Short week, how are you doing?

 

Last Thursday I had my mouth open wondering if Natural Products Expo West, which had been moved from early March to late May, would actually take place. I made that observation because several clients and prospects I had spoken to had observed that they didn't think it would happen, citing the "mess that southern California is in now." 

 

Hard to disagree. A moment later the email from the show organizers came through with the news that Expo West was going digital. No in-person event this year, for the second year in a row.

 

So there you have it....

 

A word has been floating through my mind recently: relentless.

 

Definition of relentless: showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace.

 

I have been pondering both the negative and positive connotations of the word. You can be relentless in pursuing a career path or starting a business, and to my mind you need to be relentless or you won't get to where you want. On the other hand, relentless can also imply being merciless, or not caring who or what gets in your way. Bottom line, the negative or positive connotation depends on the person and the goal and the actions behind the goal. Could be a real positive thing, or not.

 

Like I said, short week. Just a new vlog/podcast with no guest where I share some advice I've had over the years. Also, a blog post on dealing with "head trash." Whatever you perceive that to be.

 

Soundtrack for this week's issue: Stevie Wonder's Innervisions. Released in August, 1973, it was part of a string of critically-acclaimed and popular albums Wonder released in the early 70s. Innervisions included "Too High," "Higher Ground," "Living for the City," "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," filling radio stations playlists for years. Fantastic album through and through. Click the link above to stream it on Spotify.

Matt Ruby on Super Bowl Ads:

 

The Super Bowl was my return to live TV and it’s the best of the best for advertising (right?) so bring it on, I thought. Oof, big mistake. Celebrity culture worship is all we get anymore. 2/3 of the ads: You remember these people, right? Well, now they’re all together. Viva name recognition! We’re stuck in a 90’s vortex because it feels neutered and safe!

The top rated ad was Mila hiding her Cheeto addiction from Ashton while Shaggy tells her to claim, “It wasn’t me.” I mean, that’s literally what I would write as a punchline if I was trying to invent a lame ad that proves how terrible Madison Avenue is nowadays. (Do ads still get made by Madison Avenue? Wait, is the name Mad Men a riff of Madison Avenue!? Whoa, just realized that. Anyway…)

 

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Andrew Bennett:

 

I teach leadership in the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University, and a few weeks ago I had convinced myself that I was a terrible teacher. It turned out I was totally wrong. It was just that damn voice in my head that sometimes seems hell-bent on bringing me down.

The sad part is that we all do this. We are designed with a negative orientation. Our brains are biologically structured to watch out for anything that might be a threat. That functioning keeps us safe from harm.

Millions of years ago, that protection mechanism was necessary to protect humans from threats like saber-toothed tigers. In today’s world, we don’t have those beasts hunting us down, but your brain is still on the lookout for threats.

 

7 Snail Mail Marketing Pieces to Send to Prospective Tradeshow Visitors. Not that a tweet won't get their attention, right? Still, there are other things you can try..

 

How to Measure Tradeshow ROI and ROO. Numbers are important. So are trends.