We're heading into a long summer weekend, yet Bob Dilenschneider's book is at 647,859 on Amazon.com. The book is AMA HANDBOOK ON PUBLIC RELATIONS. Not exactly beach reading but pre-recession in America the self-improver, lots of professionals would have stuck it in their suitcases, intending to use part of their time-off to learn something.
Well, post-recession, they might still do that, but only if the book were free. America is still the land of the self-improver but not at any price. When I interviewed the front lines at the public library they told me how use of their facility has skyrocketed since hard times hit.
And it's not only books being taken out for free. It's entertainment materials such as DVDs. One librarian mused, "The film industry must be getting hit hard." Neither she nor any one she deals with the library has paid to go to a movie since around 2007. That sounds about right to me. Weekly I check out the max number of DVDs at the library: five. I get to keep them a week, which is reasonable.
Other things we're not buying include clothes from conventional retail. My friends and I have a new ritual. It's mapping out a group of consignment stores to visit on Saturdays, then treating ourselves to a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden or Ruby Tuesday. Life doesn't get better than that.
Then there's furniture. For $55 my neighbor bought a three-seater sofa at Goodwill on Route 80 in East Haven, Connecticut. To ensure there were no bugs from the previous owner, she paid to have Goodwill spray it. There have been no bugs.
In the spirit of the counterculture, in the 1400-unit complex where I live in New Haven, CT, we all put in the lobby on each floor what we no longer have need for. Those range from, yes, books to small appliances and home decorations. As we used to say during the 1960s: take what you need, give what you no longer need.
Somehow, this ethos seems to feel better than the old conspicuous consumption one. Rarely do I hear anyone musing about The Past. In his article, Tom Ferry classifes gazing back at the past a type of addiction. It prevents enjoyment and achievement in the present.
Epilogue: For assisting some with Bob Dilenschneider's book AMA HANDBOOK ON PUBLIC RELATIONS, I receive royalties. They come twice a year, every year: August and February, the publisher the American Management Association informed me, when I asked them. I went to the American Management Association because I had first asked The When from The DilenchneiderGroup. That was through an email to the Chief of Staff Joan Avagliano [there are 45 full-time employees overseen by this Chief of Staff], and cced to the chief executive officer Bob Dilenschneider. I had received no reply. Guess those folks were busy, or at least more busy than the ones at the American Management Association.
That's another post-recession change: do whatever it takes to get our money. In counterculture 2.0, our mantra is: No getting stiffed.
Readers ask me to keep them posted on this one, that is, collecting on my royalties from The Dilenschneider Group. Get back to you on that after August 15th.
Mmmmm. How do you know who signed my contract? That would assume you were an insider.
I never posted a PDF of the contract online. That is only information which I and employees of the Dilenschneider firm would know.
You got outed, buddy.
Posted by: Jane Genova | August 06, 2010 at 09:58 PM
Stop whining, you namby-pamby. In the tide of life, you are flotsom. Leave Ms Avagliano alone, she neither signed your contract,nor is she responsible for its implementation. RichFromTampa
Posted by: RichFromTampa | August 06, 2010 at 09:46 PM
Nice to browsing your perfect blog. It is filled with interesting and makes people realize that the world are very beautiful.
Posted by: Nike Shox R4 | July 07, 2010 at 11:52 PM