Articles for July 27th, 2010
Rumors Circulate of Jim Moroney’s Defection to the D Empire
They have, of course, no basis in fact.
DMN Publisher Jim Moroney Taunts D Mag Staff
Dallas Morning News CEO and publisher Jim Moroney was kind enough to keynote our third-quarter company-wide meeting. He’s talking to us about the state of his industry and how a 300-person newsroom, though half the size that it once was, is sufficient to cover the city — and necessary, because he promises us that in the next five years, another city official WILL do something illegal and be sent to jail. He dropped that the DMN is about to announce their iPad app (oops, guess he just announced it).
But my favorite part was when he was talking about the importance of differentiation, which is something columnists provide. Columnists like, oh, Evan Grant, the guy whom we hired away from the News and proved the value of on the dearly departed InsideCorner — and the guy whom the News then stole back from us. He was happy to point that out.
ABC Approves New Rules for Counting Subscribers
And that’s about all I got out of this. Listen, I’ll be honest: I have tired head. I’ve cut out caffeine, and now 2:30 rolls around every afternoon, like clockwork, and all I want to do is beat my score on Minesweeper and write dirty haiku. And nap. I want a nap.
But the ABC approved some new rules for counting subscribers that allows newspapers to also count subscribers to digital content, and apparently somehow they’ll be able to count some subscribers more than once. Or something. Basically, the Dallas Morning News‘ circulation just increased by 24,000 percent or something. The end.
TI’s Templeton Sees Bright Tech Future … If
Rich Templeton says he’s as optimistic about the future of technology as he’s ever been, and not just because Dallas-based Texas Instruments enjoyed 42 percent revenue growth in the latest quarter. TI’s chairman, president and CEO says global markets are ripe with tech opportunity, and North Texas companies are well-positioned to benefit from that. But to really do so, he told the Dallas Regional Chamber’s 10th Annual State of Technology luncheon today, the area needs to keep “investing” in the likes of education and infrastructure.
Specifically, Templeton told the big crowd, DFW needs to: promote more funding for university research efforts; make education in general a higher priority; embrace open trade; improve the area’s transportation/power infrastructure; and keep costs–including federal, state, and local taxes–low. He pointed out that the U.S. corporate income tax rate is the second-highest among 32 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development–one of two times he drew spontaneous applause from the tech-savvy business crowd. (The other came when he mentioned the importance of doing a better job on education.)
St. Paul United Methodist Church Returns to the Arts District
For our August issue, we had Walton Muyumba write about the renovation of St. Paul United Methodist Church’s historic building and how Highland Park United Methodist Church served as an unlikely partner in helping make it all happen. Today, Dan Koller of Park Cities People writes about the church’s return to its refurbished home. Give it a read.
What My 19-Year-Old Shadow Thinks of the Publishing Game, Ctd.
When an alert FBvian pointed out to me that BP’s new chief is an SMU man, I asked John to give me a few words. His take:
BP’s imbroglio is hitting even closer to home than the murky, oil-ridden waters tainting Texas’s southeastern coast: the oil magnate’s new CEO, the 54-year-old Robert Dudley — just named this morning and scheduled to take the reins October 1 from the much-maligned Tony Hayward — earned his MBA from SMU’s Cox School of Business. Aside from lawsuits galore and seemingly irreparable losses in the company’s morale and public image, gargantuan explicit costs, estimated between $30 and $60 billion, face the new CEO. Despite BP’s British roots, public sentiment seemed in favor of an American candidate to repair the damaged incurred on American soil. It’s hard to imagine what sort of advantage an American owns over a Brit in this situation — the task seems just as overwhelming for one guy as the next, regardless of nationality — but maybe his American pride gives him a patriotic incentive to succeed. Either way, let’s pray Dudley brings his A-game. He’ll need it.
Dallas Gets Its Own Hot Russian Smuggler (Allegedly)
Forget hot Russian (alleged) spy Anna Chapman. Put your peeps on Plano’s Anna Chapman, a 24-year-old Russian expat who was arrested for (allegedly) smuggling military-grade night-vision scopes into Moscow. Quite a bust for a graduate of the Ogle School of Hair Skin and Nails.
TabbedOut Allows You to Travel Lighter at Bars
Never know where exactly you last left your wallet? I understand completely. Thanks to ATX Innovation and its TabbedOut app, that’s not a problem. We can now pay our bar tabs with our phones. According to this, most participating locations are in Austin, but we have a few in Dallas including Lakewood Bar & Grill and Trees. Here’s hoping the Old Monk signs up for the service any moment now.
What to Do in Dallas Tonight: July 27
Remember the Barenaked Ladies, those affable Canadians whose music we used to love even though the lead singer sounded like a Muppet? Well, they’re in town tonight.
(By the way, in honor of the band’s name, I’d like you to take a moment to evaluate your person and determine whether you need to see these people.)
