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Tuesday, April 18, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
LEIOUT SKILLS
Hawaii native keeps link to home with `Ohana magazine
By Jan Hogan
lasvegas.com Gaming Wire
Mel Ozeki would love to move back to Hawaii, but until the economic situation improves there, he does the next best thing. He brings a bit of the tropics to Las Vegas and offers a glimpse of our neon to Hawaiians by publishing `Ohana magazine.
The magazine (the name means "family" in Hawaiian) may have been born of his love for his homeland, but it survived because of Ozeki's workaholic attitude and his unwillingness to listen to naysayers.
"When I first got this idea, I went to two publishers for advice. They both told me the same thing -- that I must be filthy rich with plenty of money to throw away or that I was crazy," he said.
Ozeki was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but left a few years out of college because of Hawaii's depressed economy. He made the Army his career and was sent to Vietnam in 1970-1971 where he became a captain in a field artillery unit.
"It was one of the most emotional events in my life," he said. "It was terrible. I saw grown men cry, in fear of death."
For years afterward, flashbacks haunted Ozeki, but he credits his long-standing faith in God for pulling him through.
After Vietnam, the Army moved him around the country. While stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., Ozeki returned to school and earned his doctorate. One of his assignments was as an assistant professor at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. After more than 31 years in the Army, he retired and moved to Las Vegas.
"There's a large community of islanders here, about 25,000," he said. "They come for the jobs."
He said roughly 16 percent of Hawaiians in Las Vegas are in culinary positions. But Ozeki made his own job by establishing `Ohana.
With no experience in publishing, he admits he made many mistakes. He assumed printing fewer pages would save money, only to learn the number of pages must be in multiples of eight. He also discovered how the placement of color pages affects printing costs -- adding as much as $3,000 per page to the bill.
Ozeki sank $60,000 of his life savings into the upstart publication and labored day and night, doing every job himself -- advertising, photos, distribution, layout and writing. His wife, Emily, served as office manager, providing moral support.
The premier issue debuted August 1996 to good reviews, but the first four issues lost $45,000.
By December 1997, the nonstop pressure of doing the job of half a dozen people proved too much.
"I almost abandoned it," Ozeki said. "All that work and I almost quit."
Instead, he gave it one last try, switching from publishing monthly to bimonthly. That was the key.
Today, `Ohana handles 5,000 annual subscriptions to people in 28 states with another 5,000 issues shipped to distributors. It has grown from 30 pages to 45 pages and is inching closer to making a profit. Ozeki has a group of contributing writers including Pat Morita of "Karate Kid" fame. The highly photographic publication has such a loyal following it had to abandon clip coupons as readers don't want to cut it up.
Big advertisers include three Waikiki hotels and, in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming Corp. This past February, Boyd increased its weekly Honolulu-Las Vegas air charters to seven. The charters supply Boyd's three downtown properties -- California, Fremont and Main Street Station hotels, keeping them at about 90 percent occupancy. Like Hawaiian Airlines, the hotels offer the magazine to customers, free of charge.
Figures from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority show 234,762 air passengers arrived from Hawaii in 1998, or 1.4 percent of total visitors to Las Vegas. Increasing that number can only come if Hawaii improves its economic outlook, which now leans heavily on tourism and has little diversity, Ozeki said. He said he does not see the islands turning to gambling to achieve that diversity.
"Every year legalizing gaming comes up (before the Legislature), but it dies in committee. There's a perception that Hawaiians have a propensity to gamble," he said, "and that gaming will increase crime and the transient population."
Until the economic situation improves in Hawaii, Ozeki will remain a Las Vegan and `Ohana magazine will remain his heartfelt link to home.
Name: Mel Ozeki.
Position: Publisher, `Ohana magazine.
Age: 55.
Hobbies: Walking, reading, watching documentaries.
When arrived Las Vegas: January 1996.
Family: Wife Emily, two grown children, one grandchild.
Education: Bachelor's (1972) University of Hawaii, Hilo; doctorate (1994) Kansas State University.
Work experience: Sports information director, University of Hawaii; Hawaii County Council speech writer; copy editor for Hawaii Tribune Herald; more than 30 years as staff sergeant U.S. Army, then lieutenant colonel in the National Guard.
Community involvement: Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce; Japanese American Citizen League; University Hawaii Alumni Association; Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Clubs.
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii.
How long in Las Vegas: Since January 1996.
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Printable version of this story
`Ohana magazine has been a labor or love for Hawaiian-turned-Las Vegan Mel Ozeki. He invested $60,000 of his life savings to launch the now bimonthly publication, and in its early days, did all the jobs: photography, writing, layout, advertising and distribution.
Photo by Steve Andrascik.
Mel Ozeki
Publisher, `Ohana magazine.
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