OK, it’s not the NBA Championship, but the feat is impressive, even if we might not quite understand it all.

The Orlando Magic hit an exclusive social networking mark, becoming the first Eastern Conference team — and second in the NBA — to obtain 1 million Twitter followers.

Despite having more than 60 million users worldwide, a number that includes countless organizations, businesses, athletes, musicians, actors and other celebrities, fewer than 250 Twitter users have reached the 1-million-follower plateau. The only other NBA team making that claim is the Los Angeles Lakers. After the Lakers and the Magic (http://twitter.com/Orlando_Magic), the next-highest NBA Twitter following belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which have fewer than 35,000.

Also notably, the Magic’s All-Star center Dwight Howard — or @DwightHoward as he’s known to his “Tweeps” — eclipsed the milestone last season and now has nearly 1.5 million followers of his own. Teammate Rashard Lewis, aka @Rashard_Lewis, also is active on the Twittersphere, in addition to his presence on several other social networking platforms.

It’s a brave new world.

(Shameless plug: I can be followed on Twitter @MikeRCandelaria.)

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Watch out, big banks. Community banks are out to get you.

At least, that’s the look of things from the grass-roots Move Your Money campaign. The goal is to encourage people across America to move their accounts away from the big banks and to smaller, community-oriented financial institutions. (Information about the online campaign can be found at www.moveyourmoney.info.)

Community-oriented banks report success, with new customers moving their accounts from some of the nation’s largest banks to signal displeasure with recent actions. One such smaller player is Trustco Bank, whose Florida regional president, Eric Schreck, comments: “We’ve seen millions of dollars in new deposits come to Trustco Bank locations across Central Florida as a result of this campaign. And those are only the ones in which people clearly identified why they were switching banks; there are likely many more.”

The battle lines of large versus small are drawn, again.

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Welcome news has come from Heart of Florida United Way. Its 211 & Elder Helpline has expanded to include a crisis hotline for people facing suicidal urges or other life crises that render them unable to cope.

HFUW was awarded the contract to provide local crisis hotline services through the Florida Department of Children and Families. While the contract is for Orange and Osceola counties, all callers, regardless of where they live, will receive appropriate services. Much like 911 or 411, 211 is a free, multilingual, 24-hour resource that helps people find critical assistance with everything from food and rent to elder care and disaster relief. Now by dialing 211, residents can also find immediate help if they are feeling suicidal or dealing with family violence, drug and alcohol addictions, sexual assault or any overwhelming life crisis.

As part of 211’s expansion, six full-time senior crisis specialists have been added, bringing 211’s total staff to nearly 40. All senior crisis specialists have extensive backgrounds or advanced degrees in social work and related fields. Over the past two years, 2-1-1’s overall call volume has increased 47 percent.

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Trust has been restored. Well, sort of.

With the nation creeping slowly out of the recession, trust in business and government in the United States has improved significantly, according to the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual global consumer study. Edelman is a leading independent public relations firm, with 3,200 employees in 51 offices worldwide, including Orlando.

Ah, but there’s a rub. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. respondents express concern that business and financial institutions will return to “business as usual” as the recession comes to an end. The study illustrates that trust in business was gained through proactive measures taken during the economic crisis. Yet, while positive, those measures don’t offer a clear path forward for the retention of that trust.

When it comes to trust in business, more work is need. And more jobs wouldn’t hurt, either.

 

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Orlando Health has taken the art of parking to new heights, and lengths, with the latest addition to its downtown campus: a new $27.5 million parking garage. Yes, $27.5 million.

The garage, at Orange Avenue and Columbia Street, is adorned with a total of 16 palm tree murals, ranging in height from 32 to 61 feet. The palm trees replicate original artwork created by nationally known local artist Maria Reyes-Jones. Other impressive tallies: The nine-level parking garage has a total parking capacity of 2,246 spaces. The parking deck footprint is equivalent to two football fields. Its total gross square footage is equal to 18 football fields. A sidewalk, created from the 5,700 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete for the project, would extend nearly 10 miles. The 16 graphic art banners constitute 15,360 square feet, or about one-third of an acre.

The scenic garage furthers Orlando Health’s announced plans to renovate and expand its downtown campus, one of the largest expansion efforts in the organization’s history, with anticipated construction ranging up to $150 million.

That’s putting your money where your medicine is.

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It’s a long shot, for sure. Yet, here’s hoping that just maybe, someday, it becomes a long drive, as in a home run: Major League Baseball in Orlando.

Congressional candidate Armando Gutierrez wants to deliver a franchise. There are even investors, he says, and there has, in fact, been some national speculation about team movement. The holdup, besides no stadium, of course, is that MLB hasn’t expressed any official intention to expand teams or relocate an existing one. Still, that hasn’t slowed Gutierrez, who says he is planning to study the viability of local big-league baseball without a single taxpayer dollar being spent.

