From Dallas to Honolulu

Kevin Bumgarner, who became editor of Pacific Business News earlier this year after being editor of the Dallas Business Journal, writes what’s different between running a weekly business newspaper in Dallas vs. Honolulu.

Bumgarner writes, “Gone is my collection of suits — carefully selected to allow me one for every occasion — replaced by an assortment of aloha shirts and khaki pants that I can basically mix and match for any need.

“Gone is what I take to and from work, starting with the company-issued laptop I had in Dallas so I could keep working well into the evening from the comfort of my home. Also gone are the daily stacks of hard-copy documents that consistently needed my after-hours attention, and the briefcase that held them.

“These things have been replaced by walks along the beach, talks with my new neighbors and time to think about things other than work.

“Gone also is my too-busy-to-talk survival instinct when I get to the office. In Dallas, this was purely a defense mechanism. The more I talked to people, the less ‘work’ was getting done, even though I knew that the most important part of my work — there and here — was and is the care and feeding of the people who report to me.

“Here, it is easier to find the time to connect with my team because I’m actually with them most of the day — instead of shifting from one meeting to another.”

Read more here. Both papers are owned by American City Business Journals.