollenkamp shoot

Conventional wisdom is that having to work on a Sunday is big drag, but I'm pretty lucky. Today working the weekend meant working with two rising Food Network stars, Sunny Anderson and Aida Mollenkamp in the Food Network kitchens at our Chelsea headquarters.



Aida's show is called Ask Aida and Sunny's is called Cooking for Real.

Aida is an admitted food nerd who's been cooking seriously since her teens.



Sunny (below left) is an army brat who's lived around the world and brings that unique perspective to her cooking.



Some of my favorite people from our marketing department also attended.



From L to R: Katie Ilch Director of Advertising, Susie Fogelson VP of Marketing and Brand Strategy, and Patalia Tate VP of Creative Services. On the far right is Sandy Sabean, one of the principals from WomanKind, one of our creative vendors.

Emma Bowen iLink Sessions

If it wasn't for my participating in the San Francisco Chronicle Broadcasting Minority Internship Program in 1984 and the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Multicultural Advertising Internship Program in 1985, I'd probably be working as an Industrial Engineer for some big manufacturing company instead of enjoying a successful career in the television industry.

So I'm always eager to try and give back some of the blessings I've received and help out with some of today's minority intern programs. This past week I had the privilege of serving as a mentor for students participating in the Emma Bowen Foundation's minority internship program. I first got involved with the foundation during the summer of 2003 when I worked with students Demetrius Watson and Ramoncito "Mike" Robles.

This time my service involved helping out during a two-day seminar designed to help the interns further develop their career skills.



There were 22 students in my session.

But I was assigned to work closely with 5 students and a talented co-mentor in developing a 30 minute presentation on managing up.



From L to R

Whitney Williams, Donna Stalworth (co-mentor), Pierre Roache, Adrienne Lucas, Anisah Munruddin, Nephtaly Rivera, me

They came up with a highly entertaining and innovative presentation that spoofed popular TV shows Family Feud





and The Tyra Banks Show.



Each of them demonstrated so much passion, knowledge, and energy that I'm very excited about the future of the media industry. At the end of the two days I participated in the certificate granting ceremony.






I'll really miss these students and I hope they'll reach out to me in the future.

July 4th Bike Ride

Since the Summer of 2004 I've been an avid bike rider, cycling to and from work each and every day, rain or shine, and riding for fitness and recreation every weekend day. I'm not sure if it's the riding I enjoy more, or the fact that I get to ride the New York City Greenway.

The Greenway begins just two blocks from my home on 38th and 2nd Avenue, and it offers over 30 miles and 2 hours of wonderful scenery and interesting experiences, only possible in America's greatest city.


Miles 1-8




Today began with a Free Tibet protest just minutes into the ride. I have certain fondness for Tibet since I have two Lhasa Apso dogs (Lhasa is the capital of Tibet), but I also have a deep respect for the Chinese people and I actually think Tibet will be better off as part of the fast growing Chinese nation than as an independent country.


The next 7 miles included the tennis courts under the Williamsburg Bridge, South Street Seaport,



the future site of the new World Trade Center, and I passed by my office in Chelsea.

Miles 9-18

Next 10 miles up to the George Washington Bridge - decked out with a flag for the holiday, and a pass by Fort Tryon Park home of the Cloisters branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages.

Miles 19-32

After turning around near the tippy top of Manhattan island, I headed back home along the Hudson River, passing by the cruise ships along the NYC Passenger Ship Terminal,

before turning on 42nd Street for a roll through Times Square.

Mile 33

Nearly done now as I stop for self portrait in front of Grand Central Station, 4 block from home.