Kenji Haroutunian, the Show Director for the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow, commented on a prior and incorrect version of this blog post. Kenji says that OR will not use the Energy Solutions Arena for the 2009 Outdoor Retailer show or any future show. I misread an email from an OR account rep.
2009 exhibitors should be pleased that Kenji and the OR staff have been responsive to feedback about Outdoor Retailer. Placing all exhibitors in the same building is an improvement over last year's show, both for exhibitors and retailers, and shows that OR runs its show in good faith and with respect for all attendees.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Choose Your Friends, Coworkers, and Friends' Friends Wisely
Science is beginning to learn that human beings are even more social than we'd realized.
Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says
"How happy you are may depend on how happy your friends’ friends’ friends are, even if you don’t know them at all. And a cheery next-door neighbor has more effect on your happiness than your spouse’s mood. So says a new study that followed a large group of people for 20 years — happiness is more contagious than previously thought." Click to continue.
Which is why it's so critical for our spouses to have a healthy work environment...
370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us
"A bad apple, at least at work, can spoil the whole barrel. And there's research to prove it. This American Life host Ira Glass talks to Will Felps, a professor at Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, who designed an experiment to see what happens when a bad worker joins a team. Felps divided people into small groups and gave them a task. One member of the group would be an actor, acting either like a jerk, a slacker or a depressive. And within 45 minutes, the rest of the group started behaving like the bad apple. Felps found three types of bad apples:
1. the jerk
2. the slacker
3. the depressive pessimist
Click to continue on to the TAL website, where you can listen to the whole episode.
...and friends who don't smoke...
Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking
"Smokers tend to quit in groups, the study finds, which means smoking cessation programs should work best if they focus on groups rather than individuals. It also means that people may help many more than just themselves by quitting: quitting can have a ripple effect prompting an entire social network to break the habit." Click to continue.
...and friends who are thin...
Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends
"Obesity can spread from person to person, much like a virus, researchers are reporting today. When one person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too... Researchers report...that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent. There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends. It did not even matter if the friend was hundreds of miles away, the influence remained. And the greatest influence of all was between close mutual friends. There, if one became obese, the other had a 171 percent increased chance of becoming obese, too. The same effect seemed to occur for weight loss, the investigators say." Click to continue.
Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says
"How happy you are may depend on how happy your friends’ friends’ friends are, even if you don’t know them at all. And a cheery next-door neighbor has more effect on your happiness than your spouse’s mood. So says a new study that followed a large group of people for 20 years — happiness is more contagious than previously thought." Click to continue.
Which is why it's so critical for our spouses to have a healthy work environment...
370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us
"A bad apple, at least at work, can spoil the whole barrel. And there's research to prove it. This American Life host Ira Glass talks to Will Felps, a professor at Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, who designed an experiment to see what happens when a bad worker joins a team. Felps divided people into small groups and gave them a task. One member of the group would be an actor, acting either like a jerk, a slacker or a depressive. And within 45 minutes, the rest of the group started behaving like the bad apple. Felps found three types of bad apples:
1. the jerk
2. the slacker
3. the depressive pessimist
Click to continue on to the TAL website, where you can listen to the whole episode.
...and friends who don't smoke...
Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking
"Smokers tend to quit in groups, the study finds, which means smoking cessation programs should work best if they focus on groups rather than individuals. It also means that people may help many more than just themselves by quitting: quitting can have a ripple effect prompting an entire social network to break the habit." Click to continue.
...and friends who are thin...
Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends
"Obesity can spread from person to person, much like a virus, researchers are reporting today. When one person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too... Researchers report...that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent. There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends. It did not even matter if the friend was hundreds of miles away, the influence remained. And the greatest influence of all was between close mutual friends. There, if one became obese, the other had a 171 percent increased chance of becoming obese, too. The same effect seemed to occur for weight loss, the investigators say." Click to continue.
