Rob Salkowitz

Young World Rising fits neatly into the genre of Thomas Friedman-esque kool-aid. Salkowitz combines some good observations on global demographics, technology, and business to describe a scenario in which the Millennial generation in the 3rd World uses information technology to found a thousand new businesses catering to the 'bottom of the pyramid', bringing about a global transformation of wealth. On the one hand, he makes some good points, and the reporting of Asia and African business is show more very interesting. On the other hand, his model ascribes nearly saintly qualities to the Net Generation, and makes entrepreneurship seem far easier than it actually is. How much more room is there for more IT-enabled, socially savvy, networked business-cum-development agencies? show less

Despite the risk of this book aging exponentially with each passing year, it still serves as a great guide to convention and comics culture past, present, and future, including perspectives from attendees, vendors, and corporate strategists.

The forecasting tool Rob uses near the end was an excellent, thoughtful section that's worth reading even if you don't care about Comic-Con.

There is starting to be quite a bit of literature on the various concurrent generations in the workplace as Gen Y start to invade and the Boomers are late to retire. In this book, Salkowitz focuses mostly on technology and its effects on the various generations, what it means to them and how well it's mastered.
There is some typical discourse of idealistic Boomers, cynical Gen Xs and enthusiastic Gen Ys, but I enjoyed his analysis of use of technology and he does debunk some of the myths that show more all Boomers are useless with a computer and Gen Ys wizards. I also liked the fact that he brought forth the successes of OATS (Older Adults Technology Services) to show how beneficial experience can be, and a mentoring system can be useful to both young and old, since the competencies can be shared both ways. Gen X is the Sandwich generation, but he does portray it as holding a bridging role, which is more flattering than most descriptions given to Gen Xs.
Overall an informative and balanced view as well as a realistic proposal for blending the generations. show less

This was a great insider's look at the business of Comic-Con. I attended my 10th SDCC this year and I, too, wondered if we'd hit "peak geek." While I'm no businesswoman, it was fascinating to hear the author's takes on the future of this convention.