PROGRAM ALERT: The May episode of Career Changers TV premieres Sat. night at 8:30 PM on OC16. Tetris empire builder Henk Rogers tells how a heart attack changed his life "missions," and we also take a look at his Blue Startups accelerator program to help launch new businesses from his Downtown Honolulu headquarters. You can find details on daily viewing times and links to segments posted on YouTube by clicking here.

There's some revisionist reportage going on about the lack of fan response to the June Jones decision back in 2000 to excise the Rainbows from the UH football team nickname. True, there weren't any rallies or organized protests back then. But many longtime supporters DID vote with their dollars, and the dwindling attendance figures over the past few years shows what happens when a state institution turns its back on the very people it's supposed to serve.

The numbers are deceptive because for awhile, winning overcomes all kinds of negativity. Read Scoreboard, Baby - A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity, a book about the University of Washington's 2000 football season under coach Rick Neuheisel. Hmm, come to think of it there were similarities between him and June -- both had huge egos, a kind of swagger and a sense of certainty in whatever they did to achieve the ends they desired. However, winning doesn't necessarily build long-term loyalty as evidenced by the exodus of fair-weather fans who jumped ship once the "Warriors" football team began their descent into mediocrity. At even their lowest points though, you could still see old-timers walking around Aloha Stadium in their faded Rainbows and "Go Bows" t-shirts and hats.

What I really want to address is UH Athletic Dictator -- er, Director -- Ben Jay's rationale for dropping Rainbows from all UH men sports, while curiously retaining it for the Wahine... even though he says it has nothing to do with claims that homophobia is the real reason the boys should be called Warriors. Jay says it's for the sake of uniformity, branding and marketing purposes. He said it was to end "confusion" amongst the media and fans.

Really? First, there was NO confusion until June changed the name on his own accord. In fact, the "brand" had been so ingrained in the minds of national sportscasters that they continued to call them the Rainbows or Bows even as recently as last year when doing football games on ESPN. And I don't recall any of them ever snickering or belittling the name... although calling them the "Warriors" when they were being shellacked by actual brand name schools did sound sort of ridiculous. Anyhow, back to my main point: unless I am mistaken, Ben Jay was not hired to be the UH Marketing Director and/or Director of Public Relations -- we already pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to other UH staff for PR and marketing mismanagement.

Moreover, when I hear anyone toss around terms like "branding" I have to laugh. That's a buzz word which was in vogue about a decade ago and is best used when referring to old school marketing for things like pizza and toothpaste. It may work for big corporations like Microsoft or corporate-like institutions such as Ohio State, but the new trend is really anti-branding -- take Apple, for example. It's about expressing what is unique, different and cool about your product or who you are. It is about identity.

The Rainbow has always been about more than a school nickname or logo. Ask anyone on the Mainland what image comes to mind when they think about Hawaii, and right behind the ocean and beaches, you will probably hear rainbows mentioned. Why? On sportscasts and travel shows, in countless photographs snapped by millions of visitors, the ubiquitous symbol never fails to inspire awe and wonder when it seems to magically appear above our valleys -- or over Aloha Stadium and the Stan Sheriff Arena in Manoa. The Rainbow is bigger than June Jones, Ben Jay or the University of Hawaii. It represents the islands of Hawaii, the many hues and colors of the people who call this place home, who work hard and take pride in rooting for the teams that are supposed to represent us -- not some marketing plan made up by Mainland transplants sitting in an office.

Didn't June even used to play Bruddah Iz's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" during warm-ups before the game?

Lastly, if you want to make the argument that eliminating the Rainbows from merchandise and marketing will somehow help increase sales, do the math. Less product diversity and choices equals less sales for nearly every type of product or service you can think of. Less isn't more in this case. What Ben Jay is offering is Brand Bland: one jagged "H" design in your choice of basic black and moldy green -- and that's it, folks. Meanwhile, in places like the University of Oregon (and every professional sports franchise, for that matter) the actual marketing pros are cashing in on apparel that comes in a wide array of colors/designs, as well as retro merchandise that appeals to both old and young fans.

Anyhow, my wife and I never stopped cheering for the Rainbows even when the cheerleaders were instructed to stop using that name by June and the UH athletic department higher ups at football games and men volleyball matches. Sadly though, without the school's backing, the "Let's Go Bows" chant at games has been drowned out by the din of commercials and drunken profanities shouted by the new brand of macho Warrior fans.

With the news being dominated by the latest reports on the Boston bombing and suspects manhunt, you may want to read something to take your mind off the awful events of this past week. In times like this, you might even wish you could live on another planet or in a capsule isolated from earthly disasters and tragedies.

As I mentioned in my last post about Henk Rogers, there's an experimental living project happening on the Big Island that just started on Monday. A crew of six hand-picked volunteers are spending the next four months in a faux space capsule on Mauna Loa to simulate living on Mars. The main focus is to test different foods since eating the same prepackaged rations could get pretty monotonous, especially when you're cooped up in confined quarters for a lengthy period.