Publishing's "Last-Man-Standing" Strategy
The New York Times reported on itself earlier this month. The publicly-owned company's CEO laid out plans to weather the recession during a conference call:
"As other newspapers cut back on international and national coverage, or cease operations, we believe there will be opportunities for The Times to fill that void,” she said, for both readers and advertisers."
Janet Robinson couldn't be more right. The same scenario is playing out over several two-paper regional metro areas. In Denver, for example, The Denver Post just outlasted The Rocky Mountain News, which today announced that it will publish its last edition tomorrow.
When times are tough, it pays to be bigger, responsibly financed, and better branded. In fact, tough times offer the opportunity to improve all three conditions.
Reality check: Are your expenses in line with your revenues? Are there business functions or products that are not justifying their level of resources? A down economy offers companies a great excuse to bring expenses back into line. Or, as TechCrunch puts it, to preemptively cut costs or eliminate deadweight. Creative destruction destroys many companies, but a little internal destruction can bring your company back down to fighting weight. When the economy comes back, you're already in great shape.
Advertise now! During a recession is the best time to advertise. Ad-supported media like magazines and newspapers are economic bellwethers; ad sales drop soon after retail sales drop. Well financed companies must take advantage of desperate publishers and ad reps to get better placement, better rates, and more runs. Particularly useful is the long-term ad buy. If you signal that you are looking to make a six-month or yearlong advertising commitment, an ad rep will be much more willing to offer a below-rate-card discount. Assuming your competition doesn't undertake the same strategy, your product will be the only one advertising. You can take market share during the recession and invest in your brand while waiting for the economy to rebound. If you are fortunate enough that the economy rebounds before the end of your ad contract, so much the better.
Smell blood? Price like a predator. Is your competition burdened with debt? Do you see any competitors who are relatively weak? A down economy is the best time to put the hurt on your competition. Offer promotional pricing or bundle products in creative ways. Do anything you can to deny revenue to your competitors. Burn cash reserves, knowing that your competitors don't have them.
Any responsibly financed company can undertake the New York Times last-man-standing strategy. Depending on your market, you might be the only one left to serve customers in 2010.
"As other newspapers cut back on international and national coverage, or cease operations, we believe there will be opportunities for The Times to fill that void,” she said, for both readers and advertisers."
Janet Robinson couldn't be more right. The same scenario is playing out over several two-paper regional metro areas. In Denver, for example, The Denver Post just outlasted The Rocky Mountain News, which today announced that it will publish its last edition tomorrow.
When times are tough, it pays to be bigger, responsibly financed, and better branded. In fact, tough times offer the opportunity to improve all three conditions.
Reality check: Are your expenses in line with your revenues? Are there business functions or products that are not justifying their level of resources? A down economy offers companies a great excuse to bring expenses back into line. Or, as TechCrunch puts it, to preemptively cut costs or eliminate deadweight. Creative destruction destroys many companies, but a little internal destruction can bring your company back down to fighting weight. When the economy comes back, you're already in great shape.
Advertise now! During a recession is the best time to advertise. Ad-supported media like magazines and newspapers are economic bellwethers; ad sales drop soon after retail sales drop. Well financed companies must take advantage of desperate publishers and ad reps to get better placement, better rates, and more runs. Particularly useful is the long-term ad buy. If you signal that you are looking to make a six-month or yearlong advertising commitment, an ad rep will be much more willing to offer a below-rate-card discount. Assuming your competition doesn't undertake the same strategy, your product will be the only one advertising. You can take market share during the recession and invest in your brand while waiting for the economy to rebound. If you are fortunate enough that the economy rebounds before the end of your ad contract, so much the better.
Smell blood? Price like a predator. Is your competition burdened with debt? Do you see any competitors who are relatively weak? A down economy is the best time to put the hurt on your competition. Offer promotional pricing or bundle products in creative ways. Do anything you can to deny revenue to your competitors. Burn cash reserves, knowing that your competitors don't have them.
Any responsibly financed company can undertake the New York Times last-man-standing strategy. Depending on your market, you might be the only one left to serve customers in 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)