Continuity and community spirit can’t be complete quantified. However, given the choice between the two above, I’d opt for continuing a 98-year tradition of participation in a local event (almost no travel costs required) that gets global attention and gives viewers an image of Glendale as a vital, connected Southern California community.

Just a few weeks after the hype over Superbowl ads, Vaynerchuk spoke at a KPCC Drucker School Forum about his new book, The Thank You Economy, and his conviction that smart people aren’t grasping the enormous cultural shift social media platforms will have on businesses and customers.

Leadership is creating a shared identity and “directional intensity” of alignment and commitment, said Deloitte Global CEO James Quigley, who spoke to the Drucker Forum at KPCC a week later about his book As One: Individual Action, Collective Power. The book identifies eight forms of leader/follower dynamics, and discusses how cultural shifts favor blends of leadership styles within organizations.

Quigley’s access to CEOs around the world, and his own responsibility for 170,000+ Deloitte employees, lend gravity to his conviction that people and groups need to be better engaged. He called “heartbreaking” the crisis of people caring less as the need for “hearts and minds” in this era grows. “Be an opportunity seeker, not an entitlement thinker,” was his career advice to one member of the audience.

These brief reviews can’t do justice to Vaynerchuk’s animated presentation or Quigley’s thoughts on leadership; watch the videos of these latest presentations when they are released. Full interviews with top names in business are available free online via The Drucker Business Forum’s video archive; forward the link to business professionals and students around the world for free, real-world classes on business trends taught by current leaders. The excellent Drucker Business Forum series continues as Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz speaks tomorrow at the Colburn School.

On the first theme: In Huffington’s new book, Third World America, she issues a wake-up call and blames Wall Street for “shorting the middle class.” She also echoes some of the accusations and recommendations in The Road From Ruin (author Matthew Bishop also spoke at the Drucker Forum earlier this year – Sunroom Desk published a four-part review of his book).

On the second theme: Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and another dozen best-sellers on business success, attracted a full crowd to the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall on November 9 to discuss his views on “the industrial revolution of our time.” Godin stressed that everyone must become a marketer, and that the internet revolution is not about leveraging capital but leveraging ideas and connections. He observed that gatekeeping as a business success strategy is a losing proposition, while making connections with clients and customers is an imperative.

Larry Kramer, founder of MarketWatch, discussed his new book C-Scape on November 17 at KPCC. Kramer created a successful financial news site, took it public, managed it successfully through the dotcom crash, and eventually sold it to Dow Jones. His observations tracked Godin’s: Every company now has to be a media company, content is the key to success, successful media sites need to do a great job curating the news for readers, and the convergence of these trends are forcing changes in business models that favor the consumer.

Follow this link to the survey. If you are interested in offering separate comments or being contacted, go to this page on BrandGlendale.com and fill in the form.

Questions? Annette Vartanian, in Glendale Community Redevelopment and Housing, is listed as the primary contact on the website.

For the latter, the city published a request for proposal from firms with experience in helping cities craft an image or “brand.” Bids on the consulting contract are due this Friday, July 31st. Link to city’s RFP page is below:

RFQ# 071309 – Request for Qualifications for Marketing Consultant Services [Closes: 7/31/2009 5:00:00 PM]

The Glendale Redevelopment Agency (“Agency”) is requesting qualifications for a Marketing Firm to assist the Agency with drafting and implementing a comprehensive citywide marketing campaign. The Agency is seeking qualifications from qualified firms for professional consulting services with experience in the research, design and development of marketing plans with an emphasis on economic development.

If successful, this program would have a much greater impact than the Kenneth Village or other neighborhood farmer’s markets, or even the “Buy Glendale” campaign, which have the limited goal of attracting residents to a local retail area.

Promoting Glendale’s hotels should raise Glendale’s visibility as a business destination. Coordinated marketing efforts to attract businesses to locate here could build on tourism, retail strength, and Glendale’s location (which the Kosmont-Rose Institute cited as preferred in Southern California).

If Glendale can attract more successful businesses, especially currently sought-after and (presumably) recession-proof “high-tech/green” businesses with educated and skilled employees, some of that well-paid daytime workforce might decide to live close to where they work, and spend close to where they live.

A new product, smarter than your phone, smaller than your PC: will today’s stressed and tapped-out consumers have to have it?

I hope not. Why does everyone need to be able to access the internet from anywhere, or see videos wherever they go? The last thing the streets of Glendale, California need is consumers citizens staring at their own little video screen. Too many people here now are ignoring state law and continue to hold a cell phone while driving. Why not teach some restraint? Have people wait until they get to their office or home and are safely seated to access the internet or watch a video or download a file.

Has anyone stopped to ask how all these bandwidth-hungry devices are going to function smoothly and quickly? My guess is that they will require many more cell towers than we have now. This is a technology, again, that is intermediate and could be outdated in just a few years.

Data transmission over fiber optic cable happens at the speed of light. I don’t have a technical background, so anyone who does is welcome to comment or correct me, but I believe capacity isn’t much of a problem with fiber optic technology. A long-term investment in fiber optic cable direct to homes and businesses would be more efficient in the long run than a plethora of small electronic portable devices. It would probably be safer as well.