Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Michael Pollack
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![]() | This discussion was subject to a deletion review on 2012 December 9. For an explanation of the process, see Wikipedia:Deletion review. |
- The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was delete. MBisanz talk 01:46, 22 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Michael Pollack (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)
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BLP that seems to be promotion of non-notable business person. Author is self-described "internet marketer" SPA. Sources do not back up claims in article. Taking to AfD directly for consensus. §FreeRangeFrog 00:42, 31 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. — Frankie (talk) 18:25, 1 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.
- Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Wifione Message 04:09, 7 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.
- Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, -- Cheers, Riley Huntley 02:28, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Delete for now - I feel as if he is not notable for Wikipedia at this time. Google News provided one result here for a Goodwill of Central Arizona award, 2012 Business Partner of the Year, noting that he has supported other charities and another result here where he is mentioned twice for a project. Google News provided one result here for a charity dinner and auction he hosted. I also found an article here that mentions some of his 1980s projects, two apartments called Colonial House and Orchard Apartments. It appears he received additional coverage in September/October 2011 for his son's death here, here and here. Through pollackinvestments.com, I found a news article here and others listed here. Unfortunately, I haven't found the most recent news articles through the publisher's website and we can't solely rely with what pollackinvestments.com lists. My own search provided another news article here, noting that he operates a movie theater, plays in a band and was interviewed by The Arizona Republic in 2004 (I haven't located the 2004 article). However, while searching "Michael Pollack" at the newspaper's website, I found other relevant results. Most of them are for his son's death but some of them including this one note that he offered a space for the Salvation Army. I found another article here. Honestly, it seems as if he is a local developer and not a national one including another Arizona-based project here. SwisterTwister talk 20:35, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Delete. Without rehashing SwisterTwister's comments above, I see sources and some run-of-the-mill local importance, but nothing to indicate encyclopedic notability. --Kinu t/c 07:03, 16 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment: Michael Pollack was well known in Houston for promoting apartment developments in Gulfton, Houston back in the 1980s. I'll check the Chronicle archives and see if I can get in depth material about him WhisperToMe (talk) 20:51, 19 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep: If there are sufficient in-depth sources one can claim WP:GNG. I think I found some:
- Kaplan, David. "WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ... / Ex-Houston pitchman Michael Pollack has made it in Arizona / Fame, fortune followed him West." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday April 15, 2008. Business 1.
- Sheridan, Mike. "Michael Pollack plans to return to Houston." Houston Chronicle. Thursday February 5, 1987. Business 1.
- "0" "Michael A. Pollack." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday August 14, 1985. Travel 4SO.
- Barlow, Jim. "Another decade, another wrap-up." Houston Chronicle. Sunday December 17, 1989. Business 1.
- This one ranks him as "Worst Houston Apartment Operator"
- Lomax, John Nova. "Back in the High Life: Michael Pollack and the VCR Bikini Hottie." Houston Press. Friday December 7, 2007.
- I have used GNG to make notable articles based on "local" stuff related to major metropolitan areas. Greater Houston is one of two major metro areas in Texas. Again, if one is "locally" important in a major metro area it can be good enough for WP purposes. Also he seems to have been active in multiple areas (Arizona and Texas), so this should add to his notability.
- File:LanternVillageApartmentsGulftonTX.JPG was the apartment complex Pollack developed in Houston (it was Colonial House Apartments but became Lantern Village) - If/when his article is rewritten I would love to see that picture go up in his article. Gulfton, Houston was an article I worked very hard on, and Pollack is a part of Gulfton history for building this complex.
- WhisperToMe (talk) 20:53, 19 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep: If there are sufficient in-depth sources one can claim WP:GNG. I think I found some:
Delete. Basically trivial coverage in a local paper. Of the sources listed above, one is a blog and one begins "This is an advertisement!" All of them talk about him mainly because of a commercial for an apartment complex - nothing really about the man. Karanacs (talk) 21:56, 20 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment:
- Firstly, the Houston Press "blog" is a production of the newspaper staff, so it counts as a newspaper article and not as a blog.
- Secondly, one can get sufficient numbers of "local" newspaper articles from a major metropolitan area and prove notability using those articles.
- Thirdly it's not "trivial coverage" since at least some of these articles talk about him in depth. The example at Wikipedia:N#cite_ref-1 states, to illustrate what is trivial and what is not: "^ Examples: The 360-page book by Sobel and the 528-page book by Black on IBM are plainly non-trivial. The one sentence mention by Walker of the band Three Blind Mice in a biography of Bill Clinton (Martin Walker (1992-01-06). "Tough love child of Kennedy". The Guardian. "In high school, he was part of a jazz band called Three Blind Mice.") is plainly trivial."
- Fourthly, the "0" article from 1985 does start with "This is an advertisement!" but I'm not sure if it is an advertising supplement or if it a schtick that the article author used. I could go to the microfilm archives in Houston and see if there is a print copy of this article that clarifies it. Even if it is an ad not written by the newspaper staff, there's three other articles.
- Fifthly, about the assessment "All of them talk about him mainly because of a commercial for an apartment complex - nothing really about the man" that assessment fails to take into account how the advertisements made the man, and how the articles discuss other aspects.
- Kaplan's article says explicitly "Pollack mania grew out of his TV ads for Colonial House Apartments, a 1,800-unit complex near the corner of Gulfton and Chimney Rock." - The commercial for the apartment complex made him notable in the Houston area. Then the article continues "No longer the Pied Piper of swinging singles, Pollack, 53, is a successful community-minded real estate developer based in Mesa, Ariz. Pollack fans can take heart in knowing he hasn't lost his flair." so now it's talking about the person himself.
- Sheridan's article "Michael Pollack plans to return to Houston" talks extensively about Pollack's plans in Houston: "Pollack, whose name became a household word following an extensive ad campaign touting the renovated Colonial House Apartments more than two years ago, said Wednesday that he and a group of investors plan to purchase upwards of 2,000 apartment units in the Houston area over the next few months." and "The 33-year-old California native said he is working with lenders and private investors, who asked him to visit Houston to scout potential properties." - Again significant coverage
- Lomax's article states additional details about Lomax beyond the video: "He was positively encrusted with gold medallions, he wore a mean pair of snakeskin boots, and Lord have mercy, that hair. Nobody this side of Maurice Gibb has ever rocked a more flowing lion’s mane of winged disco hair." and "Many of us were unaware that Pollack, who is alive and well in the Phoenix area, has a musical side -- he is the drummer in a 12-piece soul / rock / R&B cover band called A Corporate Affair."
- WhisperToMe (talk) 05:13, 21 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- We have different definitions of extensive and trivial. To me, pretty much everything you mentioned is trivial - flowing hair? drummer in a local rock band? He owns apartments and had one tv commercial that people thought was funny. That's not enough, imo, to meet the GNG. Karanacs (talk) 16:45, 21 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.