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July 2009

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I attended the Energy Roundtable and Exhibition, sponsored by the Dayton Development Coalition, on June 26th. I was impressed by the credentials of the featured speakers and panelists and the well-intended efforts of the DDC to educate regional businesses looking to capitalize on the renewable energy and energy efficiency movement in our country. Thank you, Chris Meyer. Good program.

Continue reading Long-Term Impact of Energy Movement

I am sharing some insights here that will eventually get to a point related to B2B - so read on and be patient.

A few weeks ago, we purchased a new-to-us (i.e., used, and now brilliantly marketed as certified) Honda Pilot. This was much to my delight, as I have been trying to persuade my husband to do this since January. I had been itching to rid ourselves of a GMC Envoy. I could write an entirely different blog about the demise of GM based on my personal opinions of local union situations as well as the poor quality product that I drove for almost 5 years. But we can wait for another day for that one. Plus, I was humbled a few weeks ago by a lengthy conversation with a GM retiree in the parking lot of Kroger. (Don’t ask my why but perfect strangers are happy to share their life stories with me often.) He was so proud of those GMC Envoys, helping build the frames for over 6 years. So far be it from me to take away from that kind of dedication to one’s work.

Continue reading Who is Your Customer?

It’s time to change the world’s perception of American manufacturers. Known for quality products and a hard-working attitude, American manufacturing companies experienced growth by building solid relationships and delivering on production promises. For the most part, their customer base was established, and little to no lead generation, marketing or major sales efforts were necessary. Prospecting meant answering the phone and taking an order – and then building a quality product on time and up to the new customer’s expectations.

With the current economic scenario, this model simply will not work for most manufacturers. Continue reading It’s Time to Get Creative, Manufacturers

I attended EMTEC’s conference about transitioning Ohio manufacturers to medical device manfacturing. If attendance is an indication of interest, then we can assume the Ohio manufacturing base is ready to re-tool for medical. The problem is, according to many presenters, so is every other state with a signficant manufacturing base. Consider the state of Michigan which employs the heady medical industry consultant, Christophe J-P Sevrain, to guide and implement its strategy. He’s very impressive. Hopefully, Ohio-based organizations such as BioOhio and The Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center will achieve their visions of Ohio job growth in important medical industry sectors.

Continue reading Re-tooling Ohio’s Manufacturers for Medical

My last missive extolled the virtues of Greek literature, philosophy, history, mathematics and science. Just imagine if Ptolemy’s Library at Alexandria had not been destroyed by fire – think of the many wonders like Hero’s steam engine about which we could have learned.

I’ve subsequently been asked why I am so ensorcelled by the Greeks. In Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, the women of Greece go on a sex strike in hopes of forcing their menfolk to end the Peloponnesian War. That’s a pretty good bargaining chip in a monogramous society. While it didn’t work, you have to admit it was an imagainative strategy. (I wonder who gave in first? With the men preoccupied with matters of life and death, I’m guessing they grew a wee bit “anxious” and succumbed… so to speak.)

In Aeschylus’s Oresteia, “So Agmemnon steeled his heart to make his own daughter the sacrifice, an offering for the Achaean fleet, so he could prosecute the war to avenge that woman Helen.” Now there’s a profile in courage and leadership.

Everything was going swimmingly for the Greeks (after the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars) until they got embroiled in the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage, i.e., Tunisia. To make a long story short, Rome kicked Carthaginian butt, including Hannibal’s, and annexed Greece in the process around 175 B.C. Now, the Romans were off and running.

So whom should your reading list of Roman notables include?

• The satirists. Juvenal’s 16 extant satires and Horace’s Odest Epistles offer insightful glimpses of Roman everyday life. Juvenal is benign and maybe a bit “juvenile”; Horace is brutally frank - especially about politicians.
• The poets. Cicero, the greatest Roman orator, politican and philosopher wrote letters to Atticus, Quintus (his brother), Brutus (yes, that Brutus) and Caelius. Virgil, a pastoral poet, wrote the Ecologues and Aeneid (a national epic honoring Rome and foretelling prosperity).

