It’s three weeks until the specialty chemical event we are putting on in Houston, and we are in full swing of the preparations. If you read last week’s blog you’ll know that our keynote speaker changed, so I thought today instead of my usual thoughts, I’d give you a little preview into our new keynote speaker, Wheeler Crawford.
Wheeler Crawford is a chemical consultant with over 40 years in the industry. He spent the majority of his career working for the Texaco Chemical Company, stayed on when it was acquired by Huntsman, and now he consults with everyone, on just about any chemical topic you need. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more knowledgeable about the Gulf Coast region chemical industry than Wheeler.
Wheeler is also incredibly personable, funny, and considerate. He has no pretensions whatsoever. When asked how he wanted to be billed on the Informex marketing materials, he laughed and said, “Just put Wheeler, I’m informal, only used my title and PhD if you think it’ll help.”
After having spoken with him we are quite excited for his speech on May 11, so here is a little sneak-peak from Wheeler that I hope will get you as excited to hear from him as we are.
As always, if you have any questions or you’d like to comment, send me an email jjessup@informex.com.
What’s going to make a company successful in 2010 and beyond?
This is a two-edged sword. What’s up (or down) with the economy and what should we do to improve our business regardless of the economy. Recessions aren’t officially over until the referee calls time out. In this case the referee is the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research. The NBER is the nation’s leading non-profit economic research organization. Its credentials are well established. They say it is premature to call an end to this recession. On the other hand Haver Analytics, which maintains over 550 databases from both government and private sources, says it ended last June. I don’t know who is correct but based on the stock market, things look rosier. My personal fear is the lag in job growth. When people are working they have income to spend and this drives the economy. Where have all the jobs gone and what can we do to jump start this? My other fear is the National Debt. Servicing this will probably require higher taxes and higher taxes have a dampening effect on the chemical business.
What should we do ourselves? We can’t afford to expend our energies worrying and wring our hands. We have to run our businesses. Stay focused on the customer and communicate with him, foster innovation in all our business processes and maintain our sales and marketing presence.
How does the specialty chemical market look in Houston?
I really don’t think that there are any differences here to distinguish Houston from the rest of the nation except my perception that we are a different breed. We handle adversity better and probably have an economy that is directionally stronger than that in other areas. Our State is pro-business which is a real advantage. We have to work to keep it that way. In the post-recovery cycle we should focus on customer relations, stress innovation in all our business processes, and remember that marketing is key. All else is a cost.
Why are conferences like Informex useful for the industry?
This is easy – COMMUNICATION and INFORMATION. No one can be successful in business, particularly in down cycles, if they have their heads in the sand. When an ostrich does this you know what is exposed. Ego sometimes gets in the way and we act like the emperor and his new clothes in the fairy tale. Conferences allow for a sharing of problems and solutions. Someone’s problem could be an opportunity for you. Look for opportunity everywhere. Mutual concerns call for mutual aid (within the limits of the law). Business is conducted between friends. Here friendships are made and re-enforced.
Conferences are an information gold mine, especially those with product exhibitions. Information on competitive activity is literally staring you in the face. Potential customers attend to see what is available. Everyone goes online to search but the serious buyers take the time to come and kick the tires.
One last benefit should not be overlooked. Conferences like Informex are cost effective in reaching a large concentration of customers and potential customers as well as a source of market intelligence.
Thanks for reading!
JJ
