HOMO HOMINI LUPUS EST

The events of last week in Boston had me contemplating this aphorism by Plautus. The darker side of humanity seemed on the ascendency. Add to that disturbing incident news of a major explosion at a fertilizer factory in Texas and a substantial earthquake in China. When I was waiting in the dentist’s office last week for my routine cleaning, I heard one of the office workers say she just couldn’t take any more bad news—it was all just so overwhelming.

I felt a bit overwhelmed myself last week and perhaps you did too. So I thought some levity was in order. A group tour industry newsletter came across my desk last week. This publication frequently features a section entitled “The Light Side”. It normally consists of something humorous or whimsical. This edition’s title was “Wisdom of the Ages: Proverbs From Our Modern Life”. With no pretense of originality, I repeat it here below. I hope it brings a smile to your face:

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in the fruit salad.

He who smiles in a crisis has found someone to blame.

The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Cannibals don’t eat clowns because they taste funny.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

One careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire.

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.

A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

Dolphins are so smart that even within captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

Laugh at your problems, everybody else does.

Taken from On Tour newsletter, spring 2013

TRENDING

April is a “shoulder” season for Vermont. Like the meat cut of the same name, it means “It ain’t prime”, if you’ll pardon the vernacular. We’ve had mud and now we have stiff ruts covered in sleet, and positively NO ONE is sending out a postcard inscribed “Wish you were here”. Oh, if I worked for the ski industry, I’d be touting some great, late skiing, but I don’t. So what do seasonal attraction folks like me spend their days doing during off-season? These days are consumed with marketing.

I travel hither and yon racking up more travel miles than Gidget representing the attraction at retail travel shows and motor coach shows. And when I am not traveling, I am attending every seminar, webinar and conference related to marketing, that elusive mixture of art and science that dazzles or repels, depending on the skill with which it is wielded.

And what do we discuss? What’s trending. What’s being tweeted, shared, FaceBooked, Googled and gawked at on YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and the like. And if the reference above to Gidget left you puzzled, it just means that you’re under 50 and I’m not. Aye, there’s the rub! Keeping up with the trends can be exhausting. Gidget is no doubt not trending, and I doubt she will be after I place this post. I could scatter my copy with references to Justin Bieber (always trending) and maybe get more Google gods to notice the post; but alas, I couldn’t compose two full sentences about Justin Bieber. I know he is a heartthrob for millions of tweens. And now I’ve exhausted my Bieberology. What’s an aging marketer to do?

I’m glad you asked that question because I was reminded of the answer just this morning when chatting with a friend and colleague who discussed a young man he is mentoring. The teen was lamenting his job at a local hardware store because he does not like to sell even though he is constantly told that he is good at it. He went on to assess his situation by saying he didn’t like the way people go about selling. He told my colleague that selling wasn’t about sales but relationships. Wow! That’s insightful for a 17-year-old! He related how it pleased him when a customer beamed when he remembered his name and the project he’d been working on. He went on to say that customers might buy more because you remember their names, but he didn’t really care. He was just there to assist them.

That’s not a bad philosophy, is it? Just imagine how much more pleasant the world at large would be if everyone in sales—and we are all salesmen in one form or another, from selling ourselves to a potential employer to selling ourselves to that future spouse—were more concerned about building healthy relationships than just worrying about the bottom line. My hat goes off to this kid. He has reminded this middle-aged marketer that building relationships is still the best way to sell anything. So I hope I’ll continue to focus on relationships, sincerity, transparency, authenticity and honesty and leave the selling to itself. Let’s all do our part to trend putting people first. Now that’s a trend we can all live with.

MARCH MUD MADNESS

 As I am writing this, Vermont is currently experiencing March Mud Madness Interruptus. Mud Season, the less-appreciated 5^th 

season of the year, begins when the spring thaw turns otherwise pleasant and nostalgic dirt roads into seemingly bottomless quagmires.

I was reminded a few weeks ago just exactly how bad conditions can get. It was a sunny, warm Saturday. I was coming back from running my vehicle through the car wash to remove at least the first layer of grime and salt that had accumulated. On my way homeward I spied a young man who was hitchhiking. Now there was a time when I picked up every hitchhiker I saw. In fact, I once took a couple and their young child three-quarters of the way to Maine when their car broke down on a particularly cold, rainy night. But these days, I admit I am more wary of picking up strangers.

