Guidelines for Dealing with Promo Emails - Begich Online Interview today at 3pm

The good news, I suppose, is that somebody thinks my blog is worth paying attention to. But now I have to figure out how to deal with emails that want me to publicize something for them. Here are my first draft guidelines:

If you pass something on:

1. let the readers know how you got the story (this really goes for any post)
2. there should be something that might be of interest to your readers (both of them) that they might not know about otherwise
3. there should be something unique about the opportunity

I'll have to come up with some more, but this will do for now.

Let's try them out:
1.
I got an email from a website that describes itself as "a progressive blog started by former edwards supporters and dedicated to promoting a progressive agenda and "more and BETTER" downticket candidates." Is 'downticket' like coach?
They say they got my email from Begich's online guy Matt Browner-Hamlin.

2.
They want me to let my readers know about an onliine interview with Mark Begich, Alaska's downticket candidate for Senator. (No they didn't say it like that.) It's happening this afternoon at 3pm Alaska time at www.EENRblog.com. You have to register if you want to ask questions, and they want you to keep them respectful. It's pretty short notice and I suspect 'my readers' aren't likely to see this anywhere else, except maybe one of the other Alaska blogs that got a similar email.

3.
Is it unique? Well, I've never participated in an online candidate interview. There's curiosity factor. Maybe I'll want to do a live interview here one day. My readers can be on the blog frontier. Mom - you can impress your grandson's friends with your hipness.

Of course this site may think they are offering Alaskan's a great opportunity to talk with one of our Senate candidates. They probably don't realize how accessible they are here where we have so few people. But for people outside of Anchorage, bumping into Mark Begich at the Thai Kitchen isn't so easy. What might be more interesting to Alaskans, though, is the chance to find out about candidates from other states.



And I did find this video on "Why I'm Voting Republican" on their site.

Is there any hope for the Anchorage Daily News?

[I didn't hit the post button when I finished this last night. Is this even worth writing about? Well, yes, I think McCoy's (see NAMES at the bottom if they get confusing) comments are significant, but I'm not really sure what the significance is. My instant gut reaction when she said them was "oh geez, the ADN is doomed." My logical side says, "You need to have a totally tech savvy person doing this, not some nice, smart, tech 'immigrant' [in her words]" But something kept me from hitting the post button. She's so nice, she's so enthusiastic, and she has gotten a bunch of blogs up onto the ADN website. Is her personality and their obligation to have a position for her after her fellowship year blinding them from doing what they really need to do? Or maybe they can't find (translation: won't pay what it takes to get) a real tech guru with journalism smarts too.

I've posted on this topic and Kathleen before when she made a brief announcement at a previous AAUG meeting about starting to post community blogs and inviting bloggers to sign up. This was then followed up by an in-depth analysis of the contract the ADN wanted bloggers to sign - a contract I felt was totally out of touch with the reality of the blogosphere. I did try to say hello Wednesday night, but there were lots of other people around her. I did want to know how the contract issue got resolved though.

And I think there is one more big reason I'm hesitant to click on the post button. I think Kathleen's candor is fantastic. I applaud her honesty about herself and about her newspaper and the industry. But I can just see her being called into the office, "YOU SAID WHAT? IN PUBLIC? ARE YOU CRAZY?" I don't really want to be responsible for that. The media often are beat up by politicians for what they report. Their response is we are only reporting the news, don't attack the messenger. To the ADN and McClatchy big shots, remember those words. Kathleen McCoy isn't the problem, she's just the messenger.

OK, now that I've said this and you have no idea what I'm talking about yet, I feel a little more comfortable hitting the post button]

I went to the Alaska Apple User Group (AAUG) last night[Wednesday]. There were two longish presentations. The first was by Kathleen McCoy and her husband Peter Porco on her fellowship year for journalists at Stanford. It was depressing. [I like reading my hard copy newspaper in the morning and I want the ADN to find a way to survive in both the print and web worlds.] I wasn't going to post about it.

But then I got home and got Brendan's [see NAMES at bottom]email with the links to this week's Anchorage Press and a story about Howard Weaver on the future of newspapers. Weaver was the editor of the ADN and has moved up the McClatchy corporate ladder and is now Vice President for News and he's upbeat about his papers doing just fine on the web. The Weaver piece the Press covers takes on the doomsday arguments made against newspapers and offers his reasons for believing the McClatchy newspapers will adjust and thrive. I like people who take on the prevailing opinion, but he's hardly an objective observer and what I heard from Kathleen certainly contradicts the image he was painting of McClatchy doing this right.

