I don’t think it is the end of the world as we know it. We will get through this very difficult time. It might get worse before it gets better, but this too shall pass. And will probably be stronger for it.
There is one bright light amongst all this darkness -the virus has given people, companies, organizations, associations, and government agencies the right to blast us with email day and night with their virus updates. My real versus wasteful email level has increased tenfold perhaps higher now that the virus and lockdowns are in full swing. My inboxes both personal and business are inundated with email after email after email from law firms and accounting firms to retailers and technology providers telling me that their employees are safe, they are in the same boat with me and that they have a solution to get me through the virus. In most cases, it is engaging their services or buying a product from their website. The funniest ones are the FAQ emails. My question to them is how frequently are these questions asked since this virus and the government response are relatively new. I have also heard from each and every sports team that I follow about what they are doing to protect their franchise from the virus and of course, I have heard from a number of fantasy sports league operators letting me know that all is well with them and that they will be ready, willing and able to handle fantasy baseball and football when things get back to normal.
I am thankful for the good wishes from some folks like the place I stopped going to get coffee from a year ago because their price was too high or the car dealer that wanted me to know that they are deemed an essential business /service. It is clear that the new global marketing mantra is email cures all ills in the time of crisis. This needs to stop. I am making a list of companies that email me more than once a day with their virus updates. Rest assured when the dust settles, they will be hearing from me via email of course. Let me know if you want to see the list.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY:
Well along with the email craze that has hit the world, the webinar craze is also operating on overload. It seems like every hour on the hour, I am getting an email about a webinar on this topic or that topic related to rules, regulations, operations, and opportunities in the wake of the virus. It is really annoying. Now for full disclosure, the IMDDA has run and will continue to offer its webinars. We have a series of investor-focused programs that will continue, and we have augmented the series to include some virus-related programming. Our series is now back to its regularly scheduled frequency every other week. These programs like many others are free but they differ in that we are not trying to sell you something.