The Meaning of Family

I leave tomorrow for a weekend with my 94-year-old grandfather. It's important to me to spend as much time as I can with him. My grandfather is the last remaining direct relative I have from the greatest generation. The picture here is of him at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. My mom and I took him to D.C. each of the last two years to let him sightsee a bit and visit his 96-year-old half-brother who lives in Bethesday, Maryland. 

As a side: longevity in my family is common. My great-grandmother lived to be 101-years-old and died in her sleep. That's they way I hope God allows me to go. 

While spending time with my elderly grandfather can be challenging, I realize as I get older that the time I have with him is extremely important. I need to allow my family history to remain strong. And the only way I can do so is by spending time with grandpa, learning about his life and the experiences he has had over the years. I remember a time in high school when my AP History teacher asked us to interview a family member about a time during history that they lived. I chose to interview my grandad and great-grandmother about their experiences during the Depression. Listening to their stories made that time period come to life for me. I realized that it was more than stories written in a history book. It's my job to keep those stories alive and pass on to future generations. 

When I was in high school, I also remember feeling irritation toward my parents for what I considered interference in my life. Now I realize that it's extremely important for parents to be involved in their kids' lives. Too many parents that I see choose not to pay attention. Tonight I heard of a teen suicide that I believe could have been avoided if the parents had paid attention. I think it's important for me to publicly thank my parents for their love and concern as I grew up. They have set a fantastic example for me in marriage and parenthood. I hope I can live up to their standards.

Holiday Spirit

Has anyone ever noticed how difficult it can be to get in the holiday spirit? This year seems particularly challenging. I've been trying to figure out what might be contributing to my bah-humbug attitude and have three theories.

1) Short timeframe from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This year's calendar meant Thanksgiving was a week later than normal. That means there is compressed shopping and party time. Because every weekend is packed with activities, I haven't had time to relax long enough to truly enjoy this time of year. My iPod is full of Christmas music but I barely touch it, choosing instead to listen to the David Cook album and new Britney Spears.

2) Tulsa temperatures have been relatively mild. Instead of a cooler fall, we've experienced temps in the 60s for quite a while with periodic cold blasts. The brief snow flurries we saw on Tuesday of this week were short-lived. By Sunday, we'll be back in the 70s. I'm not sure how you can expect someone to feel Christmas-y when the weather is spring-like.

3) My final theory is a bit more serious. The economy. For the first time in my adult life, I'm really concerned about whether I'll have a job tomorrow. This is not a comfortable feeling, and rather than spend time thinking about gifts, parties and celebrations, my husband and I are focused more on saving money and ensuring that we will be able to handle any financial challenges thrown our way.

That said, I have been referring back to my college times and thinking about what I thought was an easier time in my life. No worries. Parents paid most bills and I worked part-time for spending money. Not only did I not worry about finances but I also spent more time thinking about my faith. It's easy to get so involved in life that you forget why faith is important.

Trusting in God allows a person to move beyond his or her earthly concerns and consider more ethereal matters. At this time of year, my focus should instead be on the birth of Christ. Instead of worrying about whether I have a job, I should think about why God sent his Son to earth and allowed Him to die on the cross for my sins. That's a much bigger issue than my daily fears. Christmas is forcing me think about that instead. That's a good thing. And being in a tough economy means material gifts are less critical and Christ's gift of His life becomes more important.

Thank you, Jesus.

The World of Retail Marketing

Working in a retail marketing position has forced me to ask a pretty basic question in our organization. "Who is our customer?" Unfortunately, the internal answer is not clear cut. I have found that there are two groups: one views the retailers, dealers and distributors who we sell through as our customer; the second views consumers as our key customers.

Personally, I'm a proponent for the latter. While very important to the business, I believe the retailers, dealers and distributors are facilitators for us to sell our products. We need them to help us get our products into the hands of valuable consumers, but they are not what I would call the most important audience for us to reach. That disctinction should fall to the consumer. Without consumers who choose to spend their hard-earned money on our products, we would not be successful or able to sustain our business.

My question, however, remains. In an organization that views the designated sales channels as our main customer, does that mean that the consumer doesn't matter? Does that affect business strategies and the overall marketing approach? Should it?

From my experience, it does affect strategy ... but not in a good way.

With a consumer-based business, the marketing strategies used should be centered on ensuring that the entire experience that the consumer has with our company is positive. We should want him or her to return and spread the good word about our company and product. In a channel-based business, my experience has shown that budget dollars are allocated toward identifying ways to train sales associates but not much more. Promotional dollars are spent on dealer discounts versus consumer rebates.

One thing I can say about my experiences on the business to consumer side of the marketing world, I have changed my perspective on brands to which I choose to be loyal. I want to use and buy products that appear to value the end consumer.

The challenge for me is to strengthen my advocacy for the consumer within the company. Being the voice of the consumer is a critical part of ensuring the future of our organization is strong.

Thanksgiving Tidbits

This year, my family is starting a new tradition of sorts. Instead of the usual kitchen full of gabbing and grub, we're eating out. Not at your typical restaurant either. No, my family has chosen to hit Fin & Feather Resort for its Thanksgiving day buffet. While I'm not 100% sold on this particular source, I am warming to the idea of eating out -- mainly because it means no clean-up or leftovers. But I will miss our family cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole.

But Thanksgiving is not about the food. Instead it's a reminder of all that we have in our lives for which we should be thankful. I truly am blessed and feel grateful for the family, friends and fortune God has given me. I am thankful for my loving husband who has the patience of a saint for putting up with my neurotic behavior. My parents are fantastic examples of longevity in marriage and I thank God for allowing me the privilege of both of them remaining in my life. The list goes on and on and on.

This is also the time of year where my thoughts turn to my husband's family. Nine years ago, they lost Bonnie (Pete's mom) suddenly to an aneurysm. I never had the opportunity to meet her but from all that I've heard about her, she was an amazing woman. This is a difficult time of year for Pete because he thinks about Bonnie and all that the family is missing because she's not around. I know that one day we'll meet in heaven and I pray that she thinks I have given her son as much love as he deserves.

Entering the Blogosphere

I figured it's time. Time to check out the blogging world. In the last few years, I've given this idea a great deal of thought but hadn't made the call to actually begin the process. It's time.

Here I sit in my living room in Tulsa, watching the OSU Cowboys' football game, and thinking about hundreds of potential topics to share on this blog. I hope I can provide readers with pieces that are thought-provoking, humorous or educational. Bear with me and I work my way through this process and find my voice. My goal is to write at least twice, maybe three times a week. We'll see how I do.

Signing off for now. Going to focus on the game for a while.
Kristen