So why was the first presentation depressing? In a nutshell, because Kathleen McCoy is billed as the person at the ADN in charge of community blogging [I stopped writing at this point and looked at the ADN website newsroom contacts page to get her exact title, but I couldn't find Kathleen McCoy on it at all. Nor could I find her on the contacts page which listed the eight men and one woman (Jane Lee) on the "Senior Management Team."]

In any case, Kathleen McCoy's talk was interesting, but depressing. She and her husband were both very enthusiastic about having the year off at Stanford and enjoying the chance to do whatever she wanted - sit in, or take, or not, any class at Stanford. And she got a week of tech training for journalists at UC Berkeley. Here are things that she said that really struck me:

A Talking about the newspaper field, she said:
So you have print journalists who are saying, "what do you mean I have to take a video camera" or "this blogging stuff ..." and then you have other people who are jumping in whole hog, and just training themselves. The truth is we're getting no training in the field. I was lucky to get this Berkeley thing that gave me some training.

B
When I was at Stanford I saw all these kids making movies and blogging and having Wikis and doing all kinds of stuff and I realized no one was training them either. They were just doing it. I do believe that it is in their DNA and I do believe that they are the digital natives and I'm the digital immigrant.

C
I came back to the Daily News and I was put on the Web, with no training about the Web and I'd learn one little thing I could do on the web, eventually I learned that if you could get into the back door of the web, our website, you can just see all the things and how they are built and I could learn how to build them myself so eventually I've become more useful...

McCoy sounds like a bright person who genuinely wants to make all this work. She has jumped in and gotten the community blogging page full of blogs on different topics. She has some tech training and brings to that the values and ethics of MSM journalism. Maybe she knows just enough and can keep the techies straight on those parts of traditional journalism that are important to keep.

And the ADN has an impressive web presence. Matt Browner Hamlin,, the national blogger brought to Alaska to be the Begich campaign’s Online Communications Director, told me he thought it was one of the best newspaper websites - particularly because it has good web presence in all areas, not just one or two.

But if the web is the future - or at least a major part of the future - of the newspaper industry, why would you put someone with no web experience on the web? If her DNA comment (I'm assuming she's talking metaphorically here) is accurate, why not get a tech native to work on this job? After years of paying some of the lowest professional salaries of all industries, is it that the newspapers just can't mentally cross the salary bridge to pay what good techies get paid?

Why are staff getting no web training? (Did Kathleen exaggerate here or overlook some training opportunities the paper offers?)

I could be wrong on this. Kathleen's total candor is refreshing. Her ego is barely visible. And she brings to this web endeavor (there are other web people at the newspaper) traditional journalistic values and ethics, that perhaps you can't find in the tech natives. But if I owned an airplane, I'd hire a natural pilot who feels totally comfortable flying, not someone who's going to learn on the job.

Do McCoy's comments from the trenches belie Weaver's optimistic view from headquarters?

I hope he's right that the ADN will adapt and succeed in the new digital age. I hope I'm wrong.


Oh yeah, the second big presentation of the evening was by Scott Slone and Kevin Kastner of HDTV Alaska. They make and post Alaska adventure videos. They're the tech natives making up this new world as they go. They too are struggling with the issue of how to earn a profit online.


NAMES
I'm not happy with how I'm using names here and on other posts. Some people I feel like I'm on a first name basis with, others not. And so sometimes I use a first name in one place and a last name in another. But I know that is confusing to the reader, but I haven't resolved how I want to do this. In here:
Kathleen McCoy - ADN community blogging person and speaker at AAUG meeting
Brendan Joel Kelley - writer and editor at Anchorage Press
Howard Weaver - former ADN editor and now McClatchy VP for News
MSM - main stream media

Is it Unethical for Legislators to Get Discounts?

Steven A (not me) commented on the story about the Baranof offering discount hotel rates for legislators during the special sessions. Would it be ethical for a legislator to accept.

This is one of the topics I actually know something about, so let me try to answer.

While a lot of ethics experts tend to focus on conflict of interest as a terrible thing, my concern is with the consequences of conflicts of interest. If you say that a conflict of interest is bad, then every legislator is bad because they all have situations where their personal obligations come into conflict with their professional obligations. Especially in Alaska. If no problems are likely to arise from the conflict and the appearance of a conflict is not going to raise questions among the public, then it's probably ok. But mind you, this is for relatively minor things - a legislator votes to remove fees for fishing licenses for active military knowing that his brother-in-law will now be eligible for a free fishing license. This is minor because it affects a large class of people of whom the brother-in-law is a mere blip. And second, because the cost of a fishing license is only $24. If he were voting to build a road that would go right by his brother-in-law's cabin and greatly increase the value of that cabin and land, that would be a different story.

