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Buggy Whips Bailout News Item, 100 Years Ago Today

Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

Editor’s Note: We recently saw this article, written in 2008 at the time when the auto bailouts were imminent, and found it inspiring and relevant today.

Washington, DC Monday, December 9, 1907 –

Upon their arrival in the nation’s capitol this blustery December afternoon, the presidents of the three major manufacturers of buggy whips held a joint press conference.

Bailey Farnham, president of Ace Carriage & Buggy Whip Corporation, spoke first, summing up the state of the industry; “We realize that times are changing, and perhaps we’ve been caught a bit off guard, but our designers and engineers are working steadily at new designs and manufacturing techniques to make sure that our products will continue to serve the needs of the public, and our loyal customers.”

“Some have said that the time of the buggy whip has come and gone,” commented William “Rhett” Braxton, director of Braxton Industries’ Whips, Quirts and Crops Division. “We must remind them not to be fooled by fads, or short-term trends,” Braxton added. “The horseless carriage is noisy, nasally repugnant, and unreliable. It may seem like these self-powered hansoms will someday rule the road, but the required fueling infrastructure alone will make wholesale uptake impractical—if not impossible—in the long run. Every family is still going to need one horse and buggy for backup transportation, and yet another animal for rescue missions when the horseless claptrap breaks down.”

“All three of you gentlemen traveled to Washington by virtue of locomotive energy, by rail from your respective states of Indiana, Kentucky, and Minnesota. In velvet upholstered private corporation cars, at that. Do you believe this sends the right message to the public, that not one of the three of you, arriving to make your case before congress, even needed a buggy whip to get here?”

Nervously tapping their cigars, ashes falling to the cement in the chill air outside the capitol, the three whip czars looked at each other.

Arne Jurgens, president and founder of Oshketonka Tack and Tackle Manufacturing Company LTD, tossed his cheroot underboot and stepped forward– “Expedience,” he said, then paused and stared hard at Williams, “…expedience required utmost haste,” he continued drily. “Our industry is at a crossroads. Retooling and redesign will take time, and sacrifice. We’ve put aside our usual competitivity and come to Washington united for the sake of our companies and our workers. You can’t just motorize everything. Our industry just needs a little federal assistance, three small suspension loans to keep us liquid, and we can turn the corner when better times–and wiser heads–prevail again.”

Farnham shouldered his way free of his two fellow manufacturers and waved the buzzing crowd to silence; “A recent issue of Buggywhip Executive—the authoritative journal of our industry—predicts that the number of horseless carriages will never exceed horse-drawn carriages, based on a scientific poll,” he shouted, with an emphatic finger thrust over his head.

A grizzled and gray reporter holding a leather-bound pocket-sized notebook stepped forward and held his notebook up. When the crowd quieted he put the notebook in a jacket pocket, and stood savoring the silence for a moment before sticking a thumb in a wide lapel and speaking; “Jack Collings, editor of Buggywhip Executive magazine. That scientific poll was populated by yourselves, gentlemen—executives in the carriage trade.”

Another voice in the crowd took over… “What makes you think a shorter handle, a braided core–or a dainty pink whip–will turn around your fortunes? You’ve lost touch with your public, your customers. You need a complete turnaround, not a retooling.”

Jack Collings strode into the space they vacated. “We’re offering advertisers a new publication, by the way, first issue January 7.” he called, waving to the crowd… “Horseless Journal.”

Posted by Town Andrews at 9:47 PM, Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Source: file:///C:/Users/TONYKO~1/
AppData/Local/Temp/AllThingsBuggyWhipsBailoutNewsItem,100YearsAgoToday.htm
Used with permission

Preparing for Memorial Day

Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

MEMORIAL DAY

Keep it
Moving, please, even if you’ve seen it before.

Let us Remember:

It is the
VETERAN,
Not the preacher,
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
The VETERAN,
Not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
The VETERAN,
Not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
The VETERAN,
Not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
The VETERAN,
Not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is

The VETERAN,
Not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the
VETERAN who
Salutes the Flag,

It is
The VETERAN
Who serves
Under the Flag,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

We can be very

Proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.

God Bless them all!!!

Makes you proud to be an AMERICAN!!!!!

Please pass this link onto your friends and associates

We the People – Memorial Day 2011 – Not on My Watch

Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America reads as follows:

We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.

The famous second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence reads in part:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Memorial Day 2011 is upon us.

We are an Industry in crisis in a Nation in crisis.

As we remember the sacrifices of soldiers, aviators and sailors, as we think about those who protect life and limb from harm, foreign and domestic, let me invite you to consider the following.

