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 t seems like we’ve endured an eternity of dire predictions and gloomy forecasts regarding the economic future of our country. In reality, it’s been slightly more than 14 months since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which most would agree signaled the beginning of the end of excess.
To mark the one-year anniversary of
the collapse, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. Following the speech, and on the heels of an optimistic report from the Commerce Department that retail sales had risen 2.7 percent in August, Bernanke announced that the recession was “very likely over.”
And just like that, the heavens opened up, a dove was released, and from somewhere off in the distance came the sounds of a gospel choir singing an enthusiastic rendition of that “Money, Money, Money, Money” theme song from “The Apprentice.” OK, maybe it wasn’t quite like that, but
corporate America breathed its first sigh of relief in well over a year. And
the collective mantra of “We just need to survive this downturn” was replaced by a cautious and tempered optimism. The worst was over. We’d survived.
But we’re not entirely out of the woods yet. Bernanke himself warned that even though, from a “technical perspective,” the recession appeared to be over, “it is still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time.”
While 2010 will be, by most predictions, a year of slow steps toward recovery, the hard lessons we learned in the trial by economic hellfire of 2009 will continue to serve us well — assuming we don’t all revert to our old, wasteful ways. Just as excess breeds inefficiency, scarcity breeds ingenuity, creativity, and a big boost of plain old common sense. When times get tough, it’s survival of the fittest, and most companies that survived 2009 are leaner and meaner because of the universal recessionary challenge to do more with less.
In fact, some of those companies did way more with less, not just surviving, but growing and thriving amid adverse economic conditions. In defiant spite of the recession, more than 50 companies in the exhibition and event industry actually experienced impressive growth in 2009 — so much so that they scored coveted spots on Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies.
The list of companies includes everything from staffing and event-entertainment agencies like Catch The Moment and Convention Models & Talent Inc., to exhibit houses such as 2020 Exhibits Inc., Mirror Show Management Inc., E&E Exhibit Solutions Inc., Hill and Partners Inc., and many more. (For a complete list of the exhibit and event companies that made the cut, click here.) Their inclusion on this list is a testament
to the heartiness of face-to-face marketing, and an indication that even when budget dollars run dry and the economy implodes, it’s not impossible to sidestep your way to success.
For an industry that’s quick to bemoan its challenges, we often forget to celebrate our wins. So even though most exhibit managers will continue to cope with meager budgets, increased scrutiny of their spend, and even possible layoffs for months to come, let’s take one brief moment to celebrate our survival thus far. And hopefully we can all derive a little inspiration from the companies on the Inc. 5,000 — a who’s who of survivors and thrivers.
We have little control over the economic ebbs and flows we will likely experience throughout 2010, but these companies prove growth and survival are possible — so long as you refuse to go quietly into that not-so-good economic night. To paraphrase Jimmy Dean (the country singer and businessman, not the sausage), we can’t change the direction of the wind, but we can follow the lead of these despite-all-odds growth leaders and adjust our sails to always reach our destination. e
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EXHIBITOR
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