Thursday, October 17, 2013

Leadership


In my current internship, I think leadership is applied at a personal level.  My internship does not include any subordinates for my coworker and me.  In a very real sense, we are out on an island with very little direction from our “bosses” who sent us here.  We do work on, and find research for, certain projects that are of interest to our organization.  But aside from those few projects, we pursue topics and activities that we are interested in.  

            However, my coworker and I are very interested in civic engagement in local government and have been able to work with both Santa Monica and West Hollywood.  By attending their meetings and shadowing members of key departments (transportation, safety, etc) I have been able to see many different leadership roles and leadership styles.  Leadership in the public sector often involves different skills and tactics than in the private sector.  As I continue to shadow and pick the brains of different department heads, my goal is to take what I view as the positives traits, and try to incorporate them into my own leadership style.  I believe that doing this throughout my internship will allow me to be a more effective and efficient leader as I move on to full time employment.  It truly is a unique opportunity for two semesters to analyze, question, and formulate ideas from professionals who are in many cases responsible for very important and iconic cities and organizations here in California.

Indo Food

So, I have been fortunate enough to spend much of my life traveling and living abroad in numerous countries and continents.  My family spend 12 years in Indonesia (which is where I graduated high school) and I have a very fond spot in my heart for that country.  Although, the same can be said about the other countries I grew up in.  However, while you can find semi decent Mediterranean food, or Chinese food in the USA, you never see too many Indonesia places.

Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world but they are not prevalent in the west like Latinos, Europeans or Asians.  This is partly due to the fact that many don't have the money to relocate, and, being a predominant Muslim country, visa restrictions tend to be quite strict.  However, I found an Indonesian place near my house (about two miles away) and I am so excited!!!!!  I was afraid it would be Americanized, or a Chinese place that serves one Indonesian dish, but it isn't!


When I went there, I was amazed that everyone was Indonesian, and it seems like a place that other California Indonesians go to just hang out.  The food was great.  I ordered two of my favorite dishes, and it was just like I was back in Jakarta, or on the streets of Bali eating out with my friends and family.  I have been back twice already to sample other menu items.  All in all, not every menu item is the best I have ever had, but I have had much worse Indonesian food in Indonesia.  And some of their dishes are just as good as almost anywhere you can find in Indonesia.  It is a great find, and a place I know I can go whenever I need a little slice of one of my worldly homes.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Person Profile


So, for my interview, I didn’t interview one of my supervisors, but rather, someone who has a job in an industry that I am interested in.  Soon after moving here to LA, I was able to meet a guy named Ben.  He actually did his undergrad at the same university as I did, but with a different major.  He graduated in advertising, while I got my degree in Human Geography. 

            Anyways, I am currently seeking an MPA with an emphasis in non profit management.  I am particularly interested in international non profits.  It just so happens that Ben is the Director of Outreach for a non profit called “Unlikely Heroes”.  Unlikely Heroes’ mission is to restore and rehabilitate child victims of sex slavery through the implementation of restoration homes, rescue and prevention programs worldwide.  They do majority of their work in Southeast Asia, and operate a large treatment center in the Philippines. 

            Ben’s main responsibilities for his job is to set up events and fundraisers, as well as advertising to get their mission published.  He has done quite a good job, having raised millions of dollars in the couple months that I have been his acquaintance.  Most of this has been done with fundraisers that include better known Hollywood B list celebrities like Eliza Dushku and cast members from TV shows like modern family etc (I am not too into the Hollywood scene so I am not familiar with most of these names)

            Anyways, I have been able to volunteer a little bit to help in any capacity possible, and have been able to chat with both Ben and his boss about what they do (I am excited to be a host for their big $275-$4,000 plate dinner in Hollywood this coming weekend).  They have seemed to take a little interest in what I am studying as well, and have told me they want me to consider working for them when I graduate. 

            I asked Ben the list of questions on the sheet we were provided and as you would expect, event planning experience is a plus for his current job.  It helps that he studied that in school, but he says that most people, with a little work, and a lot of patience, could begin to see success in his line of work.  The advice he would give to someone is to follow your passion.  He loves what he is doing, but he does not make a lot of money.  He believes in his cause, and says that there is nothing else he would rather be doing at this current point in his life.


           

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Career Services

I am not sure what to write for my career services post.  Living in California, I can't attend any of the career service workshops.  The last career service type of thing I attended was a career fair last semester at ASU's down town campus.  They had many different organizations there, ranging from Enterprise Rental Car to the FBI.  I talked with a lot of representatives and took home a lot of business cards and materials, and I even researched quite a few of them.  Many of them were offering internships, and some seemed perfect for work in government and/or non profits.  However, a little over a week after that, I was lucky enough to get involved with my current project, which placed all the other companies on the back burner.  