  • Will we let freedom perish in our land? Not on my watch.
  • Will we extinguish justice in the name of security? Not on my watch.
  • Will we lose our economic prosperity to foreign powers? Not on my watch.
  • Will we allow the younger generation to be raised with less opportunity than we enjoyed? Not on my watch.
  • Will we be so busy with our own affairs that we will not take the time to understand and act as needed in American political action? Not on my watch.
  • Will we let free enterprise be regulated to death? Not on my watch.
  • Will we allow our businesses to be regulated out of existence by perhaps well meaning, but I’ll advised politicians and regulators? Not on my watch.
  • Will we forget that caring for our customers is the life blood of any business or industry? Not on my watch.

The history of the signers of the Declaration of Independence has often been embellished. We do not need a lot of hype to recognize this reality, that there is no free lunch. We all have to work for freedom. That is economic as well as political freedom. It will not be handed to us on a silver platter.

We can lose our economic and political liberties simply by doing nothing.

We cannot abuse customers, without expecting them to react.

But if we partner with our customers, if we work for their success, many in turn will work for our success.

We will not always be recognized for the good that we do or seek to do.

But we should do what is right and good, precisely because it is right and good.

We hold these truths to be self-evident. Our Industry at its best serves a purpose that no other type of housing can provide as well as we can! Our industry at its worst is fodder for negative media stereotypes.

We must strive, therefore, to be the living example of our Industry at its best.

We cannot control what the bad actors in our industry may do. But we can by example and exhortation show them why they are better off doing what is right. Nor should we defend what is wrong.

The principles of Solidarity and Subsidiarity brought renewed freedom to Eastern Europe. We are not in the shape they were in under Communism. Solidarity and subsidiarity are elements of what made America great in our founding documents, too.

Let us understand these ideals:

Solidarity

One definition from Wikipedia:

Solidarity is social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals have on each other.

The Free Dictionary says:
A union of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a group; fellowship of responsibilities and interests: “A downtrodden class … will never be able to make an effective protest until it achieves solidarity” (H.G. Wells).

Other quotes using the ideal of solidarity:

“Unlike solidarity, which is horizontal and takes place between equals, charity is top-down, humiliating those who receive it and never challenging the implicit power relations.” – Eduardo Galeano

“Solidarity is not a matter of altruism. Solidarity comes from the inability to tolerate the affront to our own integrity of passive or active collaboration in the oppression of others, and from the deep recognition of our most expansive self-interest. From the recognition that, like it or not, our liberation is bound up with that of every other being on the planet, and that politically, spiritually, in our heart of hearts we know anything else is unaffordable.” – Aurora Levins Morales

Subsidiarity

Wikipedia uses this definition:

Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority.

The 10th amendment to the Constitution is an example of the principle of Subsidiarity. This quote will help express the ideal of this principle.

“Will the American people never learn that, as a principle, to expect swift response and efficiency from government is fatuous? Will we never heed the principle of subsidiarity (in which our fathers were bred), namely that no public agency should do what a private agency can do better, and that no higher-level public agency should attempt to do what a lower-level agency can do better – that to the degree the principle of subsidiarity is violated, first local government, the state government, and then federal government wax in inefficiency? Moreover, the more powers that are invested in government, and the more powers that are wielded by government, the less well does government discharge its primary responsibilities, which are (1) defense of the commonwealth, (2) protection of the rights of citizens, and (3) support of just order.” – Reid Buckley

Alexis de Toqueville wrote a book, Democracy in America. Over 150 years ago he described the principles that helped make America the freest, most productive and successful society ever known in the world. Associations were part of what de Toqueville remarked upon and extolled. Make your association(s) the best it can be by taking an active part in making it the best it can be.

Associations at their best are solidarity at work!

We may have never thought about how vital solidarity or subsidiarity truly is. We may never have thought that we must care about our neighbor as well as ourselves, or we may lose our rights and blessings as we watch the same happen to our neighbor.

Solidarity and subsidiarity are not political parties. They are ideals! If we learn and live these ideals ourselves, we can reclaim and make better than ever that which made America the best place to be in the world.

Will we let divisions and labels divide and conquer us?

Not on my watch!

Let us not posture.  Let us not merely moan, sit on our hands and do nothing.

Let us act like free people who respect each other.

Let us lead, follow or get out of the way of those willing to lead us back to brighter days.

Let us seek to understand, and come together in solidarity. Let us work for subsidiarity. When all politics are local, we can access and monitor that which exists to protect us.

When we follow these principles, we will see our business flourish.  We will see our Industry and this great country flourish anew.

Our best days need not be behind us.  If you and I set an example of doing our best, of caring for our customers and our fellows, we can reap the rewards that solidarity offers. # #

Michael F. B. Barnabas (a pen name) can be reached at michaelfbbarnabas@gmail.com.

