(This article, reprinted with permission, featuring Daniel Pink, class of 1982, appeared in Bexley News on March 26, 2008)  4/20/08

Author to share his insights on creativity, careers

Bexley High School alumnus Daniel Pink will be in Columbus April 10 and 11

By NICHOLAS A. LA TORRE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Bexley students will soon learn where an education from Bexley schools can take a person in life.

Author Daniel Pink, a Bexley alumnus, will visit Bexley High School for an April assembly at which he will speak on the importance of creativity.

Pink graduated from Bexley in 1982 and has since obtained a bachelor's degree in linguistics from Northwestern University and a law degree from Yale University.

He has served as a speech writer to Vice President Al Gore, an aide to United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and a business consultant to Fortune 100 companies.

He also gives lectures for corporations and universities around the world and has provided analysis for television and radio broadcasts.

With three books to his credit, Pink can attest to the importance of finding the individual niche in creativity and using it be successful. In his New York TImes Best-Selling book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, Pink argues that the 21st century work force must have "Right Brain" skills to succeed.

"Mr. Pink's talk might encourage more students to think about their own individual creativity and to understand how creativity is important in the 'real' world and permeates much of our lives," Mabi Ponce de Leon, an art specialist Bexley High School, said in a press release.

In A Whole New Mind, Pink describes an expansion in today's market for an arts-related career.

"In the United States, the number of graphic designers has increased tenfold in a decade; graphic designers outnumber chemical engineers by four to one ...," Pink said in his book. "Since 1970, the United States has 30 percent more people earning a living as writers and 50 percent more earning a living by composing or performing music."

He recently completed a career guide produced in the Japanese graphic novel style, "Manga." A copy of the guide, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Only Career Guide You'll Ever Need, will be given to each student as part of Pink's visit. The guide will have been published just days before the visit.

On his Web site, Pink describes the character of Johnny Bunko as someone stuck in a dead-end job despite listening to his parents, teachers and guidance counselors. He meets a career adviser, "Diana," who teaches him the six essential lessons for thriving in the world of work.

Pink's visit to Columbus will include stops at the Columbus School for Girls April 10, then Bexley April 11. He will then head to Seattle, New York and London.

For more information on Pink visit danpink.com.

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