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!

There are so many worthy causes at this time of year that I almost feel guilty about asking you to consider one more. But the people I'm going to tell you about aren't "Ellen" show type families who have had some hard luck and can't afford certain luxuries or vacation trips to see her in person. Compared to the ones who write Ellen for help, these people have very little. They have endured more than most of us can even imagine. Yet they ask for nothing except the chance to work for a living... and to be with their families.

I'm referring to immigrant farm workers who were victims of human trafficking schemes. Having filmed some of them for the 808HALT.com coalition project to increase awareness about this growing international crime problem, I found it difficult not to become personally moved by their plight. However, you should care too because without immigrant laborers, I don't believe we can have sustainable agriculture in Hawaii. When you go to a farmers market or grocery store, think about who actually grew that produce and picked the fruit. There is a human cost to the food we eat.

Through the good folks at the Pacific Gateway Center, I'm helping to put together a Christmas wish list from 60 families of farm trafficking victims, who have been reunited in the past year or two. They had to be certified in order to be given refugee status by the U.S. federal government, which then allowed their spouses and children to come to Hawaii. When I interviewed some of them for a 808HALT video I'm producing, I asked how long they had been apart. They nodded at the translator and answered in Thai. The translator solemnly said: "Eight years."

I looked at their kids, who were now in their early teens... some around nine or ten... and it took me a moment to compose myself. They were smiling now, although I could see the pain in the eyes of the men and their wives. It was the same stoic expression I saw in Samian, a Thai farm worker I interviewed last year for a segment that aired on my Career Changers TV show. After we finished filming, he gave me a stalk of apple bananas and two green coconuts as an expression of gratitude. His simple gift touched me because I knew it was all he had to offer his guests. So last December, I asked his PGC caseworker -- Nora (Andy South's mom) -- if there was something I could get him and his two boys for Christmas. Samian asked for a rechargeable flashlight for himself, a handheld electronic game for his youngest son, and a nice shirt for his teenage son. I may not be Ellen, but I was happy to be able to fulfill his modest wish list.

Anyhow, there are 59 other families just like Samian's that have humble requests we're hoping to fulfill this Christmas. Thanks to PGC, a few of them now have their own 5-acre lots they are farming and are selling their own produce. They live in old rundown plantation houses in Kunia, which unfortunately PGC cannot do improvements on until they get approvals because they are so old they are covered by historic homes rules. None of the families are complaining though -- in fact, PGC has been getting requests from Thai trafficking victims on the Mainland who heard about the PGC Farms concept. The problem is PGC hasn't been able to get other landowners to lease them lots at affordable rates to expand this program.

If you would like to be a part of the Christmas project, please email me at richfigel@gmail.com. We're asking each person to pick one family member to get them a gift, drop it off at PGC, and send us a photo of yourself  so we can forward it to the recipient -- because it's important that they know others care about them. These immigrant workers were brought here under false pretenses and abandoned, separated from loved ones for years, and only now are they beginning to see the promise of America.

And that brings me to my parting thoughts. A community activist, who I respect, claimed there are plenty of local people who would be willing to work on farms if the pay was better and they were given decent benefits. She cited MA'O Organic Farms as an example. Hey, I love what MA'O is doing -- but they offer scholarships to the young people who work on that farm, and not all of them want to be farmers for the rest of their lives. It reminds me of the old satirical op-ed piece in the Onion by a fictional farmer's son pleading NOT to save the farms because he didn't want to be stuck doing that kind of work. The truth is most of the immigrant farm workers hope their children get a good education so they won't have to work in the same fields they toil in.

So while it's nice to talk about sustainable agriculture and buying local, the question really is how much are you willing to pay for it?

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Programming Alert: OC16 has added more primetime slots for Career Changers TV! You can catch our Christmas episode daily at different times. Please visit our website for the viewing schedule, or check out segments from past and current shows on the CCTV YouTube Channel.

