LABJ FORUM: Time to Make Vacation Plans

Summer is here and many Angelenos will be taking some time off. It’s a crazy time to travel, what with crowded airports, weather delays and the near-daily reports of terrorist threats. Still, many are determined to take some time off and get out of town, so the Business Journal asks: What are you going to do on your summer vacation?

Janice Ross

Senior Licensing

Manager

LEGO Media

Family time. I’m looking forward to going to the East Coast and spending some time on the Jersey shore. I’m trying to avoid voice mail and e-mail for at least one full week of my summer. In the past, I haven’t been successful with that, but working hard the first six months of the year presses me to dedicate some family time. I think all of us have been concentrating more on family time these days.

Bill Schultz

Partner

Mike Young Productions

Vacation? I have a family that likes to see me every once in a while, so I will be going to Chicago where I grew up. I will visit with my family and watch the Cubs play at Wrigley Field. My wife bid for a four-day stay online, so we’re staying in a really nice suite at a brand new luxury hotel. Massages, champagne, breakfast in bed the whole bit. I’m going to try not to check my e-mail or voice mail, but that never happens. I’ll probably check both everyday.

Stephen Greenfield

Co-owner

Screenplay Systems Inc.

I don’t know whether small business owners really get summer vacations. Every other year my extended family has a reunion up at Lassen Volcanic National Park. So I’ll be hiking, climbing and horseback riding that sort of thing. I’m going for 11 days, which for me is a very long time.

Tom Lynch

Chief Executive

Tom Lynch Co.

I’m going to take my son to Africa, where I’ll be filming a new series for the Discovery Kids Network. We’re leaving in about three weeks and we’ll be there for about six weeks. We’ll be up to our elbows in the bush, among lions, rhinos, giraffes, elephants it should be great.

Ruth Eliel

Executive Director

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

I will be spending a week at the Aspen Music Festival. It really is a vacation, not at all work related. I love listening to music even when it’s not the L.A. Chamber. Aspen also has great hiking and great eating, two of my other favorite things. I’m going with my husband and another friend for eight days. I don’t plan on checking any messages, and my office is very good about that. They know that unless it’s an emergency, when I’m gone I’m gone.

John Ward

Marketing Manager

Piaggio USA

There’s a big Vespa ride up in Portland that I will be going to. I’m going up there to ride with 300 other Vespa enthusiasts from around the world. It’s a three-day event and it should be a lot of fun.