The National Retail
Federation (2,500 members, 100 staff) and the
Retail Industry Leaders Association (60 members
and 30 staff) are planning to merge to strengthen
their lobbying influence (Washington Post 4/22).
ASSOCIATION CONSOLIDATION: More to come and
economic conditions drive less tolerance for
redundancies.
The economy is taking is toll on people as well as
organizations. The American Psychological
Association reported that it poll found that 80%
say the economy is causing significant stress, up
from 66% last year (NY Times 4/9).
GOOD NEWS: The American Association of
Suicidology says that historically there is no
clear tie between suicide and periods of economic
distress (NY Times 5/11).
More bad news on the meeting and convention front.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
reports that 402 conventions and meetings were
canceled between October and March; the Orlando
Convention and Visitors Bureau reports 114
meetings canceled this year as of March (USA
Today 4/14). The American Society of News
Editors switched to a virtual web-based meeting
instead of gathering in Chicago this spring. The
Association of Corporate Travel Executives
reports that 3/4s of companies have restricted
attendance at conferences and seminars.
QUOTE: “Some associations will go under,”
predicts a ACTE spokesperson.
Adult participation in social networking is growing
rapidly, with 1/3 of adult Internet users having a
profile on a site, up from 8% in 2005 (USA Today
3/27). Another source reports 16.5 million
adults ages 55 and older engage in social
networking. AARP.org’s 350,000 users have
created 1,700 groups in just one year.
How well are most associations using social media?
“They know of it. But their knowledge, and more
importantly their strategic view of it, is really
limited.” Says David Nour (Associations Now,
5/2009). He goes on: “A bunch of people on the
board who’ve got cobwebs hanging off their suits are
probably not the best people to determine if social
network inspection makes sense. Their members are
already there…”
COMMENT: Most associations missed the boat,
but as AARP shows, you can catch up.
The print to digital
shift beat goes on. The Magazine Publishers of
America says magazine advertising will decline
11% this year, with share of advertising revenue
down to 10.9% from 11.5% last year (NY Times 4/18).
Cincinnati Bell will offer residential White Pages
only by request, as consumers go online or use cell
phones for numbers (USA Today 5/1).
Newspapers and magazine companies are backing
ventures to develop alternatives to compete with
Kindle, Amazon.com’s e-reader (WSJ 5/4).
COMMENT: All but two items in this
newsletter were clipped from my Kindle. I don’t
know about books, but I’ll never go back to
newsprint.
Is Twitter, with 32.1 million users, up from 1.6
million a year a go (and still no revenue stream), a
fad? Think twice before dismissing it. Starbucks,
Whole Foods and Dell use it to see what their
customers are thinking as they use their product (NY
Times 4/14). Twitter may have application for
home security alerts or patient monitoring. Doctors
use Twitter to ask for help and share information
regarding procedures. Surgeons in Detroit recently
Twittered throughout a recent brain surgery.
IDEA: An entire story on the economy by USA
TODAY was developed using only Twitter that involved
Jack Welch of GE, Steve Case of AOL and 19 other top
“Tweetable” CEOs.
Faced with potential
staff layoffs? If you think that you have staff
that you may need back in the near term, consider a
strategy by major law firm. Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom has offered all of its 1,300
associates world-wide the option of accepting 1/3 of
their pay to take a year off (NY Times 4/14).
Think teenagers are all about technology? Check out
the most recent high school trend: hugging (NY
Times 5/28). The ritual is spreading so fast
that schools from New Jersey to Oregon have banned
hugging or imposed a three-second rule. “The hug
has become the favorite social greeting when
teenagers meet or part these days…prohugging
students say it not a romantic or sexual gesture,
simply the ‘hello’ of their generation.” Says one
hugger, “The high-five is, like, boring.”
Here are some new statistics from the ballpark. A
board member of the American Restroom Association
reports that the new Yankee and Mets baseball
stadiums will collectively have 1,500 toilet
fixtures (NY Times 4/14).
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