Several of us Bursties attended a meeting of the CEN (a network of Capital Region manufacturers) in Albany this morning. We heard some encouraging news. Several of the owners and executives present reported that the 4th quarter of 2009 showed distinctly better results than the rest of that wretched year. (Henceforth known as the year which shall not be named!) …

The last decade saw the word viral go from “you need chicken soup” to yeah, cool - I saw that too! Everything from dancing babies to the Obama girls made its way across millions of screens across the globe.  And the word viral went from an adjective to a noun.  As in, “it went viral.” Now everyone tries to figure …

Over recent years I’ve taken to reading a few business books that I think might be relevant over the coming year.  Sort of a way to get the mental matter primed and ready to rock in 2010. One thing I really want to know is what makes people tick after 18+ months of this oppressive economy. So I spent a …

Saw the new George Clooney movie “Up in the Air.” He represents an outplacement company and his specialty is traveling around the country firing employees on behalf or their clients. There are two observations - both obvious, both related - that marketers should take note of: 1) If not done with care, communications technology can place additional barriers between you …

With a little over a week left in 2009, it’s time to turn our full attention to 2010 - the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. Over the next few weeks, we’ll touch on what I believe are some of the trends to look for in business, marketing, the economy, and social dynamics - and how …