Nonetheless, this young man appeared to be in his early 20s and looked a bit down on his luck, so I pulled over and gestured for him to hop in; he got settled and buckled and off we proceeded. We exchanged names and pleasantries. He then told me he lived in Chelsea, a small village about 14 miles from my home. In my youth I had relatives we visited in Chelsea and my father’s Uncle Leon was the village physician for many years, but these days I rarely venture to Chelsea. But it was late afternoon on a Saturday, so I felt I should take the boy all the way home before the light faded.

We arrived in the village and he pointed to the left. Soon we had ventured off the “beaten path” and began a trek up a long, steep hill. The surface of the road had morphed into miry ooze that had deeply rutted as vehicles had attempted to climb the daunting grade. For a moment, just before we reached the top, I feared we wouldn’t make it. The tires were spinning and sliding and we were barely inching forward. But then the tires hit a patch of “terra nearly firma” and we leapt to the top of the hill. I dropped the young man off in his equally miry yard and headed back for the car wash, knowing full well that March Mud Madness was officially here.

But in the intervening weeks, we’ve had a bit of a cold snap and two very good dumpings of snow. So for the moment, lumpy, frozen ruts have replaced slithering mud. The back roads are no more pleasant to drive and are a bit more of a challenge for the poor souls who must plow them.

With mud season comes sugaring. That too has taken a brief hiatus as our days have been too cold for sap to run. But next week’s forecast favors sugarmakers, so more 2013 maple syrup will be bubbling from the evaporator to your table. For information about this weekend’s statewide Maple Open House, please visit:

http://vermontmaple.org/events/

REMINDER OF A BYGONE TRAVEL ERA

I work in the travel industry, but I often take travel for granted. After all, travel is so accessible today. Planes, trains, ships, cars and busses convey us to our desired destination with ease. Although flying is more of a hassle than it used to be and the news was filled recently with the plight of passengers on an ill-fated cruise ship, travel is nonetheless more accessible to the masses than at any other time in human history. In the not-so-distant past, travel often meant risk of life and limb; whereas, today journeys of incredible distances are traversed easily and quickly. And due in large part to the development of transportation technologies like the railroad, automobile and plane, travel is much more affordable than it once was.

Recently we enjoyed the historic architecture, the stunning mountain vistas and gourmet dining at the Mount Washington Resort. Built in 1902, the opulent hotel with its sweeping verandas and stately columns hearkens back to a time when only the well-to-do took vacations, staying at grand hotels like the Mount Washington or the Equinox or the Balsams. These Grand Resorts were built for the recreation of such notables as the Vanderbilts, the Carnegies and the Rockefellers. And for that reason, no expense was spared to create a luxurious ambiance in keeping with the life styles of their patrons.

At the Mount Washington, we dined at Stickney’s, the restaurant being named after the founders of the resort. Mr. Stickney made his fortune in the coal industry and built this magnificent structure in 1902, considered at the time to be one of the grandest hotels in the world. An imposing oil portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Stickney flank the grand stairway to the left of the enormous lobby, their dour expressions lending an air of rectitude amidst the modern-day bustle of middleclass families who populated the lobby the day of our visit. I wondered if Mr. Stickney would approve of this “Brave New World” in which the less modestly fixed tread the finely finished hardwood floors that once were the bastion of only the titans of his era. Then again, maybe the dour expression was meant to convey the seriousness of having one’s likeness committed to paint and canvas. Perhaps old Stickney wasn’t a stick in the mud. Maybe he’d delight to see the cute toddler with her blonde curls and animal-print romper wobble across the magnificent lobby.

Whether the Stickneys look down in delight or horror, I for one am glad to see this stunning structure alive with darting, laughing children and carefree skiers on their way to the slopes. And I am glad that I live in an age when travel is accessible to virtually everyone.

And speaking of travel, spring is just around the corner. Please do come and visit us while in Vermont. See the mammoth quarry, watch the artisans at our factory, view the video, explore the exhibits, bowl on the outdoor granite lane and sandblast your very own souvenir.

www.tours.rockofages.com