The past two weeks flew by, between Hong Kong and Beijing, both of which were amazing. Today, I’m back on home turf, fighting the cold of the century and 13 hours of jet lag, which means half my body wants to sleep off the bug, half my body wants to sleep thinking it’s the middle of the night, and none of my body can sleep until 10:00 p.m. each night or I’ll be a train wreck in New York a week from now.
Wish me luck.
In spite of the extraordinary differences between the very western, very modern Hong Kong and the ancient traditions of Beijing, two constants existed between the cities-—a very sincere interest in what’s happening with the U.S. economy and how we’re handling the H1N1 virus–making for some fairly interesting conversations. [click here to continue…]
For those of you who don’t already know, I’m in Hong Kong right now, as a featured speaker at The Hong Kong Gifts and Premiums Show-—the largest gift show in the world. Having spoken here once before, I can attest to the fact that Americans are very warmly welcomed here, by exceedingly gracious hosts.
Unlike the gift shows US retailers are familiar with, this one caters to large orders (read: minimum 1,000 pieces is not uncommon) and custom made goods to be sold by international vendors. Walking the aisles, I’m constantly amazed at how many products I recognize, sans the familiar logos.
They’ve asked that I speak about the outlook for the US market, post-economic meltdown. Prior to my appearance, Sarah Reeve, Editor of Gift Focus Magazine (similar to our Gifts and Dec) will tackle the same topic from a UK perspective. Unlike years past, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council has opted to feature just two international speakers this time, given the level of interest in our respective arenas. Should make for an interesting and enlightening day.
Just a quick post before I head back out of town to let you know the GHTA conference in Sanibel was terrific. The information shared was beyond helpful, and there were lots of open ears when it came to what retailers are going through these days.
I owe a huge thanks to the independent store owners who participated in the Retail Realities survey. Your wisdom and candor made all the difference, and allowed a lot of pretty big players in the gift, stationery, and home accessory industries to better understand what you need from them…both now and in the future.
Which brings me to the title: “Here and Now…and Tomorrow.” If you’d like to view a PDF of the slides used, visit the AlwaysUpward.com resource center (linked to from the “See Cinda” page). Will try to put together an audio counterpart upon returning home from Thanksgiving travels, to fill in the blanks.
Gobble, gobble, all…..and knock ‘em dead on Black Friday.
Photo credit: Carol Schroeder
Today’s the big day–the start of the Gift and Home Trade Association national conference, in Sanibel, Florida (yeah, tough gig, I know). For those of you not familiar with the GHTA, this is a collection of CEOs, Presidents, owners, and upper management representing the most influential vendors, manufacturers, sales agencies, and trade magazines in the gift and home accessory industries.
On Saturday, I’m presenting two seminars called “Here and Now…and Tomorrow,” detailing the realities that concern retailers today, what concerns them about the next year, and how those concerns are going to impact the way they continue to do business. Thanks to the contributions of an advisory group of independent retailers representing a cross section of stores nationwide, the data is as “of the moment” as it gets.
Thanks to those of you who answered the call, sharing your wisdom and suggestions for the sessions. This is one of those cases where you’ve got a captive audience of real decision makers; together, we can help them decide what will help independents most in this unprecedented economic climate.
Let’s face it-—you can’t be in all places at one time, which means you can’t attend all the sessions simultaneously (probably a good thing; jamming that much information into every mental nook and cranny would land even the most mundane person in a neuro unit by day’s end).
Thankfully, I had the good fortune of meeting some truly wonderful folks along the way, whose values and professional ethics align with my own, recognizing the only way we succeed to is bring those around us along for the ride.
To Diana Repko and Nina Kaufman, you ladies are gems, with bright, shining futures ahead. Can’t wait to see where we all are a year from now….
And to Peter Stark, thank you so very, very much. While the success you’ve achieved is truly impressive, it pales in comparison to your generosity in sharing information and insights that come with years of experience.
I look forward to great things ahead. For all of us.
This whole NSA thing is really working for me.
The best parts of the conference come in bits and bites, via extraordinary keynotes and information-rich breakout sessions held throughout each day. With more than 75 topics to choose from, it’s not hard to find something of interest; truth be told, it’s a lot harder to narrow the list to one at a time.
This afternoon, my choice was a Marjorie Brody session focused on building one’s speaking business. I came away feeling great about where I am on the continuum, with wheels spinning about the other four hundred things I could be doing to take things up a notch.
It’s not often you get to learn from one of the pros-—especially one who’s so enthusiastic about paying it forward. Three cheers, Marjorie. Much deserved.
No, this isn’t a rock concert…although, yes, it certainly looks (and sounds and feels) like one. This is, dear reader, the National Speakers Association national conference, and lemme tell ya, this ain’t no mundane group. When the official Opening General Session opened tonight, it did so with the Rolling Stones blasting over the (admittedly impressive) sound system while normally tie-clad speakers with stellar reputations stood atop chairs and gyrated like they were eighteen.
Translated, this is the largest adrenaline rush on earth.
High points of the day:
“Nametag Scott” Ginsburg-—He’s either crazy or brilliant. I’m going with option B. Anyone who lands on CNN in his early twenties has something figured out.
Manny Medrano–The former ABC Supreme Court corespondent and former federal narcotics prosecutor in L.A. has moved–and continues to move–mountains with his challenge to lead your life with courage, heart, and soul.
Bill Stainton–Who knew the Beatles were teaching us about public speaking? His ability to turn the pop icons into a career lesson is astounding, entertaining, and crazy-brilliant.
God only knows what’s in store for tomorrow. At this rate, I’ll be levitating by Monday morning.
Might be a little quiet here on the blog for a couple of days; I’m headed to New York for the National Speakers Association conference. It’s my first time with this group-—could be interesting to see what happens when you gather this many extroverts in one place. Or really scary.
Seriously, I’m pretty hyped about it, given how highly regarded the NSA is and how much I enjoy my speaking career. Something tells me it will takes days to come down from the adrenaline rush ahead.
Promise to let you know if I begin to levitate.
