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A Marvel Man
Ira Rubenstein, UC-San Diego '86, has built a career on identifying and implementing new marketing and distribution opportunities for entertainment across a wide array of platforms. In his role at Marvel, Rubenstein is responsible for the company's Global digital strategy and implementation for all of Marvel's properties across digital and games channels.
Rubenstein was recently included on the highly regarded "Digital 50" list, a distinction given to fifty new media innovators by The Producers Guild of America's New Media Council. Recognition for his work also includes Webby Awards, a Mobie award for games, a Gold Clio and several Key Art Awards.
Ira has a long history of volunteer service to ΣAM including as Supreme Recorder on the Octagon in 1997-1998 and he currently serves on the Fraternity's Volunteer Leadership Development Task Force.
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CS: Why did you join Sigma Alpha Mu and how did your experience translate to the business world?
IR: I went to school at UC San Diego, which at the time was still a young school. About 25 years old. So there was not a strong Greek tradition at the school, nor any strong school traditions. Several of my friends in Student Government approached me about starting a Fraternity; Mitch Shultz, Ian Taras, Scott Ford and Steve Weinberg. Steve said to me, "And you can be the treasurer." Having always been one of those people who like to make or do something that has never been done before, it occurred to me that how many times do you get the opportunity to start a Fraternity Chapter? So I said yes and basically became the "Fifth Beatle" to the four founding members.
That experience of building a new group and trying something new with no traditions or established procedure translated very well to what I do today in Digital Media. I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on many firsts in Digital Marketing and Distribution in the Entertainment space. The first film web sites, selling the first movie ticket online, first movie ad banners, the first streaming movie trailer, building the first movie download service, the first movie on cell phones, and most recently offering the first Comic Books on the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
And like starting a chapter, in my professional career, I have often found myself building new teams and establishing new operational procedures where there are no guidelines or rule books or traditional ways to do things. My experience in starting the chapter and having to work with a group of people to figure out how we were going to collect dues, plan events, recruit new members and educate them is very similar to my work today. We often have to work as a team and figure out things as we go along. There is no rule book, no classes you can take or blueprint to follow.
CS: What message would you give to today's college students?
IR: Have fun! Try new things and don't be afraid of failure or mistakes. In the business world I am often coming across people who are too afraid to make the wrong decision so they make no decision at all, which is worse and always leads to failure. As you come up to decisions to make, use your best judgment, get advice from others and then make a decision and move on. Right, wrong or indifferent, you will come out further ahead. Hopefully you will make more right decisions than wrong ones and be very successful.
CS: What can we look forward to in social media and online networking in the near future?
IR: Honestly, what we are seeing today is really no different than the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that allowed users to dial into the system over a phone line or telnet connection some 35 years ago. There have always been communities/social networks with computers and modems. They used to be very small groups of specific interests. It was also very text oriented and only a few people participate. Those BBS systems became Delphi, and then Prodigy, and then Compuserve, and then AOL, which after the Web Browser came out, led to the World Wide Web and sites like Geocities. Places where people could put up their own web site. This led to MySpace and today Facebook. Along the way the tools and access people have has gotten more powerful. So instead of having to dial up via a modem, today people are connecting via their "Handheld Devices" or mobile phones and their PCs at home and work. What people do online is really no different; it is just the tools and connectivity allows them to do more.
So in the near future you are going to see more and more people having constant access and having stronger tools to do even more. The most change is going to come via our Handheld Devices. We really should stop calling them Mobile Phones and start to call them Mobile PCs. As the infrastructure matures and more speed and data can come over wireless transmission, this "Always Connected" world is going to be more prevalent and that will force a drastic change in how we interact with each other.
Today's ΣAM Undergrad grew up online. When they were entering grade school, AOL was growing to dominate the space. Think about that for a minute. Today's undergraduates do not know of a world without Instant Messaging, texting or the Internet. Their whole social outlook is built upon both personal and online relationships. As this generation enters the workplace, we are going to see another transformation of the work place. Just as email did 20 years ago.
I can honestly say that while Facebook dominates today, I am sure there is someone in college today who has an even better idea and will be able to build upon the shoulders of Facebook, just as it evolved from its predecessors. The best is yet to come and this space will continue to evolve at a break-neck speed.
CS: How are today's connections through university and fraternity alumni associations relevant?
IR: I am very active with the UC San Diego Alumni association and currently serve as the President Elect. I have also been fortunate to have been very involved with Sigma Alpha Mu as a volunteer. I find working with and giving back to both organizations to be very personally rewarding. The connections I made as an undergraduate and the new ones I continue to develop as an alumnus are very helpful. In my area of business I am always meeting new people and when I come across a ΣAM or a UC San Diego alumnus, we share a common bond. That common bond often helps to break the ice when entering into a new business relationship.
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