(via Inc. magazine, 7/26) What kind of magic does the Walt Disney Companyuse to keep its large and sprawling staff of smiley, friendly, and competent workers all on the same page … and keep them all smiling?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the pixie dust. What’s actually responsible is a robust and internationally recognized leadership program that aims to carry on the virtues first established by Walt and Roy Disney 80 years ago.

“Our guests are more likely to return based on our interactions with cast members who are more prepared, more willing, if they have great leadership that supports them,” says Bruce Jones, the programming coordinator for the Disney Institute, which started as in-house training for Disney company staff and has expanded to offer training and development for outside organizations.

In other words, Disney learned quickly that internal leadership development was crucial to success.

What kind of leadership program is right for your business? Experts say internal development is often something that gets axed as businesses look for ways to save money.  But they say overlooking the value of cultivating your own in-house talent can be a fatal mistake. Leadership programs help ease the chain of succession, make employees feel more connected to the business, and can transfer good ideas from one section of your company to the whole organization.

READ THE REST, but do it on your own accord as a leader not a follower

Daniel Schorr in 1972 (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)

I know we spend a lot of time here memorializing the vestiges of the golden days of print journalism, be they real or a collective wistful fiction. It would be remiss, however, to not take a second to note the parting of Daniel Schorr, one of this blog’s most respected journos, who kept his integrity and dedication to principles right up until the end. The key Schorr story is his appearance on Nixon’s enemies, of which he was unaware until he read the list live on the air. His NPR commentaries were useful and not polemical, as Senate historian Donald Ritchie said in this NPR obit:

“What passes for commentary today is almost all opinion, but Schorr was part of that breed of commentators who dug up information before they pontificated about it.”

So, in that spirt, some recommended reading of the week:

1. Mashable’s Jolie O’Dell on how (and why) to tell a journalist from a blogger. Highlights:

9. A journalist isn’t a spy or a snitch.

This is where bloggers have fucked over journalists more colossally than I can comfortably express.

A couple bloggers posing as journalists spied, snitched — and did so in a way that benefited almost no one except the bloggers themselves — and now all producers of media are painted as untrustworthy vultures.

The true journalist relies on deep knowledge of his beat, close relationships with industry experts, and dedication to his craft. He has the kind of skill that makes for a 20-year career in reporting, not the kind of childish sneakiness that makes for a one-time pageview blockbuster.

10. A journalist is passionate about journalism.
Finally, and most obviously, the journalist loves journalism. He may complain about it, but you aren’t likely to find him changing careers any time soon. He cares not just about his job but about his profession, and he will defend its ranks from the amateurs who sully it.

The blogger will invoke the word “journalism” and call himself a journalist, but he has no understanding of what those words mean. It’s one thing to wax poetic about “hard-hitting journalism.” It’s another thing to use the Inverted Pyramid, develop and adhere to a style guide, work with PR people with some kind of integrity, develop features and breaking news stories separate from opinion and editorial, and generally conduct oneself as a journalist.

A blogger touting his love for journalism is like a high school choir girl saying she loves opera: She might be sincere, but she’s got a hell of a lot to learn.

2. The BK Recessionist, Don’t hate them because they’re apathetic, on the phenomenon of Gen Yers turning down job offers at a high rate. Highlight:

But perhaps these well-educated (and, importantly, well-informed) college grads are just no longer willing to settle for the shitty hand their counterparts have played in years past. Maybe they are sick of employers taking advantage of a competitive market to expand the (already obnoxious) phenomenon of unpaid internships beyond part-time, supplemental learning experiences into full-time, full-responsibility, unpaid jobs.

I say right on, Gen Y. You may be hyperactive and cocky, but you sure know how to stick it to the man.

3. This remembrance of Schorr by NPR’s Scott Simon, which contains a great Frank Zappa appearance:

4. And, just for funblr:

Summer Rules! via Jennifer Holder

(Brokelyn, 7/21) First thing you need to know about the amusement park in Jackson, NJ: it’s called Great Adventure, not “Six Flags.” The biggest regional theme park in the country, with its 13 roller coasters, drive-through safari and water park, puts lesser permutations of the Six Flags name to shame. It’s always been a fun place to go with your youth group or whatnot, with someone else picking up the tab. But can you, as a broke city kid, satiate your desire for summer thrills of the ultra high-velocity variety that Coney Island just can’t offer? You can! And here’s how:

One slight disclaimer: When we visited the park earlier this summer for the first time in a decade, we found it ain’t the imagination wonderland and cartoon-character forest of the past. Perhaps due to the company’s recent bankruptcy woes, Six Flags has sold basically every square inch of the park as ad space. The Great American Scream Machine? Yeah, those screams are brought to you by Axe body spray. Even the poor summer-job teens announcing ride safety rules have been reduced to shilling for Johnny Rockets.