The last league expansion occurred in 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays (then Devil Rays) were established. The most recent relocation of a franchise happened in 2004, when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C., and were renamed the Washington Nationals.

Not holding my breath. Just dreaming a bit.

Movie buffs, there’s cool stuff coming out of the Orange County Regional History Center this month. Through May 16, a 3,500-square-foot exhibition highlights the nation’s rich entertainment history through more than 40 costumes, props and models from some of the most popular films and television shows spanning 60 years.

The exhibit, “Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television,” includes memorabilia from “Star Wars,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Terminator,” “Indiana Jones,” “Star Trek,” “Batman” and others. A complementary exhibit, “Lights! Camera! Action! Filming in Paradise,” showcases Florida’s surprising history in film and television. Visitors follow a Florida Walk of Fame into the exhibit and then visit a “set” to see what’s behind the scenes. In conjunction with “Out of This World,” the History Center also hosts a series of special events and programs.

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Personally, I’m not quite part of the age group, but I’m inching closer. (And hope to get there someday.) I have concerns, though.

In a recent national jobless report, the number of unemployed individuals age 55 and older rose to 2,082,000 in November, up 54 percent from November 2008 and the largest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping records for specific age groups. Also, experts in Florida say older job seekers are faced with unprecedented challenges, and many are on the verge of crisis.

Enter Experience Works, the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of community service, training and employment opportunities for older workers. Billy Wooten, Florida acting state director for the organization (www.experienceworks.org), offers this advice: Get technical. Then he makes a pitch: Through his Senior Community Service Employment Program, qualified participants receive self-assessments, technical and skills training, assistance with the job-search process and placement in an appropriate training assignment with a local community service agency. He adds that the number of older workers seeking assistance from Experience Works has increased an average of 33 percent over the last year.

The clock is ticking.

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This effort calls for a salute, if not a badge of honor: The Central Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America, this month completes its Scouting for Change coin drive service project.

Running from Dec. 1 through Feb. 5, the drive was conceived by the Central Florida Council’s leadership to raise funds to help build schools in Nairobi, Kenya, which is considered the birthplace of Scouting. There, program founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell was thought to have envisioned Scouting’s ideals and fundamentals. In conjunction with the national organization’s celebration of 100 years of Scouting, coin-collection boxes were placed by Scouts and their parents at Regions Bank branches throughout Central Florida.

Among the community partners are Bright House Networks, Clear Channel Outdoor, Full Sail University, Regions Bank and Technetium Advertising & Web Design.

Young people doing good things — always worthy of attention.

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On the topic of kids, they have it made these days, too, at least when it comes to new schools.

Check this out: an entrance lobby designed with a glass wall to allow for natural light; an administrative suite located in the front of the school to allow for a secure view of the property; a media center, two computer labs and a closed-circuit television studio; a music classroom and an art room equipped with a kiln; and recreation areas that include a tot lot, a covered play area, a youth play area and two full-sized basketball courts, among other areas.

That’s what you’ll find at the $14.5 million, 101,639-square-foot Keene’s Crossing Elementary School in Windermere, designed by Orlando’s SchenkelShultz Architecture with Clancy & Theys Construction Co. of Orlando serving as construction manager.

Pretty plush.

Not coincidentally, SchenkelShultz is no stranger to school work. It has designed more than 33 million square feet of K-12 projects in Florida and was ranked as the No. 1 Educational Facilities Architect among Southeast Construction magazine’s 2009 Top Design Firms.

Lucky kids. When I was growing up, times were so tough … .

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First, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona arrived to lead the way for the new medical city. Now, it’s taken another LEED, becoming the largest gold-certified independent scientific facility in Florida, as declared under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

The building was lauded by the council for its eco-friendly construction and commitment to sustainability. Highlights: Throughout the 175,000-square-foot structure, glazed windows transmit more than 50 percent of exterior light while blocking 75 percent of solar heat; with an east/west orientation, overhangs and shading devices on exterior walls, heat and sun reflection are minimized; and compared to a similar building, energy savings at Burnham at Lake Nona are equivalent to the average yearly consumption of 6,600 homes.

The science of being green.

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What’s this? Downtown Orlando adds a niche bar/restaurant that puts the accent on food?

OK, Ember and Urban Flats (see Parting Shot, page 38) hit the mark, and a few others come close enough, but I’m talking about a cozy space developed by former college buddies who are barely out of their 20s.

On the menu at the Downtown PourHouse: bison kefta for a snack, lobster grilled cheese for a sandwich and a guava BBQ burger (with gruyère cheese and yucca fries).

