Publisher's Memo
This is certainly a difficult month to write a memo. I mean….wow. It's hard to believe where things have gone in the past 30 days. My brother is living in Hong Kong on a three year contract for his job, so my family has been somewhat informed about this thing long before it arrived in America, but I’m still in shock about what’s happened. For some reason, it seemed like it would never really “hit” us the same way it did other countries.
It got real for me last week when talking to our law firm members and hearing them say they have to lay people off in their office. It's a sharp sting, a slap in the face, that good people are losing their jobs for no fault of their own.
On the home front, for me personally, it’s been both fun and challenging to have three young children at home doing “distance learning/home school” while still managing the business. Each day is silly and crazy and fun, but also stressful at times. It's provided for some quality bonding time together, but I feel bad for all of the children affected by this, - they miss their routine, their schools and their friends.
I have to take a moment to talk about our industry trade associations – specifically ACA, CCA of A, CLLA, IACC, NCBA & RMAI – they have all been working tirelessly on our behalf to make sure the politicians in Washington D.C. understand what we do as an industry. If you are not a member of at least one of these professional associations, please join one. We need to have a united voice to represent our interests and one of the things I’ve learned thru this crisis, it’s that I’m extremely grateful to be actively involved and informed. If you’re not informed about the bills that have passed and those being debated in both the House and the Senate, you should visit
https://www.govtrack.us/covid-19
.
Their is more value to trade the groups than just the dissemination of information. When you are involved, you build relationships and as a result you can share info easily with not just business partners, but also competitors to see how COVID 19 is effecting others, and you're able to do this because you've built up the trust that allows you to share.
In terms of what we are seeing in the market, it looks like the numbers for March are fairly normal in terms of placements, but my feeling is that will not stay the same for April, but we shall see.
On a positive note, Zoom has become a sensation, from businesses to families alike, it’s the way we are connecting thru this crisis. We’ve been on the phone (and zoom) constantly thru this rapidly changing situation. If we can be of any assistance to your business, please let me know.
I miss seeing my family my friends and my colleagues, there are so many things we take for granted in the day to day that we cannot do right now. Stay safe, stay healthy.
-Gary