As for career events during this internship, I actually feel that my work here with the California Civic Innovation Project is just one large career fair.  Every week I get to research government and non profit tools, attend meetings, and shadow city planners.  There is much more planned, and a lot more to do.  For instance, next week I will be going to a graduate recruiting fair in San Diego to represent ASU.  All of these experiences are allowing me to gain views into all aspects of public management and city government.  If that is not a development workshop, I don't know what is.

The Night That WASN'T!

So, I was so excited about opening night in the NHL, as I am a huge hockey fan.  I was even more excited when I received a letter and an email from Time Warner Cable (TWC) informing me that from October 1st through October 19, they would be providing a free preview of NHL Center Ice.
The Sept 30th Email I Received 


This is normally an upgrade option, but for those days it would be made available.  In the past couple of days I even saw commercials from TWC advertising the preview.  However, when the first game started tonight, I turned it to the channel for NHL Center Ice, and that is where it all went wrong.

It wouldn't work.  It said I had to call and sign up for the service.  I quickly Googled to see if there were other people complaining about the error I was having, and that is where I found out that Center Ice free pass was being offered by Dish, Direct TV, Comcast, and TWC.  So I called my brother who has Comcast, and sure enough, it was working for him.  So I called TWC and talked to a tech support person from the Philippines.  He had no idea what the NHL was, and we were getting nowhere.  He then put me on hold for 15 minutes, after which the phone disconnected.  So I called back and talked to a customer service rep from the US, and she said she had heard nothing about any free preview.  After 45 mins with her, she then came back to me and told me that if they were offering a free pass, it should be working, but if it isn't, then they must not be offering a free pass.  When I protested, she transferred me back to tech support.  AHHHHHHHHHG!!!!!!!!

The tech support lady came on the line and to my surprise she was from the US as well.  She apologized for the run around and then told me she would look into it.  Another 20 min hold.  After the hold, she said that neither she, nor anyone she was working with had heard anything about a free preview for NHL Center Ice.  He then put me on hold again to call a supervisor.  This went on for a little less than 15 minutes, to which she came back and told me her supervisor was unaware of any free preview, but that I should fax the flyer into her and she would look it up.  After a small disgruntled protest, she told me there was nothing more that could be done.  I then got the idea to try the "click to chat" feature on their website.  To my amazement, it just went down hill from there.

On click to chat, I assumed that I was talking with some tech person here in the US.  It became rapidly clear that she was not from the USA.  Of course she tried to send me to the NHL Network, which is not the same as NHL Center Ice.  I had to explain it 4 or 5 times, each time with her having to tell me to please hold while she checked on that.  Eventually she told me they were not offering a free preview.  I replied by sending her the link to the TWC website that included the ad.  She then apologized and then like a good robot told me she was sorry for the delay and to "please be patient, we will have it up and running soon".  When I asked her what soon meant, she told me she did not know.  I then asked her if i could have access to an email of a manager so I could make a formal complaint.  I was then surprised when we were joined on the chat by someone who claimed to be the shift manager.  The problem was, her English was even worse the the lady I was currently working with, and she seemed even more clueless.

We went back around in a circle, her sending me to NHL network, me sending the ad, her apologizing etc.  She then said I had to sign up for the service to get the free preview, but the sign up would cost $30.  She then told me that a technician would have to come to my house to fix my cable box to receive "the NHL".  I knew this to be wrong, but it took too much time to count to get her finally on what I consider a relative similar page.  She finally admitted that someone didnt need to come to my house in order for me to get a free preview, and that she would "open a ticket" for me so that my problem could be fixed as soon as possible.

By this time two of the three games were over, and the remaining game was 2/3rds through.  When I looked at the clock I realized I had spent almost 6 hours working with Time Warner.  I have spent majority of my professional life so far working in, managing, or monitoring customer service.  Before I left to start my MPA at ASU I had Comcast.  I thought their customer service was horrible.  After dealing with Time Warner, Comcast deserves a JD Power award.  There has to be an easier way.  I just cannot comprehend how a company can be as bad as they are.  Needless to say, it is now the principle of the the thing, and I will be using my first bit of free time to call in tomorrow to talk to American based representatives, and try to get this figured out.  Plus, my favorite team plays tomorrow, and I dont want to miss it.



Opening Day!!!!!!!


Today is opening day for the NHL season!!!!!  I am stoked.  For those of you that do not know anything about hockey, or have never gone, find the nearest NHL or minor league team near you and GO!  In my live I have been able to attend professional Rodeos, Soccer, Football, Baseball, Rugby, Aussie Rules, Tennis, and Basketball games on numerous continents.   I have also attended college Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Hockey, Rugby, Soccer, and Football, Diving, Swimming, Water Polo, and Racquetball games.  In my opinion, out of all of those, NHL hockey is the most entertaining live action there is.  They have limited interruptions, fast paced action, and FIGHTS!!!!!  While my favorite team does not play until tomorrow night, I have my TV and computer all ready to go to watch all three of the games being played tonight.