Making Decisions Outside Your Comfort Zone

Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

Have you noticed that people have a tendency to choose what is familiar (the perceived safer option) over the unknown (the perceived riskier option), regardless of how unhappy they may be with their current circumstances?  How do you make decisions when faced with choosing the status quo vs. change?

I believe we are biologically predisposed to play it safe.  Consider our ancestors 10,000 years ago.  When a group walked out of their cave and saw grass moving in the savanna, some were curious and went to investigate.  It could have been an opportunity to bring home dinner, but all too often they became dinner.  When they didn’t return, the others probably thought, “They took a chance and didn’t come back.  I better avoid risk and play it safe.”

This may have been a good long-term strategy in 8,000 BC, but not today.  Yet we still tend to use the same rationale, experiencing fear and anxiety when faced with choices.  Consider successful people you admire.  Do you think they got there by playing it safe, or did they choose risk, the unknown?

Do you know the stories of bestselling authors Robert Kiyosaki and Wayne Dyer?  I think you’ll be surprised by what you are about to read.

Robert Kiyosaki, the bestselling author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books created a board game, Cashflow, but nobody wanted to buy it.  So he wrote a book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, thinking surely the book would generate publicity and create demand for his game.  He found no publishing company that wanted his book.  So he self-published 1,000 copies shipped to his home.  He was eventually invited to speak about his book on regional radio programs.

When asked where listeners could purchase his book he said, “Anywhere books are sold,” even though there wasn’t a single bookstore that carried it.  Within one week he received calls from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other major book stores after they were inundated with requests to buy his book, and they wanted to carry it on their store shelves.

Wayne Dyer was a college professor.  A literary agent persuaded him to package his ideas into a book, which resulted in Your Erroneous Zones.  Although initial sales were thin, Dyer quit his teaching job and began a publicity tour across the United States, doggedly pursuing bookstore appearances and media interviews out of the back of his station wagon, making the best-seller lists.  This eventually led to national television talk show appearances including Merv Griffin, The Tonight Show, and Phil Donahue.

When Kiyosaki and Dyer were presented with options, they took the path less traveled.  They did what few people do.  They chose to step outside of their comfort zones, turn away from the familiar and take action.  As they say, the rest is history.

What will you do the next time you are faced with choices, opportunities? Remember those who have come before you and boldly taken action.  As Thoreau said, “When you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life that you have imagined, you will be met with a success unknown in common hours.” #  #

Reprinted with permission from the author’s Action Alert April 2011.

As a special offer for MHMSM.com, Jesse will give free copies of his book (A Journey to Financial Well-Being) to our readers in return for $4.95 for shipping and handling costs.  Just enter special code du201 during checkout from his website.

Jesse Hartman, Speaker and Author of A Journey to Financial Well-Being.  Contact Jesse at JesseHartman@yahoo.com, 206-817-3286 or www.JesseMHartman.com.

Evolve or Die – Seven Steps to Rethink the Way You Do Business

Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

Robin Crow, author of Evolve or Die – Seven Step to Rethink the Way You Do Business, was the Featured Speaker at the MHI Congress and Expo in Las Vegas, Thursday, April 28.  His theme was the solid example of companies that have successfully reinvented themselves by adapting to ongoing events as they occur.  Following are some of his comments as noted by MHMSM.com Publisher L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach.

The Crow Company and Dark Horse Recording have worked with many recording artists, including star performers Michael W Smith, Scott Hendrix, Faith Hill, Neil Diamond and Tim McGraw.  Consumers do not buy CDs like they used to; they prefer downloading for free.

Faith Hill and Scott her producer/editor make a typical hundreds, perhaps thousands of vocal takes to compile the final recording you hear.  After one week in the studio, Scott was talking about the deli sandwiches that Robin made.  They ran long on the planned five weeks, and needed two more weeks in the studio.  Robin said, “Before Neil Diamond comes in, but we have to raise my rates $75 a day.”  Faith said, “No problem, the sandwiches alone are worth it.”

This was a paradigm shift for Robin, who realized he was not in the business of hi tech systems, but in the business of serving people and exceeding their expectations.  To this end, he created Raving Fans.  Serving food to famous people was only one way he exceeded the expectations of his clients.

When Tim McGraw did his last recording at Dark Horse, he booked all the facilities.  Not just the studio, but the log home and other facilities.  He brought along 35 people.  Faith and Tim live only six miles away, but six nights a week they would stay at the studio compound.  Tim brought firewood.  Flames reached two feet, four feet and then six feet.

