Accentuate the Positive
- Published: August 01, 2009, By Yolanda Simonsis Associate Publisher/Editor
Eliminate the negative. Latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with Mister In-Between. How many of you are familiar with this sage advice written in a song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer? It was 1944 and the US was still fighting WWII. Bing Crosby was crooning his advice to a country very weary of war. It wasn't until May 8, 1945, that V-E Day was celebrated in Europe and the official surrender of Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the battleship USS Missouri, that the US finally could return to a sense of normalcy.
As a member of the Boomer generation, I'm certainly not old enough to have enjoyed Crosby's first rendition of this song, but the song has managed to survive my increasingly failing memory to remind me that attitude is everything.
While walking the CMM show floor, several people shouted out to me: “Keep writing those upbeat editorials, Yo. We can't let this economy get to us!”
Well, I have some good news — and I'm repeating it here, not because it's my personal interpretation, but because it stands on its own as solid evidence that our industry is truly showing signs of improvement.
A second quarter 2009 Economic Index report from the Assn. of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters & Laminators (viewable from our website at www.pffc-online.com/economic_trends) reveals, “Current and Forecasted General Activity Indexes Rise Dramatically.” What's not to celebrate in this news?! The analysis further cites from its collected data, “The current general activity index rose more than 65 points for the quarter moving into positive territory and continuing its climb that began last quarter. This quarter's reading of 18.87 is the first positive reading reported since the third quarter of 2008. … The index has increased more than 35 points since bottoming out at -2.13 in the fourth quarter of 2008.” Join me in a collective Ahhhh! Are we there yet? Well, not yet, but we're certainly heading in the right direction.
More good news as I alluded to in last month's editorial regarding the triennial NPE: Over 19,000 companies visited the show with visitor registration at the close of the show on June 26 at 44,000. Although registration was about 30% below that of 2006, the number of companies represented by registrations was down only 17% — another vote for quality over quantity attendance. And imagine this: NPE's conference program included more than 1,000 presentations!
One last morsel. A reader responded to my last editorial on CMM with this suggestion: “I think AIMCAL/CEMA should buy the CMM brand and begin rebuilding it. It would be good for the industry, good for the show, and a revenue stream for CEMA.” — EJM Any comments?
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum. Bring gloom down to the minimum. Have faith, or pandemonium [is] liable to walk upon the scene.
My friends call me…
What's your good news? Write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
