8 SEP 08: LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
With this classic quote from Ted Turner, we welcome all the speakers visiting Columbus for the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum. But we hope they don't mind if we do NOT engage in real-time blogging of the forum, like our competition is doing. We have a paid job to do elsewhere - so we're too busy serving to learn how to lead.
CORRECTED: After weeks of advertising and hype, the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum begins today at the Columbus Trade Center. It's an event SO BIG that the Sunday evening news showed the hall being set up - a custom normally reserved for the painting of ice to open the Cottonmouths hockey season.
Kim Rozycki of the C.S.U. Cunningham Center says the Leadership Forum was designed by Synovus Chairman Jim Blanchard to bring in some of the "brightest minds" in the world. Yet I looked down the list of speakers, and admittedly was shocked - because Paul Olson isn't on the program anywhere.
Six different speakers will give talks at the forum. The program begins today with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - who will be glad to see his old friend Timothy Mescon is now Columbus State University President. They might have to wait until 2013 for President Gingrich to arrange another sweetheart deal....
Jim Blanchard has a half-hour on the afternoon schedule to talk about "Vision." Dr. Gold from Direct Optical Center must be getting up in years - because he misses this opportunity, after disappearing from TV commercials.
Then comes Gen. Russell Honore, who was part of the Joint Task Force in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Honore said Friday that city learned its lessons, in responding to Gustav. For instance, I noticed many of the complainers about a lack of food were bused to Shreveport....
Four speakers are on Tuesday's agenda at the forum. The day will begin with Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears -- which shows the invitation list has some balance to it. Jim Blanchard could have stacked the deck with Republicans, by bringing in Roy Moore.
Tuesday morning's lineup also includes an unfamiliar name for me -- a man named Daniel Pink. I might have expected him to show up in October, for a cancer luncheon....
The Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum web site calls Daniel Pink "an expert on innovation, competition, and the changing world of work." He also was a speechwriter for Vice President Gore - so maybe Pink became an expert by watching Mr. Gore morph from a politician into an Oscar-winning actor.
Another Tuesday speaker is John Maxwell, who's become famous for Bible-based messages at events such as Promise Keepers. Some church pastors may attend the forum simply to be inspired by Maxwell - then hurry away before they're corrupted by liberal-leaning Thomas Friedman.
Thomas Friedman is the forum's closing speaker. He's a New York Times columnist who launches a new book today called, "Hot, Flat and Crowded." Which could describe the island of Manhattan on most summer afternoons....
While Columbus State University is promoting the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum extensively, another event quietly has been dropped. Have you noticed a lack of billboards promoting a September 11th ceremony? The Cunningham Center hosted one last year, but nothing is scheduled this week. Did someone spread rumors about the Saturday anti-war protesters showing up?
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION is thinking about leadership, in a way. At the suggestion of a reader, we're doing our first-ever Presidential poll. We don't claim to be as accurate as Gallup, or as detailed as Zogby. But who knows - someone may start an online drive to draft Robert Schweiger to run for the White House.
The reader who suggested this poll actually wanted it to be Sarah Palin-centered. The message offered several potentially loaded questions, such as Palin's impact on "women's liberation." Women's lib?!?! Didn't that phrase quietly go away when Gloria Steinem became married?
(But it WOULD be interesting to hear from Columbus "hockey moms" in this poll. Are you like Sarah Palin? Or do you even bother with lipstick around the rink, and save it for church services?)
E-MAIL UPDATE: A reader sends a message that's partly personal, and partly for public consumption....
That was an interesting blog question last week suggesting that you made all this up wasn't it... Interestingly enough I had heard the same thing several months ago, but dismissed it due to the fact that is obviously false. The same person who made those statements also made some interesting remarks about your appearance but since I have never seen you I will assume those are false as well. :-).
Take Care,
ABC
Oh dear - now they're spreading rumors about my looks?! I think we've explained before there's a reason why my face is NOT on the cover of my CD. I actually wanted people to buy it....
We have to hold a couple of other e-mails until we do some research on them. So let's move on to some news items from Grandparents' Day (hopefully you didn't overlook yours)....
+ Which Columbus church is organizing a picnic for homeless people, and will hold it this fall on the 14th Street bridge? No, the working name for it is NOT "Fire and Brimstone on the Hooch."
+ A weekend drive past South Commons revealed the construction fence is down at the skateboard park. But mounds of dirt still surround the ramps - so BMX riders should take advantage of this while they can.
+ Managers of F.D.R. State Park in Harris County warned motorcyclists are driving much too fast on curves, and putting their lives at risk. Please treat all dangerous curves with respect - as the bouncers at burlesque shows on Broadway would expect you to do.
+ The Atlanta Falcons opened the pro football season by downing Detroit 34-21. Matt Ryan threw a touchdown pass on his very first N.F.L. throw. But knowing the Falcons' history, it may be all downhill from here....
(Michael Turner set an Atlanta record, by rushing for 220 yards. If he keeps up that pace all season, they might just.... wait, I forgot. Atlanta already has a Turner Field.)
+ Instant Message to Jelena Jankovic: You played very well in the U.S. Open Tennis finals Sunday night. In fact, it was a better match than the football game. But every time they showed your mother Snezana, it was all I could do to avoid saying "achoo."
Our number of unique visitors is now up 28 percent from last year. To advertise to our readers, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.
BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 1008 (- 56, 5.3%)
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.
© 2003-08 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.
UPDATE 1/6:20am....