Happy Trails

After three years of writing this column, this will be my last. By the time this issue hits the stands, I’ll have moved on to another local company, Hawaiian Airlines, to return to being a lawyer as its general counsel. I am excited about the new opportunities and challenges that await me, but I am daunted by the prospects of leaving Hawaii Business behind.

When I became publisher three years ago, I had no experience in the publishing business and knew nothing about its basics: editorial, selling ads, design and production, circulation, and printing. One moment I didn’t know what a publisher did and the next moment I was one. Well, after three years, I do know what a smart publisher does: he gets out of the way and lets his creative, talented, and committed staff do their thing.

From the start I was impressed and amazed by the Hawaii Business staff’s dedication to their jobs; here is a group of men and women who, to a person, could easily be making more money somewhere else but who choose to face a never-ending monthly cycle of unrelenting deadlines and sales quotas just so they can work with the magazine. I quickly discovered that there’s something highly addictive about the process of putting out a magazine with the reward being the satisfaction of seeing it come off press each month, the embodiment of the artistry, creativity, and sweat of a team of people trying to serve up a product to our readership that would make them come back next month for more. To all the HB staffers led by Editor Kelli Abe Trifonovitch, Ad Director Bobby Senaha, Creative Director Wes Funai, Marketing Director Gwen Trowbridge, and Circulation Manager Chuck Tindle who make the magazine what it is month after month, mahalo for letting me share the experience with you. I loved being part of Hawaii Business.

I also want to express my appreciation to the management team of John Alves, Floyd Takeuchi, and Duane Kurisu who hired me as publisher in the first place. They didn’t let my lack of journalism or publishing credentials worry them; no doubt they realized that, with all the talent HB had on staff, the amount of damage I could do to the magazine was limited. What they wanted was someone who could help build relationships for the magazine in the business community. While I hope I have been able to meet their expectations in that regard, what I have gotten out of the deal is immeasurable: a feeling of being at home here in the Hawaii business community, something I have long sought and for which I will long be grateful.

In that regard, my last and most important mahalo goes to you, our readers. Every page we write, design, and sell has to pass one basic test: does it serve our readership? We did not always agree on how to best do that, but it was always foremost on our minds because if we could do that successfully, then we’d connect with our readers. And I’ve never felt a greater thrill than when I would see someone pick up our magazine at the newsstand or have someone say they liked what they read. Thank you for giving me that satisfaction.

Happy trails.

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