But, despite all that, the park has Kingda Ka, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, which sends you hurtling 45 stories at 128 mph, which is, we can confirm, pretty freaking sweet.

READ THE REST and find out about the upcoming Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concert

(Originally posted Feb. 27, 2009)
Here’s the video for the song “Scott Pilgrim” by Plumtree that inspired the graphic novel/Canadian manga of the same name.It’s also being turned into a movie starring George Michael and being directed by Edgar Wright, one of the Britelects (that’s Brits+intellects, fyi) behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the terribly clever show Spaced.

I started reading the Scott Pilgrim books this week and have been devouring them at a rate of two/day since. They were blown into my room on the winds of rave recommendations from the roommates, all who have been singing the series’ praises since I moved it. They’re great little books, irreverent and funny and cute, full of a thousand geek references to old-school Nintendo and comics to make every fangirl or boy feel happy to be part of a bigger creative world (Scott’s band’s name in the book, for

Scott Pilgrim Vol. 4

instance, is “Sex Bob-Omb.” When someone asks if Scott and Romona are an item, he visualizes a mushroom, a star and a flower.) They also manage to capture, in doe-eyed, exasperated excitement manga-style, the wandering, confused, sometimes shiftless generational malaise that can haunt the years in the mid-20s when everyone is scouring for direction and meaning in a post-college world. Or at least, I, um, can connect with that.

Plus it dabbles in (or outright states) the dangerous nature of modern relationships and the perils of emotional baggage that can chase after you, sometimes with a gigantic freaking hammer or  psychic vegan powers. Roommate Charlie met the author at Comic-Con and has a signed copy of Vol. 4, plus the special holographic cover version of Vol. 5.

Ramona Flowers

Also, I’m madly in love with Ramona V. Flowers. Ok, she’s a cartoon, and fiction, but I couldn’t help looking around Brooklyn all week long for a real life version approximation. And, no joke, as I’m writing this, a girl who looks pretty damned close came into the coffee shop and sat two tables away.

I probably won’t get up the courage to talk to her. If only I had psychic vegan powers.

Anyway, read it. It’ll make you smile.

Despite its laid-back vibe, Atlanta is considered a rising star of the business world. Here’s how to navigate its challenges.

Inc. Magazine, 7/16/10:

Octane, Atlanta’s popular and trendy independent coffee shop, has a growing reputation as a piazza of caffeinated creative minds and a haven for innovators. Sometimes customers treat owner Tony Riffel like a business consultant, seeking his suggestions for a graphic designer or other skilled craftsperson.

“I can just look around the room and point out three or four people,” Riffel said. “Atlanta’s kind of like a big small town. You run into people you know all the time. It doesn’t feel nearly as big as it actually is.”

Atlanta is one of the fastest growing cities in the South, and for much of the last decade was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the whole country as its population sprouted 20 percent between 2000 and 2006. It stands out from neighboring states as a technology hub full of university and private-sector incubators, along with a strong civic pride in the city that’s become the face of the New South.

Business owners and experts tick off the reasons they consider the city a rising star in the business world: the climate, the accessibility to the world’s busiest airport and fewer regulatory restrictions than other places such as New York or California.

But it’s not without its share of challenges. The sprawling metro area and lack of public transit can make traffic a crippling factor. The city has been forced to recreate the urban feel in digital spaces and hubs like Riffel’s coffee shop.
Atlantans frequently use the phrase “bootstrapping” to talk about self-reliance, but only because they’ve become used to a dearth of outside investment. While local restaurant and arts scenes are booming, several high-profile technology companies have picked up and left town for what they consider more nurturing environments on the West Coast or elsewhere.

For those who like Atlanta’s lower level of intensity compared to other cities, the future, they say, is promising enough to make the nickname “Hotlanta” apply to more than just the weather.

READ THE REST, FOR YOUR HEALTH!

It’s sponsored by Converse. So, whatever, big deal. It’s not like they’re succeeding in selling me anything. I mean, at last count, I happen to have a staggering, all-time high, seven pair of chucks in rotation right now. But all that came well before they put Beth Cosentino in a pair of hi-tops.

