I just read today’s headline about the jump in jobless claims and immediately started to contrast that story with all the good news I am hearing on the street from AV folks. For the past month I have heard almost exclusively about better than expected revenue and revenue forecasts. › Continue reading…
Tag: unemployment
Tags: audio video, audio visual, audiovisual, business, economy, InfoComm, job interview, managing personnel, personnel, Recession, recovery, reduce costs, social networking, Tom Stimson, Trends, trstimson, unemployment
2008-09 has been a study in business defense. Adjusting staffing levels, hedging operating budgets, and rethinking strategies has consumed most small businesses – and it is getting kinda old. We all seem to be waiting for some sort of sign that will trigger us back into business offense. If defense is characterized by control and saving, then offense has to be the willingness to take some risks and bet that there is more available upside than downside. The past couple of months have proven to a lot of folks that recent upticks of activity have been just bursts and not trends. What will be the your true indicator to switch gears? › Continue reading…
The Dow Jones index is hovering around 9900, October has been a busy month, and the pipeline for 2010 has new activity. It’s time to celebrate because the economy is coming back…right? As much as I want to be excited about the spurt in business so many of us are seeing, I want to caution against resuming “business as usual”. When we get busy we start to miss the people, suppliers, and perks we still had before the Recession. The natural tendency is to reward the team for their sacrifice by hiring up, suspending those furlough days, and reinstating full salaries. I don’t think it is time yet to do this – for most of us. › Continue reading…
The number of adults going back to school traditionally increases in an economic downturns. Laid-of workers will apply their severance to re-education. Sometimes they change careers, but often they get the training their former employers neglected – which probably made that worker expendable in the first place. › Continue reading…
On the business page of USA Today there was one of those mini polls that asked how long folks took to make up their mind after interviewing a job candidate. I chuckled because I thought “Do people really wait until after the interview to decide?” › Continue reading…
This is great news for a Friday the 13th. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the travel and business meetings industry – several top executives got an audience with President Obama. It seems the President listened and understood. See this news story after the jump: › Continue reading…
This morning I am recovering from several days in the Colorado mountains attending a business retreat. This was exactly the kind even that – if the host was a TARP recipient – would cause hypocritical Senators to make a big stink. › Continue reading…
I spoke with a college student the other day on behalf of a professor friend of mine. This young theater student was interested in a career in audio and wanted advice from an old pro in the events business. He was thinking of leaving school. I remember how eager I was at that age to start work and maybe go on the road. › Continue reading…