Been really busy with shooting new segments for the December episode of Career Changers TV, which will premier next Saturday -- good stuff! I was also involved with human trafficking presentations the past two weeks. Our 808HALT.com project and coalition has expanded to include people from the East West Center, government agencies and non-profit groups who recognize that this issue affects us all directly or indirectly... the food you eat may be coming from farms that employ immigrant workers who can't read health warnings on pesticides they are told to use (which you then consume unknowingly)... young girls are being recruited by pimps in shopping malls with come-ons about "modeling" careers... we're hearing more reports about "domestic servants" being brought in from Micronesia, who are treated like modern day slaves... restaurants and construction companies may be exploiting immigrants, right under our noses. You can click here to see videos we've produced that have been translated into other languages as well.

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Did you see the nice three-page feature on Robin Lung's "Finding Kukan" documentary work in progress, which ran in the Sunday Star-Advertiser? Here's that link if you missed it. Followers of my Career Changers show and this blog may recall we did a two-parter on her story last December. She's come a long way since then, tracking down more leads and raising money to continue the project. In Part One (click here) Robin tells how she became interested in the fascinating life of Li Ling-Ai. Part Two shows Robin's first trailer/preview. The film has evolved since then as her search for details on Li Ling-Ai turned inward, and has become much more personal to Robin. Anyway, I'm happy to say my show was first to put Robin and "Kukan" on local television!

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As some of you know, my wife and I are old 'Bows fans. We had UH football season tickets for about 20 years, going back to 1988. At one point, we also had season tickets for men's basketball during the glory years of A.C. and Alika, NCAA tournament and NIT appearances; men's volleyball when Yuval and Sivan had fans dancing in the aisles; and women's volleyball, when the WAC tournament was played in Vegas (and we went)... so many great memories and experiences. Especially surrounding the football team. We'll always remember the big wins under Coach Wagner and Paul Johnson, and watching the 'Bows beat Illinois from the Big 10 at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. We were at Aloha Stadium for great wins when June Jones was here too.

So it was sad for us when we went to the game against Boise State last Saturday and there were probably less than 20,000 fans in the stadium. A sizable chunk of that was wearing orange and blue to go with their bright red sunburns. I also noticed there were still a lot of old timers in the stands. Some -- like me -- still break out their faded Rainbows shirts and hats, because we take pride in what UH football and sports has stood for over the years. It seems like a lot of the younger "Warrior" fans are of the fair weather variety, who bail out when times get tough... You know, I thought June was a very good coach. But I never understood why he chose to alienate the true diehard fans, who wanted to keep the Rainbows logo and name alive. Look at every pro team and most major colleges, and you'll see they cultivate tradition -- and sell it! Retro team apparel is a revenue generator.

Yet when we walked around the stadium and stopped to look at UH "Warrior" merchandise, the only choices were: drab green and basic black. Sheesh, even the green they use in their uniforms these days is duller and boring compared to the bright shade of green the uniforms used to have. And don't get me started on those ridiculous butt stripes on the back of the current uniform pant legs. Who thought that was a good look for football players?

However, the latest UH Athletics email had a little bit of positive news for us older fans. They are now offering some retro 'Bows shirts again! They're calling them "Vintage" designs (click here).  I call them cool. Like the Miami Hurricanes, the UH Rainbows was a truly unique nickname... and I'll never forget hearing 40,000 people in Aloha Stadium, chanting "RRRAINNN..." on one side, followed by "BOWWWS" from the other half of the crowd. Those days are gone though, and I am over the Rainbows. Once you kill a tradition, it's pretty hard to bring it back.

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Have a great Thanksgiving weekend. For daily viewing times of my show, visit www.CareerChangers.TV -- you can also watch segments from past and current episodes on the CCTV YouTube Channel.

I'm back, baby! And I've been on a hot streak of sorts, which partly explains my absence from the blogosphere. Just as some sports teams or athletes seem to get all the breaks when they're winning, I think the same thing can happen with individuals at times. But I believe it's largely a case of people making their own luck, and using their intuition to recognize opportunities when they arise. It's about having confidence in the abilities you've developed, and trusting your instincts.

