h digitalfootprint web 728x90

Opinion

Elbert web

The Elbert Files: DM’s fifth ‘Pritzker’

The Pritzker Architecture Prize was awarded earlier this month to London’s David Chipperfield, whose works include the Des Moines Public Library, completed in 2006, and Davenport’s Figge Art Museum, completed in 2005. 

The $100,000 international …

Elbert web

Skywalks past and future

After more than 50 years, Des Moines’ skywalk system is at a crossroads, again.

Unlike previous crises caused by growth and occasional falling glass, this moment of truth is the result of maturity. The talk …

OnLeadership Elbert FeatureImage

On Leadership: What is high-quality leadership (and do you have it)?

What is high-quality leadership? Apparently it is in steep decline. I’d never heard that exact term until recently, when a study on this topic caught my eye and immediately brought to mind some of my …

Elbert web

The Elbert Files: Random thoughts

First thought: New book. 

“The Sophocles Rule” is local novelist Joe LeValley’s fifth book about the fictional town of Orney, Iowa, its local newspaper and star reporter Tony Harrington. And it may be his best.…

Elbert web

The Elbert Files: ‘1776’ still a revelation

The 1969 Tony Award-winning musical “1776” was one of the first performances I saw in the then-new C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in 1971. Fifty-two years later, I still remember how curious it was that a musical …

Elbert web

The Elbert Files: Legislative ‘oopses’

I met my friend K.C. inside the Panoramic Awareness Pavilion in the southeast corner of the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. 

The pavilion is a light sculpture created by artist Olafur Eliasson. Its 23 …

OnLeadership Elbert FeatureImage

On Leadership: Evolve or Die: Leading through continued change and uncertainty in 2023

“Evolve or die,” say leaders who responded to PwC’s recent 2023 CEO Survey. In that study, 40% of leaders indicated that change is needed in order for their organizations to be financially viable in 10 …

Elbert spotlight

The Elbert Files: Rural Iowa’s conundrum

“If you look out broadly and objectively, you’ll conclude that nothing we’ve done is working,” economist David Swenson said about rural Iowa during a recent podcast. 

“Sixty of Iowa’s 99 counties had their peak populations …

OnLeadership Elbert FeatureImage

On Leadership: What kind of leadership legacy will you leave?

What kind of leadership legacy will you leave?

“Legacy can seem far off and out of reach, but it doesn’t happen at journey’s end and it is not just for the rich and famous,” says …

Elbert web

The Elbert Files: Landmark buildings

Consolidation of Wells Fargo’s Des Moines operations brings to mind the history of its downtown buildings and their location at Eighth and Walnut streets, where one of early Des Moines’ most storied buildings stood for …