HAMMERSMITH — I don’t know why we have been talking about this a lot in the last few weeks, maybe it’s the season. Maybe people aren’t sure what to do in 2009, so they’re focusing on annual events. But we have been talking a lot about big business strategy meetings.

Some companies have or will cancel them. The theory is:

“It’s a cost. Only managers benefit. So let’s cut it altogether.”

We have certainly seen that.

However, others are taking a different approach:

“How can we make it more cost effective and really see the results out of it.”

And that’s where we get excited. These things don’t have to be complicated. (If you want smoke and mirrors, then we can’t help.) But they can be very effective at reduced cost, if you really focus on actions and results.

/df