The Airport meets YouTube

The Ambassablog has established a firm foothold in the blogosphere with its regular posts from San Diego International Airport (SDIA) employees about life at Lindbergh Field. Now, it's venturing into another popular Web 2.0 hangout: YouTube.

The official Ambassablog YouTube Channel features all the videos about SDIA that have appeared on the Ambassablog ... neatly gathered in one place. There you will find video footage of an adorable baby California Least Tern (the endangered species protected by SDIA), TSA travel tips featuring some famous San Diego costumed characters, leaders in the region discussing the importance of air travel, and more.

At the Ambassablog YouTube Channel, it's easy to subscribe to the videos, leave comments on them, read what others have said, and see how many people have viewed each one. Check it out!

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!

An incredible Olympic gateway

Did you see the spectacular Olympics closing ceremonies last night? If you've been as excited about the Olympics as I've been , you religiously watched the primetime coverage every evening, including the short local broadcast, “The Olympic Zone.” While watching the other night, I saw a story about Beijing’s newly expanded Beijing Capital International Airport.

You can see a cool slide show of the airport here.

Excited to find an Ambassablog tie-in to the Olympics, I decided to capture some interesting facts about Beijing airport’s massive new Terminal 3, pictured here, to share with you:

• Terminal length: 1.8 miles
• Check-in counters: almost 300
• Baggage system: can transport up to 20,000 bags an hour
• Total cost: approximately $3.8 billion
• Construction time: less than 4 years, using 50,000 workers
• Terminal building size: about 220 acres. (By comparison, all of San Diego International Airport SDIA sits on just 661 acres!)
• The design incorporated advice from a Feng Shui expert
• Environmental sustainability considerations were also part of the design
• And, yes, among many other concessions, the terminal includes a Starbucks

The new terminal opened earlier this year in March and is the world’s largest airport building. I think it's a fitting addition to one of the world’s busiest airports! The extra capacity helped support international travel for this year’s Olympic Games.

The new Beijing terminal is part of a larger expansion project that included adding a third runway to the airport. The modifications will help increase Beijing’s ability to serve more than 80 million passengers a year.

If you’re not impressed yet, imagine this: China is already designing an additional all-new international airport in Beijing that would open in 2015. Wow!

How does that compare to our airport here in San Diego? Our Airport Master Plan guides the development of SDIA to meet future growth demands. San Diego’s terminal development plans include adding 10 gates to Terminal 2, as well as additional facility improvements such as taxiway improvements, more aircraft parking and a second-level roadway.

I haven’t heard of any Feng Shui plans for our airport, but I do know that new development here will incorporate environmentally sustainable designs.

I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have the Olympics here in San Diego someday. Just imagine what our airport gateway might look look like then.

Lovable Least Terns at Lindbergh Field

Note: This special video post from Ambassablogger Sjohnna is part of San Diego International Airport's 30 Days of Blue 80th birthday celebration. Enjoy!

Have you seen a California least tern lately? I bet you didn’t even know it, but as you approach San Diego International Airport from downtown on Harbor Drive, it’s possible to see least terns and their nests near the end of Runway 27 (at the corner of Harbor Drive and Laurel Street) during nesting season, which runs from April to mid-September each year. Recently, I was able to take a tour to see some least tern chicks up close and personal!

Here are some interesting facts I learned:

• The corner of the airfield near the end of Runway 29 is the most productive least tern nesting site in San Diego County. Why, you ask? Because it is on the airfield, so very few creatures (including least tern predators) travel in that area. Since California least terns are an endangered species, the Airport Authority takes measures to protect them on airport property.

• The least terns spend slightly less time on “site selection studies” than the Airport Authority. They take just one week to scope out potential nest sites before they pick their desired nesting location.

• This season, there are currently 139 nests on the airfield, which is the second-highest nesting year on record.

• New parents have to continually feed their new chicks. They fly over Harbor Drive every 20-40 minutes to take a dip in San Diego Bay to catch some fish to bring back to their nests.

• They say kids grow up fast … well, least tern chicks reach full adult size in just three weeks!

• Staff from the Airport Authority’s Environmental Affairs Department visit the nest sites twice a week to check on the birds.

