Best-Laid Plans

Well, I certainly did think it was the job of a lifetime, my friends. But then the realities of the commute set in, and it was a job that required my constant attention, and that's hard to handle from a distance. For me, at any rate. So I bid goodbye to Oxbow and Napa, after a short but thrilling adventure. And here I am, with the job I prayed over.

The Jack London Square Market is now under construction, as part of a 170,000 square-foot six-story building rising across the street from the Amtrak station at the east end of the Square. I'll be the Market Manager when the two-story public market opens, in the middle of next year. In the meantime, I'm still the Market Manager, and a big part of my job is to help put the market together. That means identifying possible tenants, and pitching the business, as it were. I don't consider myself much of a salesman, but I have strong feelings about this project, and that makes it easy to talk about. I just have to be more confident and pick up the phone. As David says, "It's not like you're asking them to finance your kid's college education."

One challenge is to bring cultural diversity to the market mix. Let me know if you have any suggestions. "Don't dream it. Be it." Or, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Anyway.