Much ado about...

One of the things that amazes me most about our business is how we're always looking for an Enemy. It seems without something to rail against we're never really happy.

Back in the Neolithic period, it was Debit Cards. Then it was Gift Cards. The Internet showed up soon thereafter, sorta like Godzilla, there to destroy Tokyo and everyone in it.

Today, it's Amazon. If it's not "they're taking our customers", it's "they're destroying price stability", or "they'll soon have all the loyalty programs". For an entity not all that concerned about our channel, they sure make plenty of Scary Noises.

So we whip up a froth, take up our arms, and attack. But what exactly are we attacking? It seems sorta like this (there's volume, so feel free to crank it up:

Amazon probably doesn't even know about the armies poised to inflict Mass Chaos. And I'm guessing they probably don't care. But it's got us spun up into Righteous Indignation and allows us to ignore the changing marketplace in front of our eyes in favor of this faraway foe that may or may not be a long-term threat.

To Arms! To Arms!...

Pete

Well, now that THAT'S settled...

I'm sleeping much better these days. The sky seems a little bluer, there's a spring in my step, and I don't have those awful feelings of dread I once did.

What's causing all this giddiness? Drugs? I wish. No, I'm so Over the Moon because end-users, the scourge of the world, have now been re-barred from attending the PPAI Expo.

This is a Big Deal because the threat of buyers walking freely amongst us was causing palpitations from Maine to Hawaii. The mere thought of an end-user being in the same room with resellers was enough to evoke, well, Mass Hysteria:



But the Cooler Heads have prevailed. No, we won't have this pox upon our trade show. We'll have it like we always have had it--end-users getting badges from their distributor friends and walking the show clandestinely.

That's MUCH better, isn't it?


Pete