And, in case you’re not lucky enough to see a least tern at the airport in real life, here is a fun little video I took of a newborn chick. In it, Robert – the Airport Authority’s contractor through the Zoological Society of San Diego – applies a tracking bracelet and talks about just how unique these little birds are.

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!

Skyfaire family fun this Saturday, August 16, at Liberty Station!

If you're in San Diego this Saturday, August 16, head on down to the beautiful NTC Promenade at Liberty Station (formerly the Naval Training Center) in Point Loma from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a ton of family fun. San Diego International Airport is throwing birthday party for its 80th anniversary, and everyone is invited!

The SAN Skyfaire will feature over 30 educational booths highlighting the airport's role in the community, as well as sustainability initiatives being undertaken by the airport and its regional partners. There will also be live music, dance performances, kids arts, free kites, free tree seedlings, free birthday cake (at noon), yummy food from Liberty Station restaurants, a display of alternative-fuel vehicles in use at the airport ... and a lot more. You can read all about it here.

A coveted airport industry award for the Goodwill Ambassablog

Hats off to the team of Goodwill Ambassabloggers for being honored with a coveted airport industry award -- a 2008 Excellence in Marketing & Communications Award from the Airports Council International-North America! ACI-NA, as it's known, is the premier organization representing local, regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada.

The Goodwill Ambassablog took a 'silver medal' (2nd place) in the Creative Innovations /Technology category. The competition featured entries from airports throughout North America. Not bad for an employee blog that is less than a year old!

In fact, San Diego International Airport was one of only four airports in the competition to earn four or more awards this year. In addition to the award for the Ambassablog, the airport won 2nd place awards for its popular Terminals to Tarmac Tours, offered free to the public, and for its fun-filled 2008 Activity Book for kids, as well as a 3rd place award for its internal e-newsletter, e-JetStreams.

Congratulations Ambassabloggers! And thanks also to all our readers for helping make the Ambassablog such a success in the industry.

I love working here!

I was over at Spanish Landing during my lunch break the other day and witnessed a charming interaction. (How lucky are we to work right across the street from such a lovely park, right on San Diego Bay?!)

While I was eating my lunch, I couldn’t help but overhear an excited family next to me. They had just dropped dad off at the airport and were anxiously awaiting his plane’s takeoff so they could wave goodbye. Isn’t that sweet? You don’t see as much of that as you used to, now that flying has become such a routine part of most of our lives.

It was rewarding to hear the family’s awe and wonder as they watched the enormous machines take flight. I think we take for granted sometimes just how awesome aviation is.

Not to mention how many lives we touch. Whether it’s dad going off on a business trip or a friend visiting San Diego for vacation, everything we do here at the airport is making a difference in people’s lives. What a great incentive to give our best every day!

Lights ... camera ... Shamu!

In early June I spent close to eleven hours at Gate 1 and 2 working on the new TSA Security Tips Video for San Diego International Airport that was unveiled on this blog July 7. The experience was a total blast, and it was rewarding being involved with a project you know will have a lasting impression on our customers.

I wanted to step back and talk about the “behind the scenes” of the filming and give some more details.

1. The pioneer in "infotainment" TSA videos is Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, which has a video featuring “celebrity” travelers drawn from Las Vegas icons like the Blue Man Group, Carrot Top ... and even “Elvis.” You can watch the video here (after linking, click on 'Traveller T.I.P.S Videos' to the left).

2. Our regional partners in this project were incredible. These agencies were a pleasure to work with:

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
• San Diego Padres (The Friar)
• San Diego Zoo (Bamboo Panda)
• Lego Land California (Johnny Thunder)
• Sea World (Shamu)

3. Filming takes a ling time. I have a new sense of patience. The scene where Johnny Thunder empties the coins from his pocket and takes his shoes off -- we must have done those takes fifty times! The TSA agents featured in the video are real live people. Make sure and say “hi” if you see them around SDIA. Also, there are a number of Authority staff in the background -- who can you spot?

4. The internal people who made this project possible need to be recognized: Landside Operations; Marketing; Public, Community & Customer Relations ... plus the TSA and support from Southwest Airlines.

5. And finally: There are no small parts, only small actors (unless your name is Shamu).