For this summer, which I have completely unironically taken to calling (in my head, at least) The All-American Summer, due to its great confluence of baseball games (three so far!), camping outing, theme park trip, music festivals, beach time, fireworks, cookouts, graduation, wedding, outdoor movies, copious Brooklyn Summer Ale swilling, and ongoing reunions with dear old friends, I’ve been rocking a pretty boss iTunes playlist, which contains no shortage of The Boss, along with Beach Boys, Beasties, Beach Fossils, Op Ivy, Gold Motel, Sharon Jones, Little Joy and more, including this awesome collection from DJ Jazzy Jeff called “Summertime: The Mixtape.” You better believe that Fresh Prince “Summertime” is on there.

We were blasting this playlist from the speakers on the roof on July 4, laying down a cool audio breeze over a hot day of grilling and bottle-poppin’, and, in the middle of “Born in the USA,” the fireworks over the Hudson began, just visible enough from our rooftop over the Manhattan bridge. Everyone clustered around the lip of the roof to gaze and gawk as the track changed, randomized itself, shuffled to one of the 183 songs on the 8.2 hour playlist, and the next song started playing: Jimi Hendrix’s “Star-Spangled Banner.” Everyone thought I planned it, but it was wholly a coincidence.

You do us well sometimes iTunes. But this still doesn’t explain why you insist on putting “Uncle John’s Band” in my “Punk” Genius mix.

back with new posts next week!

Might we remind you how the last Cold War ended? With Slyvester Stallone pummeling your national pride into a bloody mess in front of a rabid agitprop-prone crowd. One spectator was reportedly so devastated her only consolation was a several year bizarre televised relationship with American time clown Flava Flav.

Sure, we lost in the World Cup, but we certainly got quite passionate about it for the short period. Why? Because Americans are used to being the best at lots of things; but we really shine at being the underdog. The Cold War brought out some great, er… campily entertaining movies about the indomitable American spirit, during a time when it seemed like we might actually have a bully in the world: Superman IV, Rocky IV, Red Dawn and, of course, War Games. The spirit of being less than best drives out something fiery in Americans, fueling the need to stand on a Brooklyn bar table at 10 a.m. wrapped in an American flag and cheering on athletes a continent away. Even in horror of the days after 9/11, that down-and-out spirit united people against a common goal: pick up, dust off, hit back. We don’t get to act like this often.

The World Cup, and the discovery of spies among us, keeps us humble in a way, so much that a simple kick by Landon Donavan to beat a country with fewer people than California can get the country’s blood flowing in new ways:

And in case you don’t see the connection between the Rocky video and current events, hit the vuvuzela button on the video and imagine a sea of russians blowing terrible horns, trying to annoy America out of the challenge of the world stage.

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

sidenote: if I were Rocky’s trainer, my between-rounds advice would probably go on like this:

Round 1: Rocky, put up your hands!

Round 2: I know you’re getting hit, but defense is important!

Round 3: Rocky, block your  face already!

Round 4: PUT UP YOUR DAMN HANDS

Round 5: If you survive this, we’re spending the next year training on nothing but head defense

Round 6: WHAT THE HELL ROCKO? HE WILL HIT YOU LESS IF YOU BLOCK YOUR FACE

Round 7: JUST ONE TIME stop him from hitting your face!!

….

Round 16: Stop taunting him to hit you! He’s actually doing it! PUT UP YOUR HANDS!!

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There were 11 alleged Russian agents arrested this week, under accusations that they’d been living as Americans while reporting back to the mothercountry. But mostly we care about the hot one.

-Monica Hesse, “Alleged Russian agent Anna Chapman could have warmed up any Cold War night,” Washington Post, 7/1/10

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So if the only IP address StatCounter has to report is your own, and your comments section features a chorus of crickets rivaling that field behind the cabin you visited last weekend (and posted about in painful detail), face it: Your blog is that pathetic, friendless kid who skulks under the jungle gym at recess and reads Lois Lowry books in the bathroom during lunchtime.

- Brenna Ehrlich and Andrea Bartz of Stuff Hipsters Hate,  ”Is your blog the unpopular kid?” CNN Netiquette, 6/29/10

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The trouble with terrorism is what the theorists call asymmetry. Hundreds of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of troops, and the best generals on the planet can be undercut by a disgruntled accountant, commanding the world’s attention with a bomb that didn’t even explode.

- Scott Shane, “Wars Fought and Wars Googled,” NYT, 6/27

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and finally, this one is from a ways back, but I’ve been holding on to it since:

“SATC2 takes everything that I hold dear as a woman and as a human—working hard, contributing to society, not being an entitled cunt like it’s my job—and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car. It is 146 minutes long, which means that I entered the theater in the bloom of youth and emerged with a family of field mice living in my long, white mustache. This is an entirely inappropriate length for what is essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls.”

- Lindy West, “Burkas and Bikinis,” The Stranger, 5/25/2010