A day in the life of the Quieter Home Program

It is so refreshing to have a job where every single day is a new adventure. In the Quieter Home Program at San Diego International Airport, we are guaranteed to be surprised, entertained and educated on a daily basis. We have the pleasure of working with people in the communities surrounding San Diego International Airport. Click this link to find out all about the program and to see if you live close enough to the airport to take part in it.

You would be amazed at the people we meet. The other day, a lady stopped in our office to sign her Avigation Easement and was telling us stories of when she was a “Rosie the Riveter” working on aircraft here in San Diego during World War II.

We hear stories from people who are retired from the Navy, with the most amazing memorabilia from their travels. We hear about so many aspects of people’s lives.

We also experience some challenging times, too, especially when homeowners’ expectations aren’t in line with the reality of what the Quieter Home Program offers. We hear some interesting language that sometimes makes us blush!

Each day is something new. Some days are challenging, but when we meet happy homeowners, we’re grateful to have such rewarding jobs.

Over the next several months, I’ll be sharing some of these rewarding experiences with you, such as:

• Video interviews with homeowners
• Construction tour of a home (like the one pictured) undergoing sound attenuation
• The 1000th Home Party!
• Sound Insulation 101
• What is a Historic Home?
• and more

So stay tuned!

Two new Ambassabloggers join the team

The Goodwill Ambassablog is proud to introduce two new Ambassabloggers to the team: Ed in the Airport Planning Department and Sjohnna in the Quieter Home Program (pictured here). They join the three existing Ambassabloggers and the Ambassablogmaster to give us six members of the Airport Authority's employee blogging team.

You'll be hearing from Ed an Sjohnna in future postings, as they bring new places, stories and faces to the Ambassablog.

Video report: Zoom Airlines arrives in San Diego from London

Here's a special video report from Ambassablogger Mary of the maiden flight of Zoom Airlines to San Diego from London last Friday. Thanks to another Mary (in Customer Service) for shooting the video of this Mary!


[Home Treat Alert! The multimedia feature above may not be accessible at work. But you can log on at home and check it out there!]

Zoom Airlines reacquaints San Diego with London

It's been a long five years since San Diegans could fly nonstop between America's Finest City and London. But that came to an end today in resounding fashion, as San Diego International Airport welcomed this Zoom Airlines Boeing 767-300ER (above) with a special salute. The flight marked the resumption of twice-weekly service between San Diego and London (You might remember that British Airways used to fly this route nonstop.)

The Zoom service, along with each new international flight at SDIA, brings obvious convenience to business and leisure travelers, as well as big benefits to the region's tourism and other industries. Our thanks to Aaron in Facilities Development for snapping the awesome shots of the Zoom airplane.

[Home Treat Alert! The multimedia feature above may not be accessible at work. But you can log on at home and check it out there!]

The thrill of elevation

I just got back from my first trip since becoming an Ambassablogger! I was so excited to travel through the Airport again and see it from the passenger perspective. My destination? Denver, the Mile High City!

It’s so fascinating to sit in the waiting area by the gate and watch everything going on. Inside the terminal here at San Diego International Airport, there were kids running around, exploring the area. There were families sharing a quick bite to eat before their journey. There was an enormous amount of cell phone chatter. There were folks trying to figure out the new Southwest Airlines boarding procedures. And my favorite sight was a father pointing out the airplanes on the airfield to his son of about five years, who was utterly fascinated.

There are numerous activities that occur on our airfield at any given time. Here’s a snapshot I took of my departing plane at Gate 8, with a taxiing airplane going by, an airplane taking off in the background and all kinds of ground crews prepping our plane for its flight.

We had a nice flight to Denver with only a little turbulence. That turbulence still makes my stomach turn sometimes! It’s always a nice feeling to land safely. I couldn’t believe how much open space and land surrounds Denver International Airport (pictured here). It’s quite a contrast to our airport, which is bounded on all sides by San Diego Bay, Interstate 5, the hills of Point Loma and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Not to mention all the homes and businesses that surround us!

While I was in Denver, I went to the top of Pike’s Peak, the most-visited mountain in our nation. Pike’s Peak is 14,110 feet above sea level. My friend Stacy was impressed that we were higher than the clouds. It got me thinking about just how high we were compared to how high airplanes fly. According to the American Airlines Web site, the typical cruising altitude for one of their commercial Boeing 777 flights is 37,000 feet. In contrast, by checking out the website for local City of San Diego airport Montgomery Field, I found that Federal Air Regulations state airplanes must maintain a cruising altitude of at least 1,000 feet over residential areas.

I guess we were somewhere in between, but it sure makes you think about all of the air space out there that we take for granted. It also gets one of my favorite songs stuck in my head – Elevation by U2: “… you make me feel like I can fly … so high .. elevation!”

661 acres

Many Airport Authority employees can tell you that San Diego International Airport is just 661 acres in size. From various vantage points, you can see almost all of our airport. Through the Destination Lindbergh project, the Airport Authority has teamed up with the City of San Diego, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and other partner agencies to explore the long-term build out of the airport. They are asking the question: How can we optimize what we have?

What is difficult for me to understand is what 661 acres actually means. So I embarked on a mission ... 661 acres =

• 1/2 of Balboa Park
• 661 football fields (they are each one acre)
• 37 Petco Parks
• 28,793,160 square feet
• 24 Ellis Islands
• 1/5 of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• 1/27 of Denver International Airport
• 1/4 the base of Mount Everest
• 2/3 of Central Park in New York City
• and my favorite: 49,988 times larger than my condo!