Particularly during happy hour, there’s the food of an upscale eatery and the feel of a friendly pub, partly thanks to an arrangement with nearby Gibson Guitar Corp., which sponsored the stage setup and provides two guitars for musicians who are easy on the ears.

One of the owners, Chuck Zell, says he wanted a neighborhood place that was at least a little “different” and welcomed all comers.        Judging by the daytime and evening crowds, a good s

George Eouse, World of Decor president and CEO, just might be onto something: fight the recession by helping to fight hunger.

World of Decor, an Orlando-based fine-furnishings retailer and full-service auction house, has partnered with Kids Against Hunger, an international nonprofit food relief program that has shipped more than 100 million servings of nutrient-rich food to destitute children in 60 countries. Working with Kids Against Hunger to fight hunger across the nation and the world, World of Decor has pledged to help supply one million meals in 2010. To achieve that goal, the company is hosting a series of auctions called “A Celebration of Life,” with a portion of all sales going to support the company’s “One Million Meals” campaign.

Eouse says the recession has taught him a lesson — good businesses shouldn’t be judged by their balance sheets and revenue alone, but also by their ability to make a difference in people’s lives. With one child dying every six seconds from hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations, that’s potentially a huge difference.

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Seminole State College, formerly Seminole Community College, is one of the fastest-growing two-year colleges in the nation for several reasons. Obviously, among them is aggressive community marketing.

Already successfully garnering several recent local partnerships, this month the Fine Arts Department is launching Arts Matters, a lunchtime series of lectures and musical performances at the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus designed to explore various musical genres. All performances are free and open to the public. The intent: engage both students and the community in appreciation of all kinds of music.

The series begins Jan. 20 with “Songs Throughout the Ages: Vocal Coaching of Old Standards,” followed by “Early Influences on the Beatles” on Feb. 17.

Ever wonder about music of the Baroque era or the Fab Four? Now is your chance to learn.

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More on the topic of recession strategies, the University Club of Orlando expects its membership growth to increase as much as 10 percent this year, as part of a nationwide trend called the “Tree House Effect.”

Huh?

The Tree House Effect, explains Susan Greene, general manager of the University Club, is a reflection of the recessionary downturn. For kids, a tree house is a safe harbor during trying times, a place for retreat and reassurance. Greene’s hope is that professional clubs such as the University Club can serve the same purpose for businesspeople. And there is some evidence to support the theory. National figures show that member use of professional clubs, athletic clubs, country clubs and similar safe places is growing as the economy continues to shrink.

Play friends in these tree houses, she adds, share a common goal—social networking—which she labels the “most important strategy we can use when we need to enrich our lives.”

I’m off to the gym.

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It’s certainly not taking long for Dr. Daniel P. Kelly to make a name for himself in Orlando.

The professor and scientific director of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, which arrived last year, was awarded the American Heart Association’s 2009 Basic Research Prize “for groundbreaking investigations describing cardiac metabolism in the normal and diseased heart, including the impact of obesity and diabetes.”

Trained as a cardiologist, Kelly became fascinated, as a young physician–scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, with the rare inborn errors of mitochondrial metabolism that can cause heart failure and sudden death. Through his pioneering work, he has since become instrumental in defining the way nuclear receptors, which represent a new class of drug targets, serve as regulators of cardiac muscle development and function.

And we have him right here in Orlando.

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If you’re a student and want to find campus events, get class listings, locate faculty and staff on campus, and even find out what’s on the dining menu, Stetson University has an app for you.

The technology of the iPhone and iPod Touch, of course, offers many students the ability to record lectures, manage tasks and stay up to date on projects. Stetson, though, is among a handful of schools nationwide, and the only one in Florida, to harness this power and bring it to a whole new level by developing a university-specific iPhone application. The application, available free for download from iTunes, was previewed on campus in April, released in July and approved by Apple in October.

Better yet, it was developed by students. In the semester-long preview project for undergraduates in spring 2009, Stetson’s academic and administrative departments partnered with AT&T and Apple Corp., with the companies contributing funding, service and equipment.

The class was run just as a business would do it when developing a new software product — experiential learning at its best.

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More accolades for local healthcare providers: Orlando Health has been awarded the Eclipsys Circle of Excellence Award for technology innovation in the treatment of patients with sepsis.

Sepsis, an infection-induced organ failure condition, is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States. Severe sepsis is associated with a 20 percent to 50 percent mortality rate among patients, and it represents an annual cost of nearly $17 billion. Eclipsys, a leading developer of advanced integrated clinical, revenue cycle and business process improvement software; clinical content; and professional services, presents the award annually to healthcare organizations that demonstrate innovation and achievements in those areas. Orlando Health was recognized for process improvement that is helping to meet an internal goal of decreasing the relative risk of mortality by 25 percent.

Expertise and effectiveness. Just what we want, and need, in healthcare.