Topics Include: The State of our Small Union, Bowling at the White House, Dr. Twitter, MD

The State of our Small Union

We're about half way through the year and the global economy has been taking a big hit. We hear this every day, but when I hear it I often think how it really affects people on the ground, and selfishly, what it really means in relation to me and my 25 person team. I imagine most of you wonder about the direct impact to your business and your pocket as well. Since Hodgson likes to see ourselves as partners to our clients, I thought you might be interested in the state of our business and how this global meltdown is affecting our very small universe.

Fortunately, we are moving through the year pretty much as planned. We are about 10% off our revenue goal (which I believe we will make up in the next 6 months) and about 5% off our sales goal.

Based on the business coming in and the projects being delivered, I have been blessed with not having to make any hard decisions in cutting employees or plans. In fact, in this time of uncertainty I have stuck to my guns and boldly pushed through increased sales and marketing initiatives and resources. This has allowed Garry Sittig (Director of Sales) to really attack the new business aspect of our organization significantly, with, I'm pleased to report, great success.

The one area of concern so far has been cash flow (as it is with any business) and I would attribute that to the imploding global markets impacting our clients, but, I again looked to our CFO Cate Rooney to manage that and to no surprise, she did. While it is always a concern, it was, and continues to be, at the "let's keep an eye on that" defcon.

The bottom line is that we are dealing with the recession, crisis, downturn, whatever you want to call it by investing in our business development and running our operation a little smarter. I anticipate we will grow organically this year, we will refine our processes both on a business end, and also on the delivery of our projects, and we will continue to grow and mature.

In short, the state of our small union is as we thought it would be back in November 2008 when we did 2009 planning - pretty darn good!

Since July includes Independence Day, your quintessential American holiday, I thought you'd like this next, quintessentially Washington story by Project Manager Stacy Schapiro.

Bowling at the White House

When most people think of the White House they think of a glamorous, regal building with the President and politicians roaming the halls. At least, that's what I thought when approaching the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue last Thursday evening. A good friend of mine works at the White House and was able to reserve a night of bowling at the Truman Bowling Alley.

My hair in curls, lips smiling in glossy pink (and, of course, my hodgsonConsulting business cards in my pocket) I approached the first of two security checkpoints with my other eager friends and prepared to meet, and perhaps bowl with the president.

What most people don't know is that the "White House" is a blanket term for a series of buildings. Though I did get some great up close pictures of the West Wing and the White House lawn, I did not have a chance to actually step foot in those buildings. Instead, our friend led us down a windy staircase past the eatery and an ATM, and tucked away in the sub basement next to dozens of old lockers and cleaning equipment was the Harry S. Truman bowling alley.

There were two lanes glistening over original 1940's era wood. Pictures of Truman bowling and first ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, and Pat Nixon lined the walls. We had to keep score ourselves (a feat, since out of the ten people in attendance, I alone knew how to do this) but we were all just glad to be sitting on the couches and chairs visited by so many important people.

Though I did not have a chance to meet President Obama, I did leave a business card on the scoring table. Who knows… maybe we'll get a call. I think the Truman Bowling Alley needs a website.