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www.HartfordBusiness.com November 26, 2012 • Hartford Business Journal 77 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News with a brand that has become much, much bigger than I am, and it is always such a plea- sure to hear people talking about how they use the publication, or look forward to our daily emails, or really get a lot out of our events. I really enjoy being in a business that so many people think well of, and derive plea- sure and value from. In addition to that, of course, there is a group of people on our staff here in Hartford who really know that what they do matters… and that is sustaining, and just so gratifying. I don't know of many other careers that any of us could undertake where our work would be so well regarded by so many. And it chal- lenges and motivates us to continue to strive. Q. What's been something you didn't anticipate in the newspaper business that has had a big impact on the Hart- ford Business Journal? From a different perspective, what trend hasn't come to fruition that you thought might? A. This is a great question. I have never worked for a daily newspaper, though I hold them in very high regard. I have always worked for smaller, niche media, sort of the mouse that nips the elephant, and occasion- ally … when the elephant pays attention at all … makes them squeal. I have been really sur- prised, and frankly saddened by, the decline of daily newspapers, and their diminishing impact across the country. And I say that not from a competitive perspective at all, since again, our paper is quite niche, and we have evolved to the point where a great deal of our emphasis is on digital delivery. I have read a daily all my life and I think that daily newspa- pers serve a very important role. I think that people will miss them when they are gone, and will look back on them nostalgically. The daily was always the place where there were voices you trusted, delivering information that had been carefully vetted and checked, and which was delivered to you in a package that you were familiar with. They were like a protected cove. The Internet, on the other hand, has a great deal to offer, but it is a roiling sea of dissonant voices and competing interests, and you simply can't trust a great deal of what you find, if you can find what you are looking for at all. The neat thing for us — and this is the answer to the second part of your question — is that we have bucked the decline curve that is evident for much of the print media world. I think this is for two reasons: first, we tend to be read by successful people, and they tend to be a bit older, so they favor print; sec- ond, we are nimble enough so we have been able to evolve our business substantively, and build online platforms which, while they may not be the core of our business today, might be when we celebrate our 30th anniversary. Q. Ten years from now, does the Hart- ford Business Journal continue to be a print production? Or does it go entirely online? What will be needed to make it succeed? A. Wherever our audi- ence is, that is where we are going to be. And we will strive to be relevant. It is pretty simple. We'll see if it turns out to be a winning formula. Q. In your view, what's the biggest business story to come out of Hartford in your 20 years? A. Since Norm Bell and our editorial team have spent a great deal of time and effort addressing this question, I'd rather just say this: Every big story is in the end about peo- ple. For many years, we have made honor- ing business leaders a big part of our events business. Hartford has had a rich parade of brave, decisive leaders, who have worked hard over the last 20 years to effect change, and I am always amazed and humbled at how much some give of their time and energy, for no effective personal gain. Whatever the events of the day bring, I say it is much more the visible hand of engaged leadership that makes a market strong, than it is the invisible hand of the market. Hartford and this region have been blessed in this regard, and we will continue to strive to tell these stories. g Joe Zwiebel 10 years ago. P h o t o / S t e v e L a S C h e v e R 20 Years REFLECTION On Curing Healthcare Christopher M. Dadlez President and Chief Executive Officer Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center F O R T Y - E I G H T H I N A S E R I E S I came across some data recently that was unanticipated – and disturbing, if one hypothesis about it proves correct. It has been reported that nonfatal injuries to young children in the U.S. have increased for the fourth year in a row. In 2011, kids age four and under experienced an estimated 2.5 million injuries that brought them to emergency rooms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's 12.4 injuries per 100 children. Injuries among children in this age group have steadily increased since 2007, climbing 14 percent since then. This contrasts sharply to the 2001 - 2007 period when injuries to children under five actually declined by 8 percent. During those six years, the first ones monitored by the CDC, certain encouraging developments seemed to suggest that we were doing a better job of protecting our youngest: improved car seats, cribs, and carriages; better gates and screens for stairwells and windows; and playgrounds designed with safety as a priority. The recent increase in injuries is unsettling in itself – but here's the alarming hypothesis: Some have theorized that this trend tracks identically to the introduction of new mobile devices that may be now distracting parents and reducing their supervisory vigilance. It was in 2007, for example, that Apple Inc. introduced its first iPhone. Since then, new technologies and channels have exploded. Texting, Facebooking, Twittering, and video-chatting are now routine in most households, and adults are fully engaged – or should we say "absorbed"? This trend deserves more detailed study by the CDC – and not just of the volume and types of injuries afflicting this age group, but the circumstances surrounding those injuries, as well. This is not a rant against technology. New devices and systems exponentially improve our delivery of healthcare on a daily basis. From new call systems that ensure instant, private communications between nurses and patients no matter where the nurse is on a unit, to the sweeping new information system that we are now implementing at Saint Francis that will give us enterprise-wide electronic medical record capabilities in 18 months, technology is vital to our progress. But the injury data cited above may be suggesting that if parenting is becoming an increasingly distracted, disengaged pastime, then our inattention may be hurting our children in more ways than we know. Teach…Our Children Well