Will-O-The-Wisp
Wilson Vitorino / Pexels
The team here at PRB knows my favorite group of words is, “I have an idea.”
To me, these four words are the start of a journey whose end is a vague, unrealized dream.
As I look around our little company and review the technology, processes, and storytelling that runs our entire operation, it’s amazing how many of these started on the sidelines of a youth sporting event, or on a chairlift at a ski resort, or slowly drifting down a river talking and flipping flies towards the nearby bank, hoping to catch a lunker.
Plenty of ideas have been sparked, but none have been as dramatic as during a conversation with Doug, one of my best friends, on a ski lift in the winter of 2020.
I was struggling to decide the best way to navigate the COVID outbreak—both at home (i.e., how do I keep my family safe) and at work (i.e., how do I keep my employees safely employed). He listened—as he always does—and then asked me, “Well, for starters, have you applied for a PPP loan?”
I admitted I hadn’t. I told him I wasn’t sure how I felt about accepting the money.
He smiled and said, “Rod, they’re giving the money away. Not accepting it isn’t going to make the program go away. And, besides, your company is the exact type of organization this program is aimed at. You should do it today—as soon as you get home.”
So, I did. And with a cash cushion, our little company focused on our storytelling—introducing videos, podcasts, new e-newsletter designs, website upgrades, and big changes to PRB Magazine. Those will-o-the-wisp ideas started to become reality and lead to other ideas, which led to other ideas, which led to a complete redesign of our annual buyer’s guide into an Idea Book.
Page after page features cool products you can use to supercharge your team’s creativity.
We love how it turned out and hope you do, too. As always, if you do, or if you don’t, let us know. We love mail!
Till next month…
Rodney J. Auth
Publisher
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