Anyhow, here's a link to one of the first dispatches that appeared in The Economist. Why isn't our own local news media covering this story?

You can also find out more about the project by going to the HI-SEAS website and following their blogs and Tweets.

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For daily viewing times of the Career Changers TV show, please visit our website or check out video segments on the CCTV YouTube Channel. Have a good weekend... and take a break from the news if you're feeling depressed.

Above: Henk Rogers, founder of The Tetris Company, Blue Planet Foundation, and the new Blue Startups accelerator project.

I wear a lot of hats between my roles as Career Changers TV producer, writer, and member of the 808HALT coalition to put a stop to human trafficking in Hawaii. But one common theme keeps coming up during my interviews and meetings: the need for immigration reform. Earlier this week we filmed a segment with Henk Rogers, the man who turned Tetris into a multifaceted business/social change empire based in Downtown Honolulu. He didn't invent the addictive puzzle game, but after he got the licensing rights and established a relationship with the Russian creator of Tetris, Henk was able to grow it exponentially as handheld game players and mobile wireless platforms came into being. One article I read describes him as a self-made billionaire.

He's also an alien of sorts: Dutch-Indonesian, born in Holland, moved to New York with his family when he was 11, studied computer science at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s (funny stories about his jobs back then, including driving for Charley's Taxi) and moved to Japan because that's where the action was in the early days of video games. Suffice it to say, he could live and work anywhere he wants. So why Hawaii? In part, it's because of our diversity and location as a crossroads of the Pacific. He's a global kind of guy. Actually, he thinks much bigger than that. One of his major missions in life is to promote space exploration -- and settlement of Mars as a starting point for transforming other worlds into places where humans can live. In effect, we'd become the aliens.

You may not be aware of HI-SEAS, which stands for Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation, but he told me that on April 15 they will be launching a 4-month long project on the Big Island to test foods that could be consumed in space. Awhile back they advertised for qualified volunteers, who were willing to simulate living on Mars during that period. I'm not fully up to speed on the details, but from what Henk explained, they will be living in close quarters (a faux space capsule) and have to wear space suits if they venture out. Mauna Loa was chosen because the terrain is similar to Mars. Beginning Monday, you can follow the project on Twitter.

There's so much more I could tell you about how that project fits into Henk's other missions -- like Tetris blocks, in a way -- and how a heart attack in 2005 was the impetus for him to start the Blue Planet Foundation here in Hawaii. Coincidentally, I recently blogged that many successful entrepreneurs I know of have had near-death experiences that caused them to reassess their "purpose" in life. As it happens, his goal of reducing our dependence on oil and eliminating carbon emissions, also aligns with segments we just produced about Pacific Biodiesel (currently airing on the April episode of Career Changers TV -- click here for viewing times).

One of the tangents we went off on involved immigration policies. Since he's in the high tech field, it's no surprise he -- along with scores of business leaders/job creators -- sees a need to allow more high-skilled foreign workers to come and stay in the U.S. because there is a shortage of Americans with those kind of math and science skills. Seems hard to believe, huh? Yet I've heard that same complaint from other CEOs on "60 Minutes" and read it in a few business mags.

However, Henk was also referring to the need for low-skilled immigrant workers because he's a proponent of sustainable agriculture. And he recognizes the fact that for all the talk about supporting local farms, the reality is we need to import laborers from other countries since there aren't a lot of Americans who are willing to do back-breaking work for the kind of wages that are currently being paid. He mentioned that as a result of his heart attack, he bought a ranch on the Big Island where he could get away and relax. He's also trying to do sustainable farming on the property, so he's witnessed first hand the difficulty of finding local labor for ag work.

In future posts, I'll tell you more about the interview with Henk and the new Blue Startups accelerator program he's backing for a mix of homegrown and imported entrepreneurs, who are now working out of his Harbor Court offices. Very cool stuff going on up there!

It's not your typical business environment. There's art work by Roger Dean, the guy who did the Yes album covers and original Virgin Records Twins logo -- which ties into Henk's story about a gift he recently gave to Richard Branson (just noticed in the lower left corner of the photo at top, you can see Branson posing with him). Of course there's a Tetris motif running throughout the entire place, including stuff like these stackable seat cushions. We'll begin airing the Henk Rogers and Blue Startups segments in May, so stay tuned for details.

WEEKEND FESTIVAL ALERT

Regarding the 808HALT human trafficking project (here's that link), one of the coalition partners is inviting the public to attend the Burmese Water Festival this Sun., April 14 from 9 AM until 2 PM at Wilson Elementary School, 4945 Kilauea Avenue. It's sponsored by the Myanmar Association of Hawaii and Pacific Gateway Center. There will be authentic Burmese food, "Water Throwing," and other treats for you to experience and enjoy.

