I previously mentioned that the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee is having its first Emerging Business Program workshop tomorrow at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth.
One correction: While the Emerging Business Program is only for minority- or women-owned businesses, any local business owner or entrepreneur is invited to attend the first workshop. Participants can learn about the procurement process for providing Super Bowl-related services.
With between $300 million and $500 million in local economic impact expected from the big game in 2011, there are lots of pie pieces available.
Loyal readers of the “print product” know Bryan Garner’s name from this profile we ran of him awhile back. As the headline states, he’s the leading lexicographer of our time. There are a couple of us in the office who, shall we say, are big fans of his work. (And, yes, I realize that might sound a bit dorky.) So when Garner sent out a personal appeal last week for help, I was concerned what was wrong. You should be concerned, too.
I had already been to the new Cowboys Stadium once, but that was for a U2 show. I wanted to see how it performed during a Cowboys game. So I went yesterday. Here are some observations:
Mark Lowry has the obit on Theater Jones (and says he’ll add to the obit throughout the day). The legendary founder of the Dallas Theater Center died yesterday at the age of 98.
Update: Go here to watch a video of Kevin Moriarty talking about his life-changing meeting with Baker.
After years of getting teased for not having cable, I now get the last laugh. Because WFAA is now carrying something called This TV on its subchannel 8.3. This TV is a blend of Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s film library and a bunch of classic TV stuff. Here’s the lineup tonight. While you cable people are paying the big bucks to watch Monday Night Football or Intervention, I’ll be watching the movie Sketch Artist, with Drew Barrymore, for free. Suckers!
A FrontBurnervian alerts me to this Editor & Publisher circulation report, which shows the News down big-time. Why do I think that’s good news? If you raise prices 30-40% and lose 22% of your subscribers as a result, you’ve gained. The old model was to do whatever poissible to get readers in order to charge advertisers more. The new model is to make money on circulation, serve fewer readers, and deliver a core, committed audience to advertisers. The News is doing what it needs to do.
So says Bob Gainey, the first general manager of the Dallas Stars, in an article on NHL.com. In moving the North Stars down south, Gainey decided on the best tactic to take with Cowboys-loving fans who didn’t know what icing was: play up the violence.
“We had a few comparisons (to football) and what we tried to utilize in any comparisons towards our sport and football was the physical contact. The Texans seem to be a very liberal and opened-minded people and they enjoyed the physical contract of ice hockey and they also seemed to warm up to the fact of the fighting in the sport and it was a selling point for us where it had been a detraction in Minnesota.”
Willard has come up several times recently in this space. For those who wish to meet the good professor in person, your chance to do so comes tomorrow, at a discussion he’ll lead at the Dallas Institute. The event is described thusly:
The word “happiness” presents us with a conundrum: how is it pursued, and how does one know when one has acquired it? Though the Greek philosophers gave us answers–that happiness comes to the well-ordered and virtuous life, which is also the life of greatest pleasure–such questions continue to vex us, one might say often lead us astray. In this three-part series, Institute Fellow and SMU Prof. Spiegelman will be our guide, speaking and leading discussions arising from his latest book, “Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness.”
Anthony Tommasini adds his opinion this morning to our own Willard Spiegelman’s about the new opera house and its first production. On the Winspear:
Several bigger, more significant American companies are going to envy the Dallas Opera its new home.
On Otello:
At times, especially in Act I, the performance of the orchestra and chorus was insecure and shaky. Jitters on this momentous opening might have been a factor. Also, the set that dominates this production, an intriguing, starkly modern staging by the British director Tim Albery that is filled with militaristic imagery, may have made it harder for the performers to follow the conductor and hear the orchestra.
1. Earlier this month, a woman stopped for a traffic violation was ticketed for not having her driver’s license, an illegal u-turn, and her inability to speak English. Ernestina Mondragon, a legal U.S. citizen since 1980, held a press conference yesterday to express how that experience made her feel. (Hint: It wasn’t good.) Chief Kunkle isn’t feeling too great about it either.
2. Forget seven brides for seven brothers. Yesterday, Oak Cliff’s Concord Church hosted 18 brides and grooms who got hitched in a super-size ceremony. It was part of senior pastor’s Bryan L. Carter’s series for couples, “The Real Flava of Love.” Sadly, our favorites from the television series that I assume inspired the name of the event, if not the sentiment–Flavor Flav, Pumpkin, New York, and Deelishis–were not in attendance.
3. Southwest Airlines has more than 775,000 followers on Twitter thanks in part to tweets like this: “To celebrate our new in-flight wine selection, tell us why ‘You’d Rather Be Drinking Wine Than Working.’” I’m confused why that last part is in quotes and capped. And also it’s a dumb question. Obviously, I’d “Rather Be Working.” (Hi Mr. and Mrs. Allison!)  Twitter, I’m breaking up with you.