LOOKING BACK; 2010 – The Upside

LOOKING BACK:  2010-The UPSIDE

For me and Creative Events, it was a very good year!  Carry-over from Lawson, a new client in Dancer’s Studio, and of course CRV made 2010 not only the best year of 20 in terms of income, worthwhile and fulfilling projects, press and recognition, but saw me personally end the crippling debt caused by my fall and back injuries of 2002.  What a wonderful feeling it was to write that last check and erase that $21,000 that faced me this time last year!  And thanks to good projects, I was able to retire the Jeep, put myself in a new Mini Clubman, and make right a situation with a vendor that incurred way back during the RNC.  Yes!  With the slate wiped clean, I can now move on to that new life “after the fall” and for that, I am ecstatic.

But most of all, how much I have learned this year through an ever-growing circle of forward-thinking event folks and friends!  I feel like I began ever so long ago as one of the pioneers in meetings and incentives, matured with that industry as I was given a lot and in exchange, gave a lot back. Now,  once again,  I have received such a gift to be part of the morphing of those industries into new and uncharted territory requiring a whole new way of thinking as I grow from an event planner to an experience designer to meet the needs and thinking of today’s world in corporate America. Yes, it is a little daunting to not have the answers, to be experimenting with new thinking, and wondering, as time allows, if I am headed in the right direction.  But oh how exhilarating to fit a new piece into the puzzle that lies scattered about my desk and brain. What a great feeling it is to know I have a stack of books and book-marked websites and articles that are waiting to lead me further into that world. I am reminded, that for me, the thrill of discovery and one a-ha moment after another trumps the complacency that accompanies the self-confidence of knowing I can make it happen…the OLD way.

So after the last couple months of winding down, filled with health issues all resolved, despite depleting the savings to “tide me over”, and the uncertainty of what lies ahead, I am looking forward to 2011 and wishing I had another 40+ years ahead of me to continue to reap the riches of good friends and good colleagues experienced in the journey to this point.   

And once more, at the end of 2011, I am sure we will again be reviewing those lists of “Best of” and “Worst of” and wondering what the future holds for the world, the country, and for each of us personally as we peer into the light that signals the coming of 2012! May the scales tip to the good side for all of us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL.

LOOKING BACK: 2010 – the downside

This is the traditional week of the year filled with lists of the “best of” and “worst of” 2010, and like everyone else, I have viewed or read my share.

One such commentary saddened me as I listened to the pundits 2010 view on the Iraq war.  In 2001, as plans for it surfaced (BEFORE 9-11) in the Bush Administration, war was declared on “Terror” and we invaded Afghanistan looking for Osama bin Laden…all the while building up for the already planned invasion of Iraq, I felt like I stood alone in the world, as a naysayer cautioning that we would not succeed.  I was the unpatriotic one as I pooh-poohed the weapons of mass destruction theory and suggested it was limited to the biological weapons provided to Iraq and sanctioned by the neo-cons during the Reagan administration – so of course, they knew Saddam had them-they had come to be when the US was using Iraq as a weapon against Iran in the 80s.  I was chastised by friends for suggesting that Iraq’s Sunni culture stretched back over a 1000 years and that mixed with a heritage of warring tribes left little hope that in a quick invasion we could “save” them from their ways and create a democracy that would prosper, grow and become the model for bringing democracy to the middle east.  What in the world were those people smoking in the White House to be so deluded and dismissive of facts? And how in the world did they get a nation of reasonably intelligent citizens to go along with it? Oh yes, I was told I wrong in that thinking…after all, the one thing the US government does pretty well was WAR, I was told by a friend.  Not to worry, it would turn out all right.

And so it began…and did not go well as it not only contributed to a 10 trillion dollar shift in the deficit projections for 2010, created a tremendous tragedy of loss of American and Iraqi lives, and has not succeeded yet in establishing a solid democracy.

Projected positive balance in the early 2000s was $5 trillion by 2010 and thus provided the reasoning for the Bush tax CUTS in time of war.  Unfortunately, since the Bush Administration chose NOT to include war expenses in the budget for either the Afghan or Iraqi war, it took a while to realize that war was eating into that projected surplus – then the collapse of the teetering economy began in the early second half of the decade, and today we stand frightened to death of a $ 5 trillion deficit.  Congrats to the US; we managed between war and greed to achieve a $10 trillion swing that today still threatens the international economy.  We sure showed the world how powerful we are, didn’t we? Or did we just make way for the rise of BRIC?

Today, as we look forward to 2011, what are the projections?  Now the pundits mostly concur, the Iraqi war will not accomplish the mission – a victory we already celebrated years ago!  Sadly, we are seeing my projections come to be.  I fear this will be long remembered as a horrendous misstep by our government – making 19^th century policies of Slavery, Manifest Destiny, and Extermination of the Indigenous Peoples look like child’s play.  And that does not even factor in the lost lives – not just of American soldiers who died, and those that were physically AND mentally injured, but the horrendous cost in lives and injuries to the Iraqis themselves-a loss much greater than our own.  No wonder I feel saddened. 

Add to that, Afghanistan, the Housing Crisis, the Economy, Lack of Jobs/job skills shifts, the worsening split between the political parties, and one could quickly experience a major sinking spell !

 Thank goodness, we can balance some ofthis with the oh so many positives in the world, our country and our personal lives that also surround us and keep us optimistic and moving forward!