The New Guy

I recently had the opportunity to interview soon to be ASU Professor Dan Gillmor for a class assignment. Here are some of the unique qualities about this world-famous blogster news man:

Before entering journalism, Mr. Gillmor was a professional musician.
At one time or another I sang and played clarinet, sax, guitar, banjo and piano -- but I haven't touched anything but guitar and piano in a long time. Guitar and voice were my primary instruments in our band, which did
everything from early jazz to rock to country to whatever we felt like (we wrote much of our own material).

One of Mr. Gillmor's best qualities is his willingness to take risks. When asked how he will encourage his students to do the same, he replied:
One way we'll encourage this is to give good grades to students whose projects fail, provided they work hard on their ideas and planning. Venture capitalists often fund people whose previous companies have failed, on the principle that the people have learned an enormous amount from what went wrong.

And his ideal student:
How many adjectives do we have room for? Top of the list: inquisitive,
hard-working, adventurous, honorable.