You're Fired!

I got fired last week. 

"Term limit"--is sounds better.  Up until last Tuesday, I was President of the Incentive Marnufacturers and Representatives Alliance (we need fewer words), or IMRA.  The Reign of Terror that began with a thunderclap the year before in Nashville ended with a whimper, as I was given my piece of glass and exited Stage Left.

And as I gazed at that chunk of glass, with my name there documenting it all, I began to think some about what I accomplished in the year I served as IMRA's Big Kahuna.  And at that instant you truly have a moment of clarity about "volunteer leadership" and what an exercise in Herding Cats it is. 

Ostemsibly, I led the Alliance.  But let's be material about this--I led NOTHING.  I wrangled, I cajoled, I begged, and in some cases I bullied our membership to engage in its future.  I cared, so you don't have to.  But I wasn't willing to accept that--I demanded participation.  And to some extent I got some.  I'll put that on my List of Accomplishments.

I also got a chance to hear from members on subjects they cared about.  Perhaps I planted a couple of seeds that will sprout into some passion, and that person will join a task force or even run for the Board.  That's an Accomplishment.

The Board was willing to humor me with discussions about Important Subjects.   Now we won't act on all of them, and may act less forcefully on others, but we discussed them, and did so in an adult way that allowed eveyone to weigh in.  Given the diversity in the Alliance, that was indeed an Accomplishment.

OK, so it wasn't so bad.  I got some stuff done.  I pushed the pile forward, and left a new pile for my successor to push (or not, depending on her interest in the subject).  Time will tell.  But even if she throws away my entire Agenda, that does not lessen the Accomplishment.  At least I don't think so.

Now I wander off into Ex-President Land.  Another year on IMRA's Board as the Immediate Past President, with no vote but the chance to weigh in on what's going on.  And I have all this time!  God forbid, maybe I'll spend it on my JOB, attempting to reverse the Curse of the IMRA Presidency that appears to have infected us. 

Was it worth it?  Yeah.  I saw what everyone else sees in Volunteer Leadership--a chance to channel passion for the business into Good.  And even if it wasn't perfect, or even great, it was good.  I'm glad I did it.  And I recommend it highly for anybody seeking to know more about the sandbox they play in. 

Crap--does this mean I should run for ANOTHER Board? 


Pete

OK, now that THAT'S over...

Greetings from Tampa, site of the 42nd (43rd?) IMRA Marketing Conference.  We convene here in Sunny Florida in the midst of a Life-Changing Event for me.  But enough about the end of my term as IMRA's President--there's stuff to deal with!

On Monday (23) I will facilitate a "town-hall" meeting to discuss issues relevant to the marketplace and our places in it.  After a pretty good 2011 we've seen a slowdown so far in 2012 (and most people I'm speaking to concur).  And during times of challenge our market LOVES to engage in baseless speculation about the future of our business. I plan to exploit that paranoia to the fullest during the session.

There's all manner of Boogeymen out there, waiting to strike.  May I call the roll?

• Amazon.  Left for dead, I'm reminded of Emperor Palpatine, who once said "Now witness the firepower of this fully-armed and operational battle station!".  So it may be with them.  Reports of their demise may have been exaggerated...
• Suppliers.  "Bueller?  Bueller?"  There are fewer of us out there and the prospects for more of us are receding into the sunset.  The "multiples" are in ascension and all of us who actually work for the brands will be threatened by their existence
• Uber-suppliers:  But even the "multiples" have nightmares.   Theirs are about those enormous wholesale distributors who are only now discovering our business.  Know who D&H is?  You will...
• Promotional Products Distributors--how can our customers be Boogeymen?  When they aren't really our customers. Instead, they have become time-sucking zombies that take our time and effort but return very little.  It's become Waiting for Godot expecting them to represent any significant business.

Add this cast of characters to the Usual Suspects (gift cards, internet sites, "Amazon-esque" experiences) and you get Trouble, with a capital "T" that rhymes with "G" and that stands for "Gigantic Product Assortments" (I know, "pool" was more elegant but we have few issues with pool in our channel.  Sue me).

So if I'm lucky (and good) I'll whip this into a lather that will hopefully lead to some answers and not just a whining session.  Last year's "town hall" was the beginning of a true dialog between the significant players in our business.  We need more of these, and more often.  If I succeed in getting back-and-forth, then I think we'll all be winners.

So, I'll set my newly-installed pacemaker to "stun" and enter the fray.  I'll try to get back and recount how it all went...

Pete 

PS:  Levon Helm died this week.  While I'm not a big fan of The Band, I thought about his narration of the 1983 movie The Right Stuff.  Here's the ending, which I'm hoping I'm not spoiling for anybody who doesn't know anything about the US Space Program.  Fast-forward to the 3:56 mark to hear Levon end one of the greatest movies of the past 30 years (with a rousing score by Bill Conti at the end)...

Problems? What problems?

Since it's been for-EVAH since my last post, one might surmise that there are all manner of items to discuss.  How the latest Boogeyman treatens to destroy our civilization and lay waste to all we have built.  You might surmise that--but you'd be wrong. 

I actually am blissfully blind to all threats, real and perceived.  I couldn't possibly care less about whether Amazon is really back in the business, or whether the good year we had in 2011 is evaporating into a very tough 2012. 

My devil-may-care attitude is attributable to a single issue--for the past 9 months I have been through the wringer health-wise and now, finally, on Friday the Thirteenth no less, I may be finished with it.  I'm off to scenic Durham, NC and the Duke Medical Center, to have a pacemaker implanted. 

This allegedly will end my arrhythmias, the irregular heartbeats that have caused chronic fatigue and all manner of other symptoms since last July.  I say "allegedly" because we thought we had this identified a couple of times before only to have our hopes dashed.  This time, however, there is data on the doctors' side and they're pretty sure they've got it nailed.

The combination of the impending procedure and the beta-blockers I'm taking (a holdover from previous diagnoses) have changed my outlook on almost everything.  And while I "care" about the direction of the business, I don't Care enough to get very fired up about it.  Come to think of it, the beta-blockers render me pretty much incapable of getting fired up about ANYTHING, but that's another story.

So a little Perspective has been dumped into my lap and I find it illuminating.  It's allowed me to see old issues with new eyes.  I still have concerns about the medium-to-long term future of our channel.  I still think the retailers will usurp the duties traditionally performed by manufacturers.  Reps are dinosaurs and the meteor hit 3 years ago.  Those reps that don't morph into resellers or information brokers are doomed. 

The promotional products business, so lusted after by the brands, is a wasteland for us.  The PP community needs us when they need us and not a moment before.  To speak to them about the benefits of selling brands is like speaking to a pencil.  It's not that they CAN'T "get it", it's that they DON'T HAVE to "get it" until their client MAKES them "get it".  No amount of cajoling/pleading/trumpeting will change that.  Ever. 

Associations are increasingly challenged to create a value proposition, so we're heading for a time when we're more like "confederations" instead of "associations"--we work together when we need to, and then separate until the next time it's useful to cooperate.  We are truly "bowling alone" (http://www.bowlingalone.com/).

What's it all mean?  You're asking ME?  Pacemaker Boy?  Who couldn't possibly care less until Friday the Thirteenth, when this thing either works or it doesn't?  Please.  But I expect to be back at it next week, and THEN I can think about thinking about it...

Pete