Maryrose Lyons blogging since 2003...

Optimistic Post

November 12, 2008 at 11:13 pm

At last month’s Dublin Chamber of Commerce networking, it was a fraught and frantic affair. There were plenty of new faces from the areas of law, architecture, and finance. People who had been far too busy to attend before. The room was packed. I left feeling a little like I’d just been at the ballroom of the Titanic minutes before that famous ice berg hit.

There was a lot of talk of ‘how are things for you?’. And anxiety about where things are going and what we can come to expect.

I’m just back from this month’s event and I have to say things are looking a little more up. We’re not through the woods yet, definitely, but my feel is that business has started to move again. I think we just endured a month where nothing happened from when the credit crunch went mainstream (end Sept) to around end October.

My thoughts were that there was a lot of high level strategic thinking going on: how are we going to deal with this new environment? I know there will be some blood letting, but I do believe that the wheels have started turning again.

And that’s a good thing.

What do you think? What are your experiences?

Posted in Business Culture Ireland | 5 Comments

Comments (5 responses)

Walter @ November 12th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
If you’re right, then that was the shortest recession ever.
Maryrose Lyons @ November 13th, 2008 at 12:18 am
No Walter, it ain’t over yet. But I sense we’ve moved from the pulling out hair stage to the rolling up sleeves stage.
Heidi Jermyn @ November 13th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I think this is an optimistic time actually. There will be some shedding of dead skin in companies small and large but this should reveal the fresh and non complacent talent beneath.
Mike @ November 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I also picked up some rays of hope around that time. You can see the best businesses making plans to come out of this downturn even stronger.

But I’m concerned that in the past week or so it has become fashionable to boast about dificult things are. It is becoming manditory to state that you are slashing expenditure.

Dont get me wrong I think that there is a lot of deadwood in the Irish Economy to cut, but we can’t take it all out at once.

But lets not talk ourselves in to deeper hole than we are in already.

Mike Spratt
http://www.rapidbusinessgrowth.ie
Mike @ November 29th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
There are way too many armchair economists, prophesying doom and damnation. This could be a time of great opportunity New blog entry @ http://rapidbusinessgrowth.ie/blog/?p=62