Common Sense Wins Out, And It Tastes Good

Last week my coworker and I had the opportunity to attend a Santa Monica City Council meeting.  We had met with staff members the day before to review the agenda and saw that there were going to be a couple of hot button topics.  Just as we anticipated, a decent size crowd showed up for what turned into a 6 hour meeting, ending around 12:30 AM.  3 of the 6 hours were spend on one item of the agenda.  This was an appeal to the council to impose strict limits on a new restaurant that is planning to open in Santa Monica.  In other words, it is the people vs Chef Greenwood.  The three hour back and forth shook my confidence in city management to exercise basic common sense.

It all started years ago with a restaurant at the same location.  That restaurant started as a bar, progressed to a sports bar, and eventually transformed into what some described as a club.  As there are apartments in the direct vicinity, as well as a neighborhood about a hundred yards away, many residents were unhappy with the disturbances this place created.  They complained of beer bottles being left in front yards as well as being woken by noisy patrons leaving at early morning hours.  Enough complaints led to investigations that determined that the establishment was operating in ways that were not legally afforded to them by their CUP.  The establishment was eventually shut down, and the property has been vacant for nearly three years.  Enter Chef Greenwood.

Chef Greenwood is a culinary expert that for the past few years has been the executive chef at one of LA's most prestigious establishments.  He now wants to start his own establishment in the same location as the previous sports bar.  The difference being, Mr Greenwood plans on opening up a high end steak house (in his presentation, he indicated that the tab for a party of four could easily be $500).  Knowing that residents would be apprehensive about the property opening up again, Mr Greenwood agreed to abide by a stricter code than would otherwise be required.  This included things such as not serving alcohol to patrons in containers, and allowing no more than three TV's to be placed in the restaurant.  After having agreed to all of the restrictions that council staff proposed, residents appealed to change the previously approved hours of operation.

Council staff recommended that the restaurant be opened Sunday through Thursday, 11 am - 11 pm, and 11am - 12 am on Friday and Saturday.  However, they included a provision that everyone, including the chef, had to vacate the premises a half hour after closing time each night.  If any of you know anything about the restaurant industry, you know that that is pretty ridiculous, as often times, clean up takes at least a half hour, not to mention time to do books etc.  The residents were appealing for the restaurant to be closed by 10pm on weeknights, and 11pm on Friday and Saturday.  My co-worker and I looked at each other and could not believe how crazy this request was.  Since when does the want of neighbors, who knowingly live next to a busy street that is zoned for commerce, trump the worthy life long dreams of an entrepreneur?

To his credit, Mr. Greenwood asked for a compromise, asking if he could close his front doors a half hour earlier than the staff recommendation, but be allowed to stay on the premises an hour later each night to allow for clean up and book work.  The city council seemed to have two people who had common sense and were ok with it right away.  However, a couple of the people on the council must have been either trying to look good for the citizens, or they are not playing with a full deck.  They argued back and forth about closing times, valet parking, and the probability of the guests leaving the bar and being rowdy.  Of course, the people with common sense pointed out that they cannot take alcohol off the premises, he is operating under stricter guidelines than any business int the area, and crazy partying frat boys are not likely to go to a high end place with alcohol restrictions to party.

I understand that the citizens have loved the past three years of a vacant building, but some of their arguments were pretty weak.  But they made them with passion, often yelling from the audience after the public comments were heard and having to be quieted by the council.  The worst argument I heard was the argument by a mother who claimed that she has to put her kids to bed each night at 8:30, and she didn't want the noisy patrons leaving at midnight to wake them.  Of course, she failed to realize that the few wealthy patrons leaving a nice dinner at midnight are not as noisy as the constant traffic and hustle/bustle of even more patrons leaving the restaurant at 8:30-10pm.  (Disclaimer, that was the worst argument that should be dignified with a response, there was an elderly gentleman who said he was there for his daughter who lived in the apartment building behind the place, and he asked the council "would any of you want your child or grandchild to grow up near an establishment like that?  That is all I am going to say".)

In the end, the council passed the resolution allowing the restaurant to operate 11am-10:30 pm on weeknights, allowing staff to clean and do books until midnight, and 11am-11:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, allowing till 1:30 for cleanup and book keeping.  But it was like pulling teeth.  I was so frustrated with how ridiculous the arguments were that once the motion passed, I went into the hall way to personally congratulate Chef Greenwood, and let him know that I will patron his place (well, at least once before I am done next year as I don't have endless amounts of cash).  So in the end, common sense prevailed, yet I have a feeling that it may be some time before the neighbors fully trust, or even like, this new restaurant.