Since the beginning of 2007, there has been an historic presidential campaign, taking place in the United States. It has been interrupted by some catastrophic financial issues.

How does this affect you? In a couple of ways.

1) Actual financial conditions will change. Translation: Credit, even credit card limits will shrink, thereby limiting people’s ability to spend money on unbudgeted items.

A bride (or her family) may not, as easily, go 50% over her budget (the national average for wedding spending). The credit may even be available, but people are likely to think twice.

2) Consumer confidence will (and already has) weaken. When people get nervous, they hang onto their wallets. Will the number of weddings, planned, dip? I think not. But those, not yet under development, may plan a wedding reception that is not quite as opulent.

Today, I’m going through the local voting pamphlet from the State of Nevada, and a special supplement from the local newspaper.

My girl friend and I have been following local, state and national campaigns, from the start. In Nevada, one can vote as early as October 18th (yesterday). We’ll both probably vote this week. Frankly, we have campaign fatigue, and would be happy to tune out the balance of campaigning and propaganda, at all levels.

Whatever your political affiliation or political tendencies, you have just a couple of weeks to get ready to vote. Immediate history indicates that every vote counts, so have a take.

It’s not patriotic, simply to vote. It’s patriotic to be knowledgeable about the issues and the candidates, and then cast your vote.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: consumer confidence, politics, presidential campaign, recession strategy, vote

Two good friends, one a client, lost their jobs this past week. The first, worked for a small business, the other for a large hotel-casino group.

Neither lost their job because of their competence or effectiveness. Both are solid citizens and model employees. Their sales and management skills, impeccable.

They lost their jobs because of elements not under their control. The first, we’ll that person Chris, worked for a facility that included neighborhood dinner house, video poker bard, and banquet ballroom.

Chris had been in charge of marketing the banquet business for about a year. Then, early one day, she received a text-message from the owner, indicating that the business would close, that morning. Chris confirmed in a phone call, and that was that.

The second, we’ll call that person Lynn, worked almost 20 years for ‘the company.’ Lynn was a victim of ‘job elimination’ or ‘restructuring’ or some version of these.

Bottom line, after some two decades, Lynn was unceremoniously let-go. Lynn’s high rank, and compensation level, were likely part of the decision making. Lynn was not the only person suffering this fate at ‘the company.’

I am confident that both Chris and Lynn will land on their feet, because they are competent, hard working individuals. However, this story is a cautionary tale.

As my parents would tell me, from time, to time. Life is not fair.

Indeed… If you are self-employed, you have your own set of instability. However, if you work for someone else, large company or small, you are subject to incompetence, whim, poor decisions, or some other rationalization.

Before it’s your head on the chopping block, I suggest you get your resume up-to-date, get your reference in hand, and show up at networking functions.

If you’re lucky, none of this will prove necessary. If you’re unlucky, you’ll thank me.

Blind optimism is incredibly poor strategy.

Work for the best; be prepared for the worst.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Recession preparation, recession strategy, resume

In my first college Economics class, I learned about the relationship between supply and demand. Put simply, when there is scarcity of supply, prices tend to rise. Conversely, when supply is plentiful, prices tend to drop.

This can also be true as applied to the ‘perception of short supply.’ For example, the fear of a gasoline shortage, can actually cause one. How? Because the largest storage facility is the collective capacity of everyone’s gas tanks.

If many people, who normally fill up when their tank is down to one-quarter full, suddenly start refilling at three-quarters full, a shortage of supply, out of stock situations, and consequently, price increases will follow.

Gasoline is a commodity, and can be stored for consumption on another day. Perishables, such as airline seats, hotel rooms, or available inventory for wedding services on a given day, do not carry over.

If a bakery has the capacity to bake 10 cakes on one day, and only bakes 5, it can’t bake 15 the next Saturday. The revenue is lost, period.

Such is the case with hotel rooms in Las Vegas. A small item in this morning’s paper, noted the current pricing of local hotel rooms.

A year ago and more ago, occupancy for Las Vegas hotel rooms was running 92-93% on a 365-basis. Getting a room at the Bellagio usually meant spend $300-400 per night and more. Finding a rate under $100 per night at a Strip hotel was confined to one or two properties, during a very slow stretch.

The logic, of course, is keeping the hotels filled so the show rooms are active, the restaurants are busy, and the casinos are bustling. This translates into minimizing layoffs, and maximizing revenue.

While your pricing is typically not as public as a hotel room or an airline ticket, you should quietly assess whether your overall pricing model is consistent with the activity of the venues and the marketplace, generally.

Don’t jump to slashing or discounting prices, but really examine whether what your product or service was selling for, three months ago, is applicable, today.

Don’t let your ego in the way. It’s not about ‘what I’m worth,” Right now, and in the immediate future, it’s about ‘what the market will bear.’

Think clearly, decide slowly, and have a succinct plan.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Las Vegas Hotel Rooms, perishables, pricing, recession strategy, recession wedding marketing, supply and demand