The two key problematic consequences of conflicts of interest are:

• Undue Gain
• Improper Influence

Due gain is the compensation legislators get, by law and/or policy, in exchange for the work they do as legislators. This would include things like salary, health benefits, per diem, travel expenses, etc. The assumption is that the compensation is appropriate for the work and thus extra payments should not be accepted from clients to get one's work done.

Thus Undue gain is any benefit they get above that, or benefits that go to immediate relatives. Minor amounts for getting free food at a company party or a promotional calendar are generally not an issue assuming the value is minimal.

Improper influence refers to the introduction of factors or criteria not normally considered in a decision, a variance from the law, standard operating procedures, or even professional standards. So, not following procedural rules in order to favor a friend or relative or employer would fit here. This standard is easier to apply to career civil servants who work within policy guidelines. For legislators it is a little less clear because legislators make the law and can change the law. But clearly, voting a certain way on a bill because a lobbyist has offered you a job or your daughter a job if you vote yes, is improper influence.

Corruption often involves a combination of undue gain in return for improper influence.

So, with those standards in mind, would a legislators be unethical if they accepted a discount room at the Baranof during the special session?

Is there undue gain? As I understand the deal, the Baranof offered the legislature, as a whole, this special rate. The legislators need a place to stay. The cost of the room is paid for by the per-diem the legislators receive. In some ways, this is like a bid to provide services to the state rather than to individual legislators. This may also be motivated by the hotel's interest in having high profile guests that will bring other customers to the hotel. Other hotels are free to make competing offers. The hotel is still making money, though it is possible they may be turning away more profitable guests. While you can look at this different ways, and find ways to show there is gain - you could argue with lower hotel bills, the legislators get to pocket the difference between the hotel bill and their per diem - but you could just as easily say they have to have a place to stay and it's in the state's best interest to get the best deals on hotel rooms that it can. So, because it is open and transparent, because it is a provision of a service the legislature needs at a competitive market price, because it is offered to all legislators not directly to each individual legislator, but through the legislative office, I would not consider this undue gain. I met with the manager of the Baranof Monday and had a quick lunch with him Tuesday (in the interest of full disclosure) so in part I'm making this call based on my assessment of his candor in our conversations.

Is there improper influence? Basically, is this discount really a bribe to get the legislators to vote in favor of a particular piece of legislation or to influence any official decisions that legislators have to make? I think this would be a real stretch to demonstrate. If you find a problem with this, then every vendor that offered a good price in a bid for a contract with the state could be accused of improper influence if there was any legislation that might affect that company. One could argue that the Baranof is doing this to convince legislators that finding hotel space in Juneau is not a problem as a way to influence their vote on any future bills to move the capital out of Juneau. But every Juneau business could be accused of that if they offered a good deal or did things that made things more convenient for legislators. Besides, the company that owns the Baranof Hotel also owns the Westmark hotel in Anchorage. So they potentially benefit if the capital is move to Anchorage.

So, all in all, using these conceptual standards - undue gain and improper influence - I would say there is no ethical problem with the Baranof, or any other hotel, offering discount rates to legislators. If they offered money losing rates, or free rooms, or only offered special services to key legislators who were working on legislations that would affect the hotel, it would be different, but even there, especially in the off season, getting the rooms filled may bring profitable business to the bar and restaurants in the hotel.

Second, there doesn't appear any particular official action that the Hotel is trying influence by this either, except perhaps the long term goal of keeping the capital in Juneau. So I don't see any improper influence. Again, having spoken to the manager gives me information that may affect my judgment. I just don't see him as having that kind of motive.

So overall, I would give this a green light. Furthermore, individual legislators could legitimately say that the offer came to them through the legislative office which implied that this was something acceptable, though if the office forwarded an obviosuly illegal offer, that would not be an excuse.

I've answered this using some general ethical concepts that are the major ethical problems for public administrators and politicians. Another approach, and one that legislators should take too, would be to go through the State ethics laws and test this against their prohibitions. In fact, if I were a legislator, I would go to the legislative ethics office and check with them if I had any questions.

One last word. Going to the ethics office might not be enough. The three Alaska legislators convicted last year of corruption were all convicted on Federal charges, so knowing the specifics of the federal law that a state legislator could violate would also be useful.

Rufus Hummingbird, Sky's Big Mouth, Bike Before Flying

After the meeting was over yesterday, I had lunch with S, then met M&J. Before heading out to their place I stopped to see if I could find Mike. He wasn't home, but his wife and Sky were.

