In the 1890′s many business people thought the telephone was a passing fancy… until everybody got one. Same with the fax in the 1980′s and email in the 1990′s. Its all about meeting the customer’s expectations. Unfortunately, you cannot change the expectation of an entire society, especially if you are trying to cling to the past.

Part of running a business is doing what works. The other part, the leadership part, is anticipating what will work in the future and preparing for those opportunities.

If anyone out there thinks putting your head in the sand is a good option, I’ve got a long line of your competitors waiting to kick your butt while your head is buried.

Things are changing, whether you like it or not. Conspicuous consumption is tacky. If clients notice you aren’t recycling, or making any attempt to be more efficient, they tend to wonder if you are up-to-date in any of your business affairs. They may even question themselves “Why am I still doing business with this troglodyte?”

The article below talks about ways some of the bigger, slower companies are finally getting around to “greening” their meetings. However, you will note, they are still throwing food away while people in town go hungry.

“This is becoming a standard,” said Allyson Wagner, project manager for event management firm Meeting Consultants Inc., which worked closely with IBM, the host property and other suppliers to incorporate environmentally friendly practices at the 5,000-attendee Information on Demand event. “It’s something that clients expect now. They’re starting to look for this in their RFPs. If it’s not already there, they’re adding it in. They’re expecting not only venues but their other vendor partners to bring something to the table.”

via Research: More Meetings Cutting Paper, Energy, Wasted F&B.

That`s the conclusion of research commissioned by sign firm Xmo Strata.

Of 100 managers questioned, 46% said that they considered sign work to be “less
dangerous than work in the construction industry”.

In fact, there is no independent breakdown of health and safety issues in the
sign industry – but sign engineers conduct work at height, involving
electricity, over areas where traffic is likely, and in the case of work on fuel
forecourts, with hazchem issues and an even higher risk of speeding traffic.
Sign towers on retail parks and MID signs (carrying the prices) on forecourts,
as well as other projects, frequently involve construction/civil work.

Xmo Strata managing director Steve Martin says the risks are higher than the
industry seems to perceive – and the legal liability rests not just with the
retailer, but potentially with individual managers. “In most data we are lumped
in with the construction industry, but the reality is that the risks are
sometimes greater than those on a construction site.

“One of the reasons for that is the sign industry`s reluctance to professionally
manage risk; there are good firms, but too few of them – generally, the industry
regards health and safety as a nuisance and something to pay lip-service to, and
that`s it. The industry has an appalling record in terms of adherence to health
and safety, and this is very easy to check out anecdotally yourself, in a few
moments, if you know what you are looking for.

“We conducted a survey of sign company websites recently and found a significant
number of them carried claims about the company`s health and safety credentials,
and yet showed photographs of their crews at work in which there were clear, and
multiple breaches of (for example) the Working at Height Regulations.

“Some managers falsely believe that if they ask the question, and the sign
company gives the right answer, they are in the clear. They`re not. The law
requires the employer (i.e. the customer) to provide a safe working environment,
and if a sign fitter falls whilst working at height, because he has failed to
adhere to health and safety regulations, it is entirely possible that he could
sue the customer, and not his own employer. In fact he`s likely to sue the
biggest target with the deepest pockets, and in many cases, that won`t be a sign
company.”

Xmo Strata`s own crews are amongst the most highly qualified sign engineers in
the UK and the company has won a raft of awards from retail customers and major
facilities management firms for its track record in health and safety.

More information on the research is available at www.xmostrata.com.

Mr Martin is the author of a whistle blowing book on the sign industry (Safety,
Quality, Tricks and Lies: dirty tricks in the British sign industry and 100
questions your sign company doesn`t want you to ask! available from Amazon, book
websites and all good book shops).

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Press Enquiries
Alexa Gibb, 020 8647 4467
ag@garnett-keeler.com
or
Xmo Strata
Steve Martin, 0845 2300 460
www.xmostrata.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009