My current string of fortunate events began a couple of weeks before my wife and I left for Las Vegas earlier this month. I was at the annual OC16 Producers Luncheon held at the Hawaii Okinawa Center (click here for video we did on the center) where the execs informed us of some exciting new things they'll be offering, and handed out awards for the most popular shows. Da Braddahs received a lifetime comedy award, Hawaii Goes Fishing got top honors for biggest ratings again, and my former Career Changers TV co-producer -- Ron Darby -- got the Producer's Choice award from his peers for The Pet Hui show. Unexpectedly, I was given the Mahalo Award for going above and beyond in meeting OC16's production deadlines, providing promo material when requested and responding to other requests promptly. Stuff that's just normal business for me, but greatly appreciated by the staff and executives at OC16.

That bit of recognition made me -- and my team -- feel really good. I also received a hundred dollars worth of gift cards for Callaway golf merchandise, an added bonus. But wait, there's more! They played a 30-sec promo for that month's CCTV episode, which featured a segment we did on human trafficking about a mother and her teenage daughter. Later that night, I got a call from a local music celeb who produces an OC16 show. He told me he was really moved by the piece ("A Mother's Story" link here) because he grew up on the streets of Waikiki and Chinatown, and personally knew kids and adults who were exploited by pimps. He felt what we're doing with the 808HALT.com project was important work, and said he was proud we were airing this on a channel that was originally known mostly for high school sports and surfer shows. His call meant so much to me. But it came about because I put in the work -- making time to do the promos for OC16 and sending them in on deadline, which resulted in the extra attention my show got at the luncheon.

When we got to Vegas, we lucked out on our accommodations. Years ago, we bought a timeshare week at the Kona Coast Resort, and have been using it ever since for exchanges in other places around the world. Many times we've gotten our top choice because we plan ahead and put in reservations well in advance. Still, you never know for sure what you'll get until you arrive and see the unit in person. I was a little worried that the Jockey Club might be rundown because it's an older property situated between the high end Bellagio and the trendy Cosmopolitan, which targets a younger crowd. It turned out that being tucked towards the back in a building with no casino was a good thing. We had a quiet, spacious one-bedroom condo with full kitchen, and a view of the famous Bellagio dancing fountains from our bedroom window. It put us in a good frame of mind as we ventured out to the casinos and shows we saw. And when you start out feeling positive, it often carries over into whatever you're doing. "Luck" is mostly a state of mind.

In my next post, I'll tell you about how we fared at gambling -- and why I think what I saw in Vegas is further indication that the economic recovery is not only real... it's bigger than the pundits on cable news are telling you based on statistics, instead of what's really happening on the streets of America.

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The current Career Changers TV episode is being preempted for high school sports this weekend, but you still have another week to catch it at different times during the day. Our viewing times are listed at www.CareerChangers.TV or you can watch segments from the program on the CCTV YouTube Channel.

Lately, it seems like local public relations people need, well... better PR to undo the damage caused by bad PR efforts. Of course, I'm referring to the UH "Wonder Blunder" and subsequent mishandling of the sports AD situation, and the ongoing rail PR fiasco. Since I have had personal dealings with people involved with both, it's been difficult for me to refrain from going off on rants about either of those issues or how the consequences will have a negative impact on jobs and our economy. Perception is everything in today's short attention span society, and right or wrong, knee-jerk reactions are dictating the direction Hawaii is going in -- backwards, unfortunately.

Yesterday, I had to deliver my new Career Changers TV episode for September to the OC16 offices in Mililani. As I left my home in Kailua, I saw a huge anti-rail banner alongside a bunch of other political campaign signs. It said, "RAIL WON'T STOP HERE!" So the rationale is if we don't directly benefit from something, why should we support it with our tax dollars? I guess the people who hung the banner didn't get the unintended irony of where they put their message: it was right next to Kalaheo High School. You know, my wife and I don't have kids, but we've never grumbled about our taxes paying for public education of YOUR children -- who are growing up in an increasingly selfish, me-first society.