Robin didn’t have much money.  He had been let go by RCA, and was too old to rock and roll, too young to die.  But he had a vision and he could visualize the next step.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ~ Thomas Edison

Robin traded future studio times for labor, ran up credit cards sky high and raised $134,000 in cash on credit cards.  Once his building was up, banks took interest and he raised several million from the banks.  A decade later, his business is solely in serving.

“We find ways to reinvent ourselves to serve our customers.”  His business is “more like a guest resort that serves our customers.  The best bonding experience is working your tail off, let young see the work ethic.  Let the youth take pride of it.”

One son is video editing for the company.  The other son is a world class chef who sometimes gets involved.

When asked, “What were your failures, how did you overcome them?” Robin replied, “Just don’t stop.”

He doesn’t consider himself the smartest, but he is really persistent, putting one foot in front of the other.

The studio was hurting, but his speaking engagements were really, really good; three of four income steams were hurting, but six months turned it all around.  He received 132 rejection letters before getting signed by the RCA studio.  “Getting a job is full time job until you get employment,” he says.  “Jump and it will appear.”

Success is people and priorities. A leader leads by example whether he means to or not.  Bryan Tracy, for instance, is slow to hire, quick to fire.  Some leaders do not have enthusiasm; persistence or whatever is not in their DNA.

Get people who are hungry and want it – that’s the best team we have.

Raving Fans:

If someone is ordering a home – if they do not know how to solve all the steps involved, make sure they know you are trying to take care of it.

We he spoke for ATT last week, he noted that it is eight times as expensive to find a new customer as it is to keep the existing ones.  So bend over backwards to make sure the customers know you care.

His book, Evolve or Die, presents a seven-step challenge:

  1. Do whatever it takes to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS.
    2.  Commit to daily MEASURABLE IMPROVEMENT.
    3. Develop an ACCOUNTABILITY MATRIX – take responsibility.
    4. Revitalize Your Organization through MULTIDIMENSIONAL THINKING.
    5. Create a Culture of SHARED SACRIFICE.
    6. Transform your Business Philosophy to a TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE (Profits. People. Planet.)
    7. Dedicate Yourself to a Lifetime of MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

    He has a list of relationships and sends a Quote of the Day to everyone; that’s 20,000 people who get the Quote of the Day, twice a week.  Add value to people’s lives.  This might not have sex appeal, but every word is real.

    Exceeding expectations.  You are not a winner or loser, you are a chooser.  Be the miracle.  Then decide.  Will you be a force for good, and for God?  Step out on faith or give into fear.  Will you bleed, will you lead?  Will you keep going when the cold wind blows?

    There is no better way to be a winner than to exceed expectations.  Go the extra mile.

    You were not born a winner or loser.  You were born a chooser.  You are the miracle. # #

    Robin Crow, The Crow Company, www.robincrow.com

    What do NV, PA and OK have in common besides music?

    Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals, Uncategorized / By

    Why, outstanding manufactured housing venues – congress/expo and shows – that’s what!

    Next week is SHOW TIME around the country! Three big manufactured housing events are all scheduled for the week of April 24. Enjoy the venues – enjoy the songs!

    2011 National Congress & Expo
    Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
    April 26-28

     

     

    HOMExpo 2011
    York, PA
    TRADE DAYS: April 26th – 28th, PUBLIC DAYS: April 29th – May 1st

     

     

    The Great Southwest Home Show 2011
    QuickTrip Center at Expo Square, Tulsa OK
    TRADE/INDUSTRY DAYS: April 28 -29th (1:00 p.m.), PUBLIC DAYS: April 29th (3:00 p.m.) – May 1st

     

     

    See you in Vegas and Tulsa for our two seminars:

    Engaging the Media: How to Make Positive PR and Good Media Relations a Reality
    • MHI Congress & Expo, Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, Nevada,
    Thursday, April 28 at 11:15 a.m. PDT – See MHMSM in Booth 610
    • Great Southwest Home Show, QuikTrip Center, Expo Square – Tulsa, Oklahoma,
    Friday, April 29, 2:00-3:00 p.m. – See MHMSM in Booth 101

    “Dominate Your Local Market” Seminar
    • MHI Congress & Expo, Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, Nevada,
    Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 1:00-2:30 p.m. – See MHMSM in Booth 610
    • Great Southwest Home Show, QuikTrip Center, Expo Square – Tulsa, Oklahoma,
    Friday, April 29, 2011 10:00-11:00 a.m. – See MHMSM in Booth 101

    Video credits:  “Viva Las Vegas” Video for Elvis Presley singing “Viva Las Vegas”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYSGOlfm1e4; “Hills of Pennsylvania http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhA5dDrlNzI;  “Oklahoma” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFvbeeOsNdo

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