I have recently been hearing a new term, “helicopter parents.” The name is derived from the hovering of parents over their children whether they need it or not. Originally this practice was mostly confined to early schooling, but as these children aged (I hate to say grew up), it has invaded the workplace.

Some parents have called potential employers after their child has had an interview. The parents try to do everything from promoting their child to negotiating the salary. Once the child is hired, the parents will talk to the child several times a day. Some periodically call the child’s boss to discuss the treatment of the child (be it salary, workload or whatever).

I don’t even know where to begin with this. If I was ever called by a parent of an interviewee, red flags would shoot up all over the place. I generally look for mature, self-motivated, confident people when I am looking to fill any position. Having your mommy or daddy call to discuss your status would not generate a lot of confidence that you would have any of those aforementioned qualities.

I once inherited a woman-child when I took over as Director of Circulation in my previous employment. Her mother attempted to talk to me twice about various issues. Her first attempt was after I reprimanded her daughter for wearing a baseball jersey to work. Her second attempt occurred after I reprimanded her daughter for rummaging through my desk. After this attempt, I informed both of them that one more such phone call from Mommy would result in termination.

I am not a strict disciplinarian. Actually, I generally ran a very loose department. Still, I am sure other staffers had gripes with me at some point, yet none of them had their parents call me to discuss the situation.

Has our society really become this soft? I really hope this is a very select few people and a short-lived phenomenon. When I was a teenager, I wanted to prove my independence as soon as possible. I loved my parents dearly, but lines were certainly drawn … by all sides. In all fairness, they never would have called any of my bosses to discuss my performance or treatment.

I have seen overprotective parents, but this goes way beyond that. How are these “children” ever going to develop the necessary skills to navigate through life if mommy and daddy are constantly hovering above them? Talking to your 8-year-old’s teacher about bullying is one thing. Calling your 25-year-old’s boss is just ridiculous.

Feel free to leave a comment, but if I get too many bad ones, Fran Gallagher will be getting a call from Frank and Lizzy (my parents).

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

Every 4 years the world’s best athletes come together for 17 days for the summer Olympics and the whole world watches. I look forward to these 17 days and enjoy them immensely. As a natural competitor, I admire the work ethic, intensity, dedication and passion that goes into these athletes day in and day out, sometimes just to compete for the most important 10 seconds of their career.

In addition to the athletes, I love to see how people from nations far and wide come together. Unfortunately, this Olympic year there continues to be violence around the world, and, in very simplified words, how in 2008 does this continue to occur? In equally simplified words, I know money and power are at the root of all political battles, and I’ll let you interpret that as you may.

Now, not to get caught up in politics because I want to focus on the impeccable shape these athletes are in. I am always shocked at some of the ages of the athletes and wonder how they take on the mental pressure of performing and not disappointing. Some athletes are targeted to compete before they enter kindergarten. The British team has a diver, Tom Daley, who is 14, has a perfect 6-pack of abs (is that really healthy?) and is expected to medal. At 14, I didn’t want to disappoint, but I didn’t have a whole nation looking on!

Watching the young athletes, and trying to get back in shape myself, I’ve been wondering, what if society’s mentality changed and we allowed our bodies to develop more before we compete? Would the competition improve? Would there be more, or less, injuries? I heard a commentator say that Michael Phelps (if you don’t who he is - look him up!) didn’t start lifting weights until after the Athens games when he was 19. Obviously, something is working with his strategy as he’s breaking world records like it’s as easy as doing the doggy paddle. The German women’s gymnastics team has a 33-year-old competing who is in peak condition and has incredible life experience behind her, which can only enhance her game face. And lastly, how can Dara Torres be ignored, the 41-year-old American swimmer who has already medaled in the Olympics? These people are truly remarkable and inspirational!

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

With the economy and the state of the airline industry in flux, you might wonder how Global Traveler is doing. The magazine industry is a very competitive field and, of course, like each segment within this industry, we have direct competitors.

What prides me about Global Traveler is our will and desire to do things the right way. Within our niche, we are the only ABC audited magazine and we have been audited since day one, approaching five years. Others in our category have chosen a lesser auditing board (BPA) and only went to them when our relentless sales efforts pointed out that these publications were not audited.

Now that they have become audited, they both have not completed their audits for 2007. You might find it interesting that magazines submit Audit Statements (often called Publisher’s Statements) and then these are followed up with Confirmed Audits (Actual Audits). The Audit Statement is simply what a publisher says the circulation is, rather than the Confirmed Audit, which is just as it sounds - a bean counter from the auditing board pulls apart all your records and cross checks them for accuracy. Subscription cards, printing bills, paper bills, postage and shipping reports and other documents are reviewed by the auditing board. It might surprise you that Audit Statements may differ greatly from Confirmed Audits (99.99% of the Audit Statements are higher).