It's just another reminder of how our wonderful mix of cultures and people makes Hawaii such a special place... even if many of us might be considered "aliens" by others. When you look at it from Henk's universal perspective, we're all just citizens of one Blue Planet. BTW, there's an interesting story behind the Burning Man Festival hat he's wearing in the picture that I'll share some other time!

Help Wanted: Spokesperson for 30-second commercials who can appeal to local audience, age range of 18 to mid-30s primarily. Must have outgoing personality, strong "Q Rating" among Hawaii residents (recognizable and respected). Ability to ad lib and be witty on demand is a plus. Pay open to negotiation. Contact Career Changers TV producer for details.

As yesterday's news about Augie T's involvement with a home security company that left customers in the dark demonstrates, both the advertiser and the paid spokesperson must do their due diligence before entering into a business relationship. In case you didn't see it, KGMB ran this story about Hawaii Alarm on April 9 in which Augie says he was a victim too. A few months ago, he originally planned to do an OC16 comedy/infomercial type show about himself becoming the VP for this new security company, Hawaii Alarm. Interesting idea, right? Blend the sell part of the story with humor to draw the audience in. There was just one problem: Oceanic Time Warner Cable sells a home security system, so Augie's show would be competing with OC16's parent corporation. On to Plan B.

I'm not sure if it ever aired, but I think Augie's "Funny Business" show was going to run on another channel that didn't conflict with OC16's relationship to Oceanic Time Warner. There was a link to the "Funny Business" video on the Hawaii Alarm site, but the video is no longer available. Since I don't know Augie personally, I have no idea what went down with the owner of that company or if Augie ever got paid for his work on behalf of them.

In any event, I have a well-established local advertising client who is looking for suggestions on a spokesperson -- someone like Augie, perhaps. Or maybe a young, upcoming musical artist/entertainer? It has to be someone who is affordable and looking for the extra exposure at this stage in his or her career. And the person needs to have some local street cred that will stop viewers from automatically switching channels when the commercial comes on TV.

If you have any recommendations, please post them in the Comments below (takes awhile for me to moderate and approve new comments) or send me an email to richfigel@gmail.com. Thanks!

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The new April episode of Career Changers TV features interesting stories about Pacific Biodiesel and Waimea Valley's business turnaround. Please visit www.CareerChangers.TV for daily viewing times, or go to the CCTV YouTube Channel to see the low res video versions of past and current segments.

Program Alert: The new April episode of Career Changers TV will premiere around 6 PM Sat. night, April 6, instead of its regular 8:30 PM time slot because of OIA baseball. Time is approximate since my show will be sandwiched between two games. However, you can DVR it at the regularly scheduled week day times, which are listed at www.CareerChangers.TV.

The photo above is what prompted me to do a two part feature on Pacific Biodiesel, our lead story in the April show. During the big APEC event in November 2011, I was visiting the scientific/technology expo at the Convention Center and saw PB's display. In addition to the sunflowers photo, there were samples of oil seed crops and used cooking oil that had been converted to biofuel. I got to talking with Beth Mathias, their director of marketing and sales, who told me how they started in Maui and were now growing test crops on Oahu and building new plants on the mainland, Japan and the Big Island.

My first thought was, wow, I'd love to film those sunflowers in bloom for widescreen high definition television! The biodiesel plant on Sand Island sounded like it could provide good visuals too. One of the challenges of producing a low budget local TV show about business and career stuff is that many of the stories are predominantly composed of talking heads in office settings. So I try to find interesting locations where we can shoot our introductions, and if possible, get a story out of that place. We did our April intros at Waimea Valley, and that turned into three separate pieces, which are included in the new show. (You can see the small screen low res versions on the CCTV YouTube Channel by clicking here -- looks way better on real TV though!)

Pacific Biodiesel was growing camelina when we filmed, in part, because there was a problem with sunflowers: birds love to eat the seeds. And it's the seeds that are crushed for their oil. What's interesting about the project is the connection to the military. They provided funding because biofuel could be used in an emergency if our oil supplies were cut off. PB can plant, harvest and convert biodiesel within a hundred to 120 days. Besides that benefit, the seed cake byproduct is high in protein and can be good feed for livestock, so it has added profit potential for local farmers.

Speaking of the power of images to get the public's interest, here's a shot of a celeb who needs no introduction. PB started out recycling cooking oil waste next to a Maui landfill... and now famous entertainers like Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson and Woody Harrelson have endorsed their community-based model.

They also recently went online with their Big Island Biodiesel plant, which cost about $15 million to build. This is homegrown, sustainable business at its best.

Next post: more about Waimea Valley and how they have turned around the business end by focusing on Native Hawaiian culture. It's a great example of sustainable tourism -- and in the process, they're bringing back more local residents to this island treasure.