While we were talking, hummingbirds were stopping to fuel up at their feeder. And everytime Sky would tell me there was one, it would be gone before I could get a picture. But one rufus hummingbird actually sat on the perch and took a long drink.

I'm used to hummingbirds, having grown up in LA. I've even held a couple of hummingbirds. One I rescued from a cat who split when I came running over. The bird was lying flat on its back, wings outspread. It was so light. I put it in a box and gave it to a neighbor, since I'd just been pulling out of the driveway with my son in his baby carseat. The bird flew off when the neighbor opened the box a while later. The second time was more recently when I found a hummingbird lying on the grass with an apparent broken wing in my mother's backyard. After calling the bird rescue, we ended up taking it to the nearby city animal shelter.

I've never seen a hummingbird in Anchorage, though I've heard they get as far north as Girdwood, and rumors of sightings in recent years in Anchorage. The web found me this from Stacy at Elmendorf:

If we increase people's awareness of the possibility of Rufous Hummingbirds here in spring and summer (and Anna's or Costa's hummingbirds in fall), will they be noted in higher numbers than previously? Or are there simply so few hummingbirds in this area that we won't notice an appreciable increase in reports no matter how widely we publicize the possibilities? How about Anna's Hummingbirds specifically? There are a few records of this hummingbird for Alaska. Can we generate more just by encouraging people to report ANY hummingbird they see in fall? Hmmm! I think so. Let's try it!

SO -- if you see a hummingbird in the Anchorage bowl (shucks -- how about southcentral Alaska) at any time, please send an email to: stacy[at]trochilids.com. Replace the "[at]" with "@" of course! If you can get photos, send them along, too.

I won't kid you. I'm a federally licensed hummingbird bander (permit #23148), and part of my hummingbird research involves the opportunity to personally come to your yard to catch, measure, photograph, band, and release unharmed your hummingbird.

Sky is growing fast and talking so politely and clearly.
















He also showed me how wide he could open his mouth.















We went back to J&M's house after a few errands, including rescuing some nice lumber from a dumpster. M showed me her recycled hot tub.


Then J and I biked - he to pick up the other car in from the repair shop, and me off to get a quick preflight bike ride in the Mendenhall Glacier valley. I was going to add a little bike video, but I don't have time to finish it now, maybe later. Headed to the Alaska Apple User Group meeting tonight at the Museum. If you're an Apple user and don't know about these folks, you should give it a try. Seven tonight. But normally the second Wednesday of the month - except July.

Have You Called Your Mother Lately?

My son tipped me off on this new law likely to come into effect in one province of China.

People 'obliged' to visit parents
By Guan Xiaofeng
Updated: 2008-06-06 07:44

A draft law in Liaoning province makes it an obligation for adult children to contact or visit their parents regularly.

It is the first legislation of its kind in the country.

The province's standing committee of the people's congress recently released the draft - Regulation on Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged - to seek public opinion.

It is expected to become law by the end of the year.

An article says if children do not live with their parents, they should "often send greetings or go home to visit them".

Government employees, who fail to do so, will face sanctions by their respective agencies. (For the rest of the article go to the People's Daily.)

The maps from Google Earth i

BTW, I've noticed in the last few days that I'm getting hits from China again, I hope that means that blogger sites are no longer blocked in China.

Baranof Offer Follow Up - Offer Renewed for July Session

Yesterday I mentioned that the while legislators are camping out in their offices to save money, the Baranof Hotel had offered bargain rates to stay at the hotel during the session. I would note that Representative Myers who was named in the ADN article saying that hotel rooms were more expensive than the per diem, was NOT on the email from legislative staff to legislators.

I've also blocked out names as I was requested to do.

From: XXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 5:53 PM
To: [23 Senators and Representatives - Kevn Myers was NOT on the list]
Cc: XXXXXXXXX
Subject: Special Session Housing - Baranof Rooms



Dear Members – My office is currently looking for housing for nine members during the upcoming June 3 special session. We also did not hear back from 14 members as to whether they were squared away (Names of the 14.) My office is advertising for furnished apartments or homes or house sitting opportunities during the special session. We will be contacting those nine Legislators with any results.



I received a call today from the Baranof to let members know they will accommodate you during the special session. There is a May 4 deadline if you are interested in staying at the Baranof. Please contact Steve Hamilton at the below number and also let us know if you are taken care of housing wise. Thank you. Pam p.s. please be advised that your daily per diem during this time will be $218 a day (the federal government breakout of the $218 = $129 lodging, $71 meals, $18 incidentals)



From: Hamilton, Steve (HAL)
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 4:55 PM
To: XXXXXXXXX
Subject: Legislature



It was good to talk to you this morning.