If you see me out in front of the Commuter Terminal with a tape measure, you can be sure that I am just double-checking my measurements!

New additions to the Ambassablog family

The Airport Authority recently held a So you think you can BLOG competition to find two employees to join Ryan, Mary and Dennise in the ranks of Goodwill Ambassabloggers. The auditions are over, and you will meet the two winners next week (as soon as we get their portraits to put up on the blog). We think you'll enjoy the unique perspectives they will be bringing to the blog.

New media in the old media

The Goodwill Ambassablog (new media) has been the subject of several newspaper articles (old media) over the last few weeks:

• The San Diego Business Journal covered it in a May 16 story headlined Blog Represents New Departure for Lindbergh Field Staff.

• Also on May 16, an article about the Ambassablog appeared in the Land, Sea, Air & Transit News section of the Daily Business Report of San Diego Metoropolitan magazine.
  

• San Diego's Daily Transcript published Airport authority launches employee blog on May 15 (you'll need an online subscription to the paper in order to read the full article).

• And the May issue of the Web Content Report, put out by Ragan Communications, featured the Ambassablog in an article titled Blogs: Even a government communicator can do it.

The stories appeared in both print and online versions. Since these publications have directed a fair amount of traffic our way, we thought it'd be nice to provide the links and return the favor by directing some of our visitors their way.

Introducing Ambassa-Shots

Close watchers of the Goodwill Ambassablog have noticed a new feature located at the very bottom of the blog: Ambassa-Shots. This section will feature spectacular photographs of life at San Diego International Airport sent in by airport employees and other Ambassablog readers.

We were inspired to start this new component of the Ambassablog by Joan-Marie, a member of the public whose home happens to command a bird's-eye view of Lindbergh Field. A self-described fan of the airport and of the Goodwill Ambassablog, she sent us an e-mail a few days back with some shots she took of the airport from her home, like the one above. She asked if we might feature them in the blog. They were such beautiful shots, we couldn't resist!

The Ambassa-Shots section will be updated intermittently with other shots sent in by our readers. Joan-Marie, thanks for motivating us to start a great new tradition at the Goodwill Ambassablog.

Making waves in employee communications

The Airport Authority's Goodwill Ambassador Program and Goodwill Ambassablog are making waves in the world of public agency employee communications. This week, Ambassablogmaster Steve presented a case study of the Ambassablog at the 6th National Forum on Strategic Internal Communications for federal, state and local government communicators. Part of the Advanced Learning Institute's Executive Training Series, the forum was held at the Loews Coronado Resort June 2-5.

The title of his presentation was Don’t Be Afraid of Employee Bloggers: How to Guide the Power of Employee Blogging to Engage Employees and Enhance Transparency - On A Shoestring Budget.

Attendees included communicators from the U.S. Air Force; Environmental Protection Agency; Washington State Attorney General's Office; Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon; Child Care Resource Center in Los Angeles; the City of Henderson, Nevada; and others. They were impressed with the success of the Goodwill Ambassador Program and the variety of posts from the Ambassabloggers and other features of the blog.

After hearing the Ambassablog case study, one forum attendee said she would be going back to her agency to start up an employee learning program modeled after our Goodwill Ambassador Program ... complete with a supporting employee blog.

And representatives from the Bonneville Power Administration (which is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Energy) went a step further. They were so motivated by the story of the Ambassablog that they began devising plans to launch an employee blog of their own ... and they already have a name for it: the Bonne-Blog! We look forward to the day when the Bonne-Blog enters the blogosphere.

Employee blogging is still a new endeavor in the world of employee communications for many organizations. But examples like the Goodwill Ambassablog are leading the way in showing others just how easy, low-cost and effective it can be.

On the Border (part 2)

I am writing this on Friday, May 23 from Gate 5 (Puerta 5) at Tijuana International Airport (TIJ), getting ready to board Aero México flight 190 (vuelo 190) to Mexico City (Ciudad de Mexico). Check out the photo of me in front of the AeroMexico 737-800 and some other shots I took at TIJ .

I thought this would be an ideal time to talk about the results of the Airport Authority's Cross-Border Terminal Market Demand Study. This was a study launched by the Airport Authority to analyze the amount of usage a cross-border terminal concept at the San Diego/Tijuana border might receive.

Here is a summary of findings and projections based on the results of that study:

• The number of passengers using Tijuana Internatioinal Airport (TIJ) from the United States will continue to grow significantly over the next 20 years, regardless of whether a cross-border terminal is developed.
  

• If an easy cross-border connection is not built, it is estimated that 2.1 million annual passengers (MAP) to and from the United States will use TIJ in 2020 and 3.7 MAP in 2030.

• Therefore, with an easy cross-border terminal, a TOTAL of 3.2 MAP to and from the United States would use TIJ in 2020; and in 2030 that number could rise to 6.4 MAP.

I have recently given presentations on the Cross Border Terminal Market Demand Study to the following groups:

• San Diego Chamber of Commerce
• Southern California Association of Governments
• San Diego Taxpayers Association

The entire study is now posted on the Airport Authority's Web site here (aqui). After clicking the link, be sure to scroll down to where it says, "Cross Border Terminal Market Demand Study."

And guess what? The study is being formally presented the Airport Authority Board TODAY (Cinco de Junio, 2005) at its public meeting.

Un Salud! – Ryan (aka Pedro!)