NOW

Ideas at the Speed of Business

Graffiti Marketing

Here’s a decision that might leave a few business owners shaking their heads. Eight years ago, Jason Ulep, owner of Hypersquad Dance Company in Waipahu, invited graffiti artists to cover his interior studio walls with their designs.

His thinking?

“My market is the younger, next generation,” says Ulep, whose 200-plus students range in age from 3 to adult. “They see graffiti in the music videos, and it’s cool. It shows that we’re cool, and they want to dance at the cool spot.”

photo: Sergio Goes

Although apprehensive about negative reactions after commissioning his first mural, Ulep has since received a steady stream of compliments from students’ parents. Some of the parents have asked to commission works from the graffiti artists. Over the years, Ulep has even gotten a few world-renowned artists to decorate his studio with their urban masterpieces.

“It was a slow process to earn the trust of these mostly secretive but talented artists,” he says, “but they’re really just looking for a place to express themselves. I’d rather give them a place to do quality work legally than doing it illegally on the freeways.”

Ulep is not the only business owner in town tapping local graffiti artists for an edge. Maria Quintero has given graffiti artists free reign behind her Honolulu restaurant, Quintero’s Mexican Cuisine. As a result, she said that other graffiti artists respect her building’s façade, while other area businesses are periodically defaced.

Quintero says the wall also attracts passersby wanting to snap a few photos, though she admits that it also attracts police. “Police have come several times, asking me to repaint the walls,” Quintero says. “But I told them they aren’t doing anything wrong. No bad words and no naked ladies.”

Just good business.

- Matthew K. Ing

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9 Ways to Grow Future Leaders

One of the biggest challenges facing the nonprofit sector in Hawaii—and across the nation—is the coming retirement of many of its top executives. According to Hawaii Community Foundation, more than half of Hawaii nonprofit executives are 55 or older and 42 percent of those surveyed plan to vacate their positions by 2010. Baby boomers are simply getting to that age.

So Envision Hawaii, a growing network of young civil servants and social entrepreneurs, has come up with tips to help the nonprofit sector deal with the impending leadership void. Though the tips are good for any organization, nonprofit or not.

1 Create a leadership culture. Create a culture that encourages and provides opportunities for leadership at all levels of the organization. Leaders can be found in receptionists, office managers, assistants and CFOs.

2 Keep an eye out for talent. Look for the bright and energetic as well as the quiet but effective people who know what they’re doing and have the potential to do more.

3 Look for natural leaders. Find out who the staff goes to for answers or who everyone wants to have lunch with.

4 Push your employees if you know they can perform. Set demanding (but realistic) deadlines, provide encouragement, feedback and support.

5 Plan ahead for succession. As you recognize that your time at the organization may be ending, work with your board to identify someone to train to take over. Introduce them to your contacts, begin delegating some of your responsibilities and include them in decision making.

6 Create forums for group leadership development. Create time, space and incentives for young people to connect with other emerging professionals and with more seasoned staff (within and outside of your organization).

7 Recruit young people for board positions. Board participation gives young people a chance to gather valuable leadership experience and gives the organization a chance to assess their leadership potential.

8 Mentor, mentor, mentor. Nothing fancy or formal required, just reach out and begin to build a personal connection with one or a few young people. Suggest meeting periodically, allow them to shadow you occasionally, and provide counsel on issues they’re wrestling with.

9 Recognize servant leadership. Many emerging leaders in our communities and organizations would never call themselves “leaders.” Yet these are some of the most dedicated, inspiring and effective individuals, best suited to fill a leadership position.

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Hawaii Business defines often-spoken words, new and old, to help you make sense of what's being said.

MySpy: Attention Gen Y and Gen X: Start cleaning the party pictures from your MySpace pages. More employers are choosing to myspy potential hires by surfing their online profiles for information that prospects wouldn’t share in an interview. Manager No. 1: Jeremy seems like a real class act. You think he’s right for the job? Manager No. 2: I don’t know. I myspied him, and his personal page says his career goal is to become a professional party crasher. -Matthew K. Ing Email confusing words to hbeditorial@pacificbasin.net

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Student Calculations

Aug. 20 marks a new year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. To get you prepped for the school season, here’s a little college math.

140 percent Slated rise in annual tuition for full-time resident undergrads, from $3,504 in 2005 to $8,400 in 2012, in order to improve campus quality.

$45 million Estimated cost to clear backlogged deferred maintenance in student housing as of September 2006.

325 Projected number of graduate-level students this year in the Shidler College of Business, compared to 237 10 years ago.

62 out of 1,901 Number of students out of this year’s applicants accepted into the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine. The school requires 90 percent of the incoming class to be from Hawaii and the Pacific.

554 Number of on-campus liquor violations in 2006, 112 fewer than in 2005.

5,000 Out of the projected 20,222 students for 2007, the approximate number who will leave UH Manoa for various reasons before graduating.

– Matthew K. Ing
Source: University of Hawaii, State Office of the Auditor

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The Ultimate Real Estate Search Engine

In the market for a new home and just starting your search? Maybe you’ve just listed a property for sale and want a quick snapshot (literally) of the activity in the neighborhood? Or maybe you’re just nosy. Either way, you will find a visit to the Web site Trulia.com helpful or, at least, interesting.

The real estate search engine, launched in September 2005, features a plethora of search tools and seemingly endless supply of data on properties for sale throughout the country. With Trulia’s simple and straightforward search page users can cast their net as wide (city) or narrow (specific address) as they wish.

Besides a detailed listing of the home for sale, Trulia also features a selection of comparable homes recently listed and sold in the neighborhood as well as a side-by-side comparisons with those properties. In addition, the Web site provides week-by-week reports on a selected neighborhood’s average listing prices, sale prices, price per square foot and number of sales among other statistics. Moreover, Trulia also provides Heat Maps, color-coded maps that graphically display the average listing and selling price in adjoining neighborhoods. For Honolulu, dark green symbolizes prices of $489,000 and below. Fire engine red is for prices $1.14 million and above.

Maybe the most interesting feature on the Web site is the Trulia Alert, an e-mail notification system that alerts users to a change in a selected listing or a new listing in a selected neighborhood. That way you can truly keep up with the Joneses, at least until they move out.

- David K. Choo

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