Moving on. Many of you have dogs rather than cats (not everyone is perfect), and dogs don’t like being left at home alone while their moms and dads go to fun concerts. Assuage your guilt by taking Mr. Fancy Paws to Yappy Hour Tuesdays at The Living Room Bar. Sip something cool on the patio while your pup mingles with his friends. He’ll be happy, and a happy dog is a less-likely-to-devour-the-wooden-blinds dog. You might also try bribing him with something from Lucky Dog Barkery.
Conscience clear, you’re free to enjoy the show. Bonus points to those who can still rattle off the lyrics to “One Week” at tempo.
FB Field Trip: Dallas Vigilantes vs. Utah Blaze
On Saturday night, I had a chance to take in the home finale of the Dallas Vigilantes‘ first, not exactly successful year in existence. The Vigilantes, if you don’t know — and you probably don’t, since there weren’t many people there, and it was the biggest crowd of the season — is Dallas’ new entry in the Arena Football League, after the much more beloved Desperadoes folded in 2008. After the jump, my report.
Nerenhausen in June: “We’re Tracking Very Well”
If Mark Nerenhausen left his posts with the AT&T Performing Arts Center because of mounting financial pressures, he didn’t betray it in an interview with D CEO magazine late last month. We’d called Nerenhausen because an excellent source told us he’d received a weekend “emergency” call from PAC fundraisers saying they needed to scare up $8 million–and fast. Nerenhausen told D CEO that no such emergency calls had gone out from the AT&T center, and that our source must have confused the PAC with some other nonprofit group.
He also said the center was in decent shape with its $25 million first-year operating budget, that it was in the midst only of a “normal,” end-of-fiscal-year campaign to raise $1 million for that budget–and was already 74 percent of the way there. “We’re tracking very well against our budget,” he said, “and we will improve over time.” While the economic climate remained challenging–indeed, fundraising for the center’s $30 million remaining “capital campaign” has slowed to a trickle–the center was holding its own and there were no real surprises, Nerenhausen concluded. The PAC anticipated operating losses for its first three years, he said.
What My 19-Year-Old Shadow Thinks of the Publishing Game
Today I have the pleasure of having a young man by the name of John Michel, a recent grad of the vaunted St. Mark’s School of Texas, follow me around all day. He’ll be going to Dartmouth next year. So I guess he thinks a day at D Magazine will give him some sort of insight into the world of publishing. We’ll get an update from him later today, but here are his thoughts going into his understudy.
The newspaper staff consumed a significant portion of my time in high school. I was news editor and editorial director for my junior and senior years respectively, so I’m familiar — or at least I think I’m familiar — with the strictly journalistic side of the process: reporting, writing, editing, designing, delegating tasks to younger staff members, etc. It’s my impression, though, that professional journalism presents a new set of challenges and is vastly different from its high school equivalent; I’d like to learn the goals, difficulties, risks, and advantages of magazine production. After leafing through a couple of issues of D, despite the obvious discrepancies from the type of journalism I’m used to, I notice trends similar to what I’ve both seen in large newspapers and had to deal with in St. Mark’s newspaper: more alternative copy; less wordy, cumbersome stories; and lots of advertising. I’d like to know what it is that you do — where you make your money, how you find your stories, and how you advertise yourself, among other things. My guess is that the majority of your revenue comes from advertising, but that’s completely conjecture. I’m interested, too, in the most immediate concerns of the publication industry — how you allocate your time, how the industry has changed over time, how you hedge against any adverse changes, and where you think print publications are going in the future.
My prediction: this guy is way too serious. At the end of the day, he’ll consider this a waste of his time.
Tuesday Trivia: Mary, Merrie or Marianne?
Back in 1964 Peter Sellers and Angela Lansbury starred in The World of Henry Orient directed by George Roy Hill. Sellers played a narcissistic, second-rate concert pianist with two 14-year-old groupies. One of those teenagers grew up to become:
- Mary Suhm
- Merrie Spaeth
- Marianne Staubach
Here’s a clip from the movie. Wonder if she can still jump over a fire hydrant?
How Not To Rob A Walgreens: A Primer
Don’t bring a toboggan. Unless the Weatherford police spokesperson meant balaclava. In which case, bring one of those, but position it prior to walking in, otherwise you negate the need for a face covering in the first place.
If she meant toboggan, I stand by my first statement. They make lousy disguises.
FrontRow Film Series Debuts Thursday With Herb and Dorothy
As all you FrontRow addicts are well aware, last week we announced the first installment of our new monthly film series that kicks off this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with a screening at The Public Trust gallery of Megumi Sasaki’s wonderful documentary Herb and Dorothy. Each month a different arts leader will choose a film that they believe people in Dallas need to see, and we will screen that film in an interesting, untraditional location. For the first screening, Brian Gibb chose the documentary that tells the story of the famed art collectors – a postal worker and a librarian — who managed to put together an important art collection without having the wealth of a Rockefeller. In addition to the film, we’ll have drinks, popcorn, and conversation. There’s more information on the series here, and you can find a trailer after the jump. To attend, RSVP to rsvp4@dmagazine.com. We hope to see you there.
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