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