My Meeting With The Man, Huizenga Himself

Breaking news: Wayne Huizenga uses an iPhone.

Yes, the man himself, the owner of half of South Florida, the founder of Blockbuster, the former majority owner of the Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers and Florida Marlins, prefers the iPhone as opposed to the Blackberry or Droid. As he says, "I'm trying to get my wife to switch from the Blackberry to an iPhone, but you know how that stuff goes."

So how do I know this? I asked the man himself. Our magazine had a chance to interview and snap some photos of him this past Thursday. The venue was the Fort Lauderdale History Center, right off the New River. The full article, written by our publisher Bernie McCormick, will be in our October issue, but here are some snapshots of my take of it:

• He came dressed in a beautiful navy suit, complete with a Miami Dolphins pin attached to his left lapel.
• The man couldn't have been more affable, more down-to-earth than anyone else I've met. He was funny, animated and personable. Sure, his words were more cautious due to his high profile, but he had such an easy way about him. He even asked our photographer, Josh Ritchie, if he could help pack up Josh's photo equipment. Now how's that for down-to-earth?
• He likes diet Coke. When asked what drink he wanted to sip on during our interview, the man himself requested a diet.
• He looks you right in the eye when he talks. Even with little ol' me, Mr. Huizenga gave me the kindness and honor of talking with me, not at me. He listened when I had two cents to give and responded to everything I said.
• Currently, he's 72 years old, NOT 73. Two hours earlier, when I asked my publisher Bernie how old Mr. Huizenga was, Bernie confidently said 73. Foolishly, I actually listened to Bernie, and during the interview I said to Huizenga: "So, Mr. Huizenga, being 73 years old, do you have any plans to retire?" Ummm, yeah, I was quickly corrected.

Overall, I had a blast with Mr. Huizenga. The two hours our magazine team had with him were awesome, and it was nice to discover how such a powerful man can be so grounded. Now if I can just discover how to do business like him...