Anyhow, the banner ticked me off, and as I was driving on H-3 to my destination, I thought about all the people who tried to stop that from being built -- largely on the same grounds rail is being opposed: too expensive, it won't benefit "me" directly, it will destroy the pristine views and disturb Native Hawaiian burial grounds, which are sacred (unless it's land that is being developed for retail shopping centers or hotel resort properties). Many of the same people who fought H-3 are probably now using it on a regular basis. The only thing opponents accomplished was they drove the costs up, making attorneys richer in the process. Now the same thing is happening with rail.

For the past 27 years I've lived here, I've been saying it's crazy there is no rail system in Honolulu. Even people who say they oppose it today, tell me they agree it should have been built 20-30 years ago when it would have been far cheaper to acquire the land and build the basic infrastructure. Yet they don't see by their own logic that if we don't do it now, they'll be saying the SAME THING 20-30 years later because our population isn't going to magically stop growing.

But I digress. What I really wanted to write about is how bad PR doomed the project from the start because the people in charge don't seem to understand the "public" and "relations" part of public relations. I've worked with consummate PR professionals who know there's a difference between making the community part of the process, and simply sending out carefully-worded press releases that were vetted by higher ups. I think one of the reasons rail -- and the UH -- has so badly botched their attempts at PR is because they think it's as easy as hiring a former TV news person or newspaper reporter to handle the media. No, it's not. Good PR firms go out into the community first and listen to their customers' needs and wants. It takes real planning and strategy to find common ground BEFORE things go wrong. Bad PR is based on crisis management and blame-shifting after the fact. Good PR requires creative, long-term thinking. Bad PR is reactionary and slapping band-aids on problems. Good PR presents choices. Bad PR says "take it or leave it."

Thanks to the H-3, it "only" took me about an hour to get to Mililani. That's during non-peak times. If I drove 75 mph like nearly everyone else, I could have made it to OC16 faster, but I have been chastised in this blog for complaining about being ticketed for speeding so I've slowed down a bit. Commuters from West Oahu don't have the luxury of choosing their drive times like I do though. My wife has worked with people who live on that side, and it's "normal" to hear how it takes them 2-3 hours to get to work or return home whenever there's an accident. You can't tell me this kind of continual daily stress doesn't take a physical and mental toll on those people or their families. It is literally taking years off their lives. Moreover, car culture itself is killing us -- obesity, lack of exercise, reliance on cars transporting us everywhere, is destroying our quality of life.

Coming back on H-1 and H-2 is always a white-knuckle driving experience for me... especially when I reach the major merge sections where there are 12 lanes (more possibly -- who can count them all?) of cars and trucks barreling along these massive stretches of asphalt and concrete... and as I furtively glance from side to side at this expanse of wall-to-wall vehicles, spewing tons of exhaust into the air we all breathe, I can't help but laugh at the people who say an elevated rail system will be a visual blight on our island paradise. Really?

In case they haven't noticed, that version of Hawaii no longer exists. I saw a funny illustration of how the elevated rail system would "obstruct" views of the ocean in Downtown Honolulu. Ha! You wouldn't even see it if you stood on any side street in that area because buildings already block that view. Same for Waikiki and most of the island. And this brings me to my next point related to Good PR versus Bad PR: Perception is based on the vision that is presented -- and sold. Yes, it's about selling. Advertising. Marketing. More importantly, it's story telling. There's an art to it, and the folks who work in government and at the UH have not been very good at it. Which is sad because they both have some great stories to tell that could benefit the people of Hawaii, if only we got to hear more about the positive upside they have to offer. Instead, all we get are negative headlines and apologies. Sigh.

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The new Career Changers TV episode features positive, uplifting stories about the Startup Hawaii conference, a Burmese pop-up dinner that ties into a program to help human trafficking victims in Hawaii, and career opportunities in the Criminal Justice field (talk about putting a positive spin on bad news!). For daily viewing times, visit www.CareerChangers.TV. You can also watch segments from past and current shows on the CCTV YouTube Channel.