I want to first thank everyone for discussing this with poise and sensitivity.
And a huge thanks to Grant for adding to the conversation. There's no question that the business landscape has changed. The long tail. Crowdsourcing. extreme-niche marketing. Pop ups. Food Trucks. Ok... maybe food trucks aren't actually in this picture, but I hadn't eaten yet... Anyway. I can't speak to those who took offense in other forums. But, it's always easier and simpler to hold a strong opinion about something in which you are not a stakeholder. I feel I'm a stakeholder in Rivendell. From the first columns in the Readers I read, Grant was painfully honest about the business. As someone running a specialty retail biz at the time, it was buoying to realize others had the same concerns and issues and late-night thoughts. Those words gained my trust even before I met Grant in person. Over these 25 years, RBW has grown, refined, developed and continued. I'll continue to supporting this adventure as long as there's a horizon and the tiniest hint of a trail. This recent ask seemed pretty innocuous to me - just a positive reminder that a little help would be appreciated at a slow time of the year. Didn't seem like sirens. Right now I'm reading "This is Marketing" by Seth Godin. It's a worthy read for anyone trying to run a biz these days. Or more accurately, for anyone trying to seek Change. The idea of the smallest viable audience. More god stuff that I won't delve into here. Seth talks about the reality of today's business landscape and the need to have a real conversation with your customers, based on Trust. I've lost count of how many times I've thought - "wow. Grant's been doing that since day one." Nothing is perfect in this life. But we lace up each day and seek beauty. The fact that Rivendell has had permission to continue is a blessing. Remember to ride. - Jim -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