I want to put in writing to you, that I will ensure housing here at the Baranof Hotel for special session, in case you hear that there is no room here in Juneau for them.

My nightly rate for them is $119 and will include cooking facilities. [Actually this was lowered to $109 I was told.]

To guarantee space I will need to hear from them by May 4th.



If you have any questions, let me know.



Steve Hamilton
General Manager
Westmark Baranof Hotel
127 N Franklin St
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907 463 XXXX
www.westmarkhotels.com

Another email was sent out today offering the $109 rate for the July special session.

From: Hamilton, Steve (HAL)
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 9:45 AM
To: 'XXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Special Session



June 10, 2008



Dear Legislators,



As I offered to you and your staff for this recent June Special Session, I, once again, would like to extend an invitation for you to stay with us here at the Baranof Hotel for the July Special Session.



If you would contact me personally, I will make sure that you have housing available to you. I am offering a rate of $109 per night, which is below our regular summer $149 nightly rate. And I want to make sure that the rate is well within your $129 night per diem. On a first come, first serve basis, I will upgrade you to an efficiency unit with cooking facilities. Larger suites will be available for a nominal extra fee.



As always, I look forward to having you with us here in Juneau.

If there is ever anything that you need, do not hesitate to contact me.



Steve Hamilton
General Manager
Westmark Baranof Hotel
127 N Franklin St
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907 463 xxxx
www.westmarkhotels.com

There is a part of me that thinks that it is laudable that our legislators are trying to save money by living less luxuriously. But I would note, while they don't have housing expenses,there was no indication that they turned in the part of the per diem that covers those expenses. If thats true, their savings don't save the state of Alaska, rather they money goes into the pockets of legislators.

I don't fault the legislators for this. The reimbursement system that allows a standard per diem rather than collecting receipts probably saves more money and certainly time than gathering and checking all the receipts would cost. And legislators have out of pocket costs that they don't get reimbursed for. And legislative pay is not particularly lucrative and for many legislators, the disruption to their normal work can be a significant financial burden.

Camping Legislators Could Have Stayed at Baranof

A June 6, article by Wesley Loy in the Anchorage Daily News reports that a number of legislators are sleeping in their offices during the special session here in Juneau.

[Kevin]Meyer, who works for Conoco Phillips, gets his showers in the workout room in the Terry Miller Legislative Office Building just across the street from the Capitol.

Lawmakers receive a daily allowance of $218 to cover lodging, meals and other expenses, but a hotel room alone could easily chew up that amount, Meyer and other lawmakers said.

When I told Steve Hamilton, manager of the Baranof Hotel, about this story and asked why he hadn't saved some rooms for legislators, he said he did. He said he emailed all the legislators in April that he would guarantee them a room if they let him know by May 3 at $109/night. Of course, the legislators didn't quite know for sure when, if, and where the session would start until later than that. But they could have made a reservation just in case.

Drop in on Legislature

Were meeting for my group in Auke Bay at the home of one of the steering committee members.




But we had a little time between landing coming out here for me to walk the few blocks from the hotel to the Terry Miller Legislative Building where the legislature is having its special session in the gym.

The room is pretty crowded with legislators, staff, and some media. There were maybe 30 seats that seemed to be designated for the media and public (they were on the side as you walked in and there were empty seats. I sat down and pulled out my camera just to get a feel of this. I struggled to find the person who was speaking. I couldn't. Then someone in the room thanked the speaker for being there telephonically.

The voice in the movie is Spencer Hosie of Hosie, MacArthur LLP in San Francisco. There website says:

The lawyers of Hosie McArthur LLP have built a reputation for trying and winning difficult cases. In the past two decades, our lawyers have won over $2 billion in cases involving antitrust, intellectual property, energy and natural resources law and business tort claims.

In the video he's responding to a question about whether it the producers could legally withhold the natural gas because it was economically unfeasible. It takes a while for him to get to the key point: If it wasn't feasible, why have the brought forward the Denali Plan?



Looking down the hill from where the session is being held.

Anchorage - Juneau

I got to the airport at 7:10am and the 8am lifted from the tarmac at 7:56am.



I was in a middle seat for the 90 minute flight, but the guy at the window cooperated.

The Disappearing Anchorage Daily News

This is about the thinnest ADN I've ever seen. Will the print edition have disappeared by this time next year? I hope not.