Christopher’s
Christopher’s is buzzing again, if I’m to judge by the numbers on a Friday night. A friend, Kyle Lewis, suggested it’s probably that people have begun to recover from the several Ponzi schemes that have claimed numerous victims here in recent months. Another friend, Colin Steele, believes that coming out to one of Kingston’s premier bars is probably part of the recovery.
I suspect though, that people want a sense of community to help them understand what the hell is going on in the world’s financial markets. They are fearful of the likely impact in Jamaica where remittances and visitor stopover determines what action there is in our economy.
Christopher’s is ideal for feeling the pulse of corporate Jamaica. On tab there last Friday night were credit cards from several top companies. Amid the networking and ogling, however, there were heated conversations about what the US meltdown means.
There is deep concern for Jamaica’s economy if things in the United States and elsewhere get funkier. A depression north of us will bite hard.
Many businessmen already see a tightening in this market. Receivables have begun to lag, and there is extreme caution in planning new projects.
Those of us who earn a living in marketing, advertising and web development are particularly sensitive to these signs. Our not so mission critical services are usually the first items on the expenditure chopping block.
Knolly Moses's blog | add new comment
Submitted by Knolly Moses on October 6, 2008 - 10:53am.
Just a few comments on your last paragraph there KM. I see what you mean, in terms of the concern for those of us working in the “not so mission critical services.” I think there is another way to look at this though. Marketing, advertising and web development are often mistaken for the “frills” in organizations but this crisis may be just the thing to show the importance of the communications sector. The reality is that though there are real economic problems behind this crisis, much of the fuel that’s been feeding the fire is people’s perception of impending doom, fear is playing a big part in all this. This is the perfect time for people like us to step in, because an important solution to the problem is changing people’s perceptions so that they’ll feel confident enough to go out and take the calculated risks that keep markets healthy. This is a prime example of how important it is to manage perceptions, information and knowledge. And that’s what the “frills” do, you do the business, we’ll help people to know about and think about your business. If perceptions and information had been managed properly in the first place, perhaps much of this subprime business could have been avoided. People thought one thing and the reality was another. Now we’re all paying. So maybe, just maybe, we over here in the “frills” department are an important part of the way out. Anyway, that’s just my two cents.