Ovid wrote the Metamorphoses, a collection of myths concerned with miraculous transformations. Kind of like a treasury of modern day Disney stories. And then there were Lucretius and Catullus, somewhat minor yet worth a look. Oh, and of course, Caesar’s Commentaries. Great stuff about Gaul, the Goths and, my favorite barbarian horde, the Aduatucci. He and Marcus Aurelius are musts to read.

So there you have it: A list of the best - the Greeks and the Romans. Become familiar with this stuff and you’ll be able to fool everyone at the next cocktail party as to the quality of your breeding and the extent of your erudition. More importantly, you’ll never have to read anything else, with the exceptions of selected Shakespeare, Dante, Milton and several other luminaries, as it literally has all been said before.

Just one more thing before signing off. You really should know something about one of my all-time favorites, the Greek orator, Demosthenes. Here’s a guy who had a lot to say but his diction and delivery were awful. Legend has it he put marbles in his mouth to practice and improve his oratorical skills. Now that was commitment and probably the source of the appellation, “marble mouth,” to describe someone with impeded speech. Demosthenes was a champion of liberty but rode the wrong horse in a political conflict with Macedon. He was exiled and eventually poisoned himself rather than live in tyranny. Now that’s commitment! And maybe a lesson which we can learn pertaining to contemporary politics.

“…investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture, increased from US $34 billion in 2004 to $150 billion in both 2007 and 2008….it is projected to be $350 billion by 2020.”
-AWEA Supply Chain Seminar

I just arrived from Chicago after attending the American Wind Energy Association’s conference, Windpower.  Even as a rookie in trade show experiences, this one certainly stood out. The conference was incredible in both size and scope. It was pointedly obvious there is a reason more than 25,000 attendees were expected during the week of the show. Wind energy has been gaining interest in the minds of more Americans, thanks to the recent memory of high oil prices (despite the temporary price relief – which is temporary) and shifting political winds. It seems more and more realistic that wind turbines could be a serious player in providing energy resources – but how realistic?

Continue reading The US Wind Industry - Thoughts after Windpower ‘09

Is it just me, or has the whole world joined Facebook? It was only 2006 that Facebook opened its gates to everyone other than its original user base of college students. Now more than two-thirds of its users are outside of college. According to Facebook, the “over 35” demographic is the fastest growing segment, with 23% growth in February 2009 as compared to February 2008. Most surprisingly, the fastest growing group of users on Facebook is women over 55.

Continue reading Social Media – Not Just Kids’ Stuff Anymore

The American Wind Energy Association (http://www.awea.org/) is taking place this week in Chicago, and I am literally blown away. (Horrible pun - I know.) Almost 20,000 attendees are anticipated to arrive tomorrow as the conference officially begins. That is 9,000 more people than last year, and the enthusiasim and interest is evident throughout the McCormick Place Convention Center. I must admit that it is refreshing to hear positive news about an industry during these tough economic times.

Continue reading Live from the Windy City - 2009 AWEA Conference!

I am occasionally asked by those seeking to have their visages added to a revised version of Raphael’s “School of Athens” in the Vatican’s Stanza della Sagnatura: What should I read (or at least be familiar with) to take my place among Sophocles, Pythagorus, Euclid and the other luminaries depicted therein? Having had the benefits of a classical education, including Greek and Latin language studies, I offer the following suggestions to you unlettered and untutored slugs.

Continue reading The Cranky Communicator: Tips on Being Learned or at Least Giving the Impression of Being So

Abstract

Due to the state of the economy, B2B marketers are facing even greater pressure than normal to produce programs that will help retain existing customers while still generating demand from prospects. This TriComB2B white paper provides practical examples of how to best target marketing efforts to accomplish those goals during 2009.

Download the white paper and learn how to:

• Conduct a physical of your company’s status in the marketplace
• Apply the Law of Attraction to lead generating tactics
• Build a long-term relationship with customers

Continue reading Making the Most of Your B2B Marketing Dollars in 2009

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