Let Your Fingers Keep Walking Into World of Digital Directories

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Organizers expect 450 advertising executives to converge on Century City this week for a conference to discuss the future of yellow pages.


In recent years the handy advertising volume on the doorstep has migrated onto the Internet, causing headaches for publishers and businesses that depend on yellow-page referrals to get new customers.


The event, named Directory Driven Commerce 2006, takes place today through Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. To discuss the print-Internet shift, the conference will feature speakers Dennis Payne, president of AT & T; Directory Operations; Stuart McKelvey, president of ad agency TMP Directional Marketing; Ike Harris, president of the publishing group at BellSouth; and Sieg Fischer, president of Fresno-based Valley Yellow Pages and current chairman of the Association of Directory Publishers.


“Despite modest print growth, overall yellow pages remains very attractive,” said Charles Laughlin, program director for industry newsletter Kelsey Report, which organized the conference. “We’ve asked our keynote speakers to make some predictions on where they see both print and electronic heading.”


The meeting will feature new information from the Local Commerce Monitor, a tracking study that asks businesses how they invest in technology, how they allocate their media budgets and what their expectations are for future activities to attract customers.


To get a preview of the conference, Web visitors can hear podcast interviews with the speakers and access attendance information at http://www.kelseygroup.com/ddc2006. Sponsors include Verizon Information Services, yellowpages.com and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.



Knowing Narcissists


Pop culture usually depicts celebrities as selfish, temperamental brats. A new study from two USC professors confirms the existence of such a “celebrity personality,” together with important implications for managers in any local industry.


Specifically, the study by Drew Pinsky and S. Mark Young found that celebrities had high scores for narcissism on a standardized test. The famous even scored higher than aspiring business leaders, using MBA students as test group. According to the study, MBA students’ drive for corporate leadership has linked them to narcissism in previous research.


“Narcissists generally crave attention, are overconfident of their abilities, lack empathy, and can evince erratic behavior,” said Pinsky, also known as radio host Dr. Drew. “However, they are also well-liked, especially on first meeting, are extroverted and perform well in public.”


Because of the TV and film industry, the Los Angeles labor pool functions as a holding tank for would-be celebrities. So it stands to reason that executives in many local companies have to deal with narcissists in above-average doses. When supervising these people in the workplace, executive coach Benjamin Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York recommends that managers emphasize group rather than individual accomplishments, align employee rewards with organizational goals and surround the narcissist with capable co-workers who can bring rationality to decision-making.


Among celebrities, women showed stronger narcissist tendencies than men, scoring higher on the scale for exhibitionism, superiority and vanity. However, among M.B.A. students and the general population, males beat the ladies thanks to feelings of entitlement and self-sufficiency.


Narcissists tend to generate too much drama among staff, but managers shouldn’t write them off completely. In his 2003 book “The Productive Narcissist,” Michael Macoby argued that some of today’s greatest business brains Bill Gates, Martha Stewart, Jack Welch, Oprah Winfrey are narcissists. Mixing their egotism with strategic skills makes them the personalities “best suited to lead during times of rapid social and economic change,” according to the book.



Revving Up Reality


Following the draft of feature film “Talladega Nights,” Los Angeles-based Cinamour Entertainment has signed a deal to co-produce 13 one-hour episodes of “Reality Racing The Rookie Challenge.” The show will put amateur drivers behind the wheel for a chance to compete at an official NASCAR speed contest.


“Given the popularity of NASCAR racing, and the fact that 75 million Americans consider themselves to be racing fans, it was a natural fit to develop programming to cater to this huge audience,” said Lee Schaefer, president of Reality Racing, a Florida company that will co-produce the series with Cinamour.


“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” a comedy about stock cars released by Sony Pictures Entertainment in August, has grossed $142 million at the box office, confirming again the viability of NASCAR material for media companies. For sponsors that’s old news: NASCAR has more than 30 primary sponsors, including the Big Three U.S. car makers, not to mention hundreds of brands that support particular racing teams.


Cinamour will handle worldwide distribution of the show. For six seasons, the company has produced and syndicated the reality series “Cheaters.”



Hispanic Heritage


Most events connected with Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) transpire in Washington, D.C., the hub of heritage officialdom. However, a few events will be in Los Angeles, by far the largest market for Hispanic media and consumers in the nation.


Latina magazine plans to stage a five-city tour to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The weekend event reaches Los Angeles on Sept. 30 in Exposition Park. Nationwide, the tour expects to attract 50,000 people with fashion shows, beauty makeovers, soccer clinics and a dance-off competition. The tour will feature live entertainment provided by MTV tr3s, a new multi-platform entertainment destination for Latino youth.


Magazine founder Christy Haubegger and Los Angeles television journalist Giselle Fernandez will speak on how to succeed in a bicultural world. Sponsors for the tour include Gibson Guitar, Daimler Chrysler and Kodak.


For a completely local focus, attend the “Local Heroes of the Year” event sponsored by KCET-TV (Channel 28) and Union Bank of California. KCET President Al Jerome and Union Bank Marketing President George Ramirez will present the awards.


The winners are Sonia Marie De Leon de Vega, conductress for Santa Cecilia Orchestra; Dora Jacildo, executive director of non-profit Children Today; Pedro Mu & #324;iz, public relations specialist with the L.A. Police Department; Jos & #233; Daniel Ocampo, owner of Tires R Us; and Eddie Sotelo, aka “Piol & #237;n por la Ma & #324;ana,” a DJ with KSCA-FM (101.9).


The ceremony will take place on Thursday at the KCET studios, 4401 Sunset Blvd.



Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at

[email protected]

or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.

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