There is a right way and a wrong way - and your team at Global Traveler always chooses the right way.

We also work closely with MediaMark Research (MRI), an independent market research firm, who takes our subscription file and mails out independent demographic studies so that we can learn more about you. Again, our competitors don’t think this expense is worthy - we disagree.

So, how is Global Traveler doing? Very well, especially in these turbulent times. Our September issue, with our annual Business and First Class Survey, is unprecedented in this category. Of course, others copy this format, but they never go to the length we do to survey the airlines (all of them!). Kim Krol and her team of interns did a fantastic job, and yours truly wrote the introduction as “this is a category you know” says Lisa Matte, GT’s editor-in-chief.

This is truly a team effort, in sales, circulation, promotion and editorial. John Wroblewski has done a marvelous job with our circulation push, helping us exceed our 100,000 copy mark. We wanted to do this without diluting our audience of frequent business and luxury travelers (31% fly first class, 64% business class - MRI).

Our editorial team continues to astound me with their destinations from around the globe to your back door and our production and design is so much better than others in this category, it is staggering.

And have I mentioned that we are the only publication in our niche which is monthly? It is just our commitment to bringing you the data and articles you crave every month.

So, how are we doing? Our September issue has exceeded revenue projections by 30%. These projections for 2008 were agressive and in this market, it is very impressive to grow by double digits.

So maybe taking the high road, following the proper guidelines and accurately reporting circulation does mean something. It does to me, our staff and most of all to you - our loyal readers and friends.

-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

All I have been reading about recently is the incredible influx of European tourists visiting the US this year. It was covered again today on MSNBC and a little over a week ago in Global Traveler’s electronic newsletter, eFlyer.

A recent report released from the U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting that approximately 15 million international visitors traveled to the US in the first half of 2008. This is a significant increase from 2007. Most of the visitors are traveling from Western Europe and between January and April 2008, 1.4 million Brits have made the journey across the pond.

It seems there is a good side and a bad side to this recent development - the good news, tourism to the US is back on track and on the rise since the events of 9/11, but the bad news, the strength of the dollar is so weak, the travel from the US to abroad is not reciprocated. And the suspected reason for all the European travelers? The US is cheap, cheap, cheap for them. Most visitors are flocking to New York City, an expensive spot to visit for most of us, but an affordable destination to those used to the Pound (1 pound = $1.99) and the Euro (1 euro = $1.58). For almost half of what they would normally pay, international visitors can shop, sightsee and be constantly entertained on a vacation to the Big Apple. From coast to coast, there is a lot to see and do here.

The boost in tourism and the $11.6 billion spent by tourists in the US (just in the month of April), can only help job stability and the economy here in the States. Hopefully, someday soon, as many Americans will have the chance to travel abroad and enjoy the sights Europe has to offer. Although America has a lot to offer, so it wouldn’t hurt if we all took some time to get to know our country, too!

-Kim Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Today marks the release of the highly anticipated follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. It is expected to gross over $100 million during opening weekend and Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker, is earning rave reviews and there is talk that he may win a posthumous Oscar following his death in January. I was never a huge fan of superheroes and comics, but I always enjoyed Spiderman and, particularly, Batman and I am excited for the new movie.

Even if Ledger does not win an Oscar, he earned himself a spot on the Top 25 Movie Villains list, as compiled by Moviefone. I heard about the list on the radio during my drive to work yesterday and I decided to check it out further and see if I agreed. According to the list, the top ten are:

10. Queen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

9. Max Cady, Cape Fear

8. Hans Gruber, Die Hard

7. Chigurgh, No Country for Old Men

6. Goldfinger, Goldfinger

5. Joker, The Dark Knight

4. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs

3. The Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz

2. Darth Vader, Star Wars

1. Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter

Personally, I do agree some of those villians are scary - Hannibal Lecter, Chigurgh, Voldemort. But I also think Michael Myers, Halloween, should have been higher than #12. And the Wicked Witch, #3, come on!

Anyway, this list inspired me to create The Global Traveler Blog Top 25 Best Travel Movies of All Time. Please send me your suggestions and we can put together the list in a future blog! I thought of Lost in Translation or the new one, The Darjeeling Limited, about brothers on a trip through India. Maybe Thelma and Louise on their road trip? Start sending suggestions!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive