The Power of The Internet…

For nearly 9 years, I have been interested in the internet, and specifically trying to get the most exposure I could possibly get out of the thing. When you stop and think about it, the internet has changed the way humanity communicates. Not only is it an incredible communication tool, but it also has it’s own culture and products. The internet has caused seamlessly ordinary people, places, and things to become superstars at an amazing rate. When I was at Purdue, I had one economics professor that said Google was one of the most important technological revolutions of all time. Never before had so many people been able to share their voices in one central location. Never before had finding products, services, and properties been so easy. That professor knew what he was talking about. While running The Venue, I had the uncomfortably realization that no matter how popular the actual business had or would become, we were meaningless without some sort of web presence. Now, mind you, this was back in 2007 and although that was only 5 years ago, a lot of things have changed. One example of this is the social networking site MySpace, which has effectually been rendered into useless garbage. Nobody uses it anymore. However, in 2007, if you were in a band, MySpace.com was one of the most convenient and expected ways to promote your music online. At one point, you could even sell your music, and I believe MySpace did (or still does?) have an indie label called MySpace Records. Anyway, of course being in a band myself, we had a very prominent MySpace page (or so I thought). It was our job to try to somehow integrate our band’s fans into our business. We eventually ended up doing it quite well, and the word spread quickly. Our little music venue had quite the story. We had hundreds of e-mails, mostly bands and promoters looking to book our venue. We were located in a huge Big 10 college town, and to most promoters and bands, that was instant gold. Now, mind you, that wasn’t always the way it worked out. There were a number of shows that did not result in the kind of crowd you would hope to see at a rock show. Nevertheless, the idea of getting people into our business from MySpace was a valid and very real phenomenon, and it worked.

I actually began writing a book on The Venue back in 2008, and the manuscript is pretty much done. However, I never released it. This is not really in the scope of what I am talking about, but The Venue was one of the most valuable learning experiences of my life, and I have decided to release the book shortly as a .pdf file on this site. The reader can then look into some of the stories of being involved with the entertainment scene at a Big 10 college campus. I promise you, all of the stories in the book are true. Don’t ask me later.

Anyway, it goes without saying that MySpace and the internet as a whole was a major factor in our business. We did use conventional methods of advertising, such as radio, and newspaper. However, the internet worked the best. Why? The internet is self regulating. It supports itself. If people like you, the internet is instant word-of mouth communication. Of course, it works both ways, and if people hate your guts, it will also spread (and probably 10x as fast). I find it quite amusing just how fast information spreads, too. Once upon a time Lady Gaga played at Purdue, and I had known it about 3 days before the event. I made a Facebook event about this concert, and within 3 hours it had over 2,000 people (mostly from Purdue). Shortly before the concert, the event had almost 8,000 confirmed guests. Of course, being the person who created that stupid Facebook event, I had the ability to message everyone. I also helped broker multiple tickets, and many people were able to buy and sell their tickets for prices that made them very happy. The cost for me? Nothing, of course.

Another growing force on the internet is YouTube. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you have probably watched a video on YouTube. The site, the darling of Google, has also spawned plenty of hometown heroes. There are literally too many to list here, but suffice it to say there have been a lot of people who have come from that site over the years. I had back surgery in April 2011 and I put up a video of my recovery, and it has received over 20,000 views, and I have had many responses from all over the world. Many people needed the same surgery, or something similar, so I have been in contact with them to help them understand the process. Before YouTube, this would have been impossible.

The bottom line here is that there are too many methods to promote on the internet, and you must find one which works best for you. I have mentioned a few that have worked for me: MySpace (when it was relevant), Facebook events, and YouTube. But of course, this blog works as well. I have about 1000 readers a week. There is no good way to promote on the internet, but everyone has their own favorite that seems to work out. 

A very big show.

Dance Party I

Me in The Venue

A big show.

We were sponsored by Rockstar

Me and Travis Levrier at The Venue

Me and Mass Giorgini at The Venue.

Springload playing a show in Lafayette, Indiana

How do you promote on the net?

The Boomerang Generation

Nobody can deny that today is an interesting time for many Americans. One is completely bombarded with the notion that the population is rising, jobs are getting harder to find, and above all, perhaps our standard of living as American’s might be actually on the decline. Anyone can argue these points all day, but the issues faced in today’s society seem to plague some people more than others. Perhaps the group that was hardest hit during the Great Recession was Generation-Y, which is the loosely defined term for the kids born in the 80s-90s. I myself fall into this generation. This generation is often said to be the one that was affected the most from the global financial crisis, and perhaps will affect us for our entire lives. Million of students graduating from college find it difficult to find work. The days of landing a career right out of college are becoming fewer and fewer, and many young people now see this happening to them. In the past, a college degree typically meant a stable career, which in turn meant that the young adult knew where they were going to settle down, at least in the beginning. Today, very few people in their 20s have any idea of where they will be in 5-10 years. This is mostly due to economic uncertainty, and the fact that everyone seems to think they will still find a career job somewhere in the country.

On top of this, there is over $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt; most of which is in the hands of the same generation that is finding it difficult to get their foot in the door. Combined with such uncertainty, it is no wonder why many adults are delaying things such as marriage, which typically leads to other major life events, like buying a house or a car. This generation is finding it very difficult to begin. 58% of college grads in 2011 returned home after graduating, giving rise to the nickname Boomerang Generation, used to identify the current 20-something generation. 

Outsourcing, the decline in real wages, and obsolescence (see yesterday’s blog) have all decreased opportunities for people to find work, especially young people. Numerous jobs that were considered ‘entry level’ positions in the past are now overseas, or gone all together. The idea of buying a house, car, or having a wedding seems almost humorous to some, considering some have over $100,000 in student loan debt to repay. Forget starting a family with that type of statistic, too. In February this year, a Pew survey found that one-in-five young adults between 18 and 34 have delayed having a kid because of the economy. That is a staggering statistic, especially when you consider how historically growing families equated with a healthy economic recovery and stability.

While I believe economic recovery is slowly happening, it will be years, maybe decades, before people are able to reach their full potential again. This generation has learned (and many have learned the hard way) that external forces play a major role in personal success. Whether one is affected by the economy, the job market, the family, or sheer luck, it seems that people are becoming more in-tune to the fact that we are all in this together. How Generation-Y raises their kids will ultimately be the deciding factor in what they have learned. Was it us? Or was it something else?

Disappearing Jobs In Today’s Economy?

Recently, 24/7WallSt  released an interesting article online entitled America’s 10 Disappearing Jobs. I was very interested in this and read through it immediately. It had some of the jobs that were, in my opinion, quite antiquated as it is, such as Textile Machine Setters, Operators and Tenders(?). Anyway, the full list is of course listed at the above link. However, this recent article got me thinking. As a person who is fascinated with aviation, I almost expected to see airline pilot on that list. I thought to myself, why are pilots even necessary with the advent of such advanced technology? To many people, that seems completely insane to think that a commercial airliner, let alone any aircraft, could safely pilot itself without a human being. But, rest assured, this is possible. Or how about Ernst Dickmanns‘ robotic Mercedes-Benz S-Class that successfully drove around Germany in 1994 (and even went on the Autobahn)? Or how about new advances in robot surgeries? People utilize the internet now to find the best deals and make deals. People also use computers to advertise their own goods or services, and a lot of these so-called methods of advertising (such as Craigslist.com) are totally free. Print media is a dying industry; at least, the physical aspect of it. These are just a few ideas that came to my mind when I was reading this article. Yet, this logic can be applied to almost any position today if you put your mind to it. Sure, some are more difficult than others. I cannot see a robot taking the job of a cop, teacher, or doctor. But, I certainly can see advancements in that direction. Combined with the fact that more and more people are looking for work, it can become quite alarming to learn that so many jobs of the past are leaving, never to return. With the rate of technological advancement increasing, competition for the human job will become even more and more fierce as the years go on.

On the flip side, while computer logic and reasoning is improving at an ever-increasing rate, many cannot deny the fact that the human component is still an important factor in nearly all jobs today. In many jobs, people and computers interact in a harmonious relationship, where the computer aids the human in doing calculations, determining data, and even making complex decisions. Computers make it possible for nearly everyone to work more efficiently. Yet, there is a dichotomy, a sort of gap,  between the human and the computer which is becoming increasingly smaller and smaller in it’s size. Sometimes, attempts to cross this barrier have harmed productivity, and in some cases, even caused the massive loss of life and property.

For a prime example of this, I invite you to read about the Überlingen mid-air collision. In this historic aviation accident, conflicting commands from the traffic collision avoidance system, know as TCAS, and the human element, a Swiss air traffic controller named Peter Nielson, resulted in a tragedy downing two airliners and killing 71 people over Southern Germany. TCAS is a relatively new technology that has become very common on major aircraft today, such as jet airliners. The system is designed to alert flight crews of traffic conflicts; that is, traffic that could cause a concern for the flight if action is not taken. Most of the time, TCAS is there to offer better insight into what is around an airplane. It is a wonderful thing to know what is around your aircraft, and if the other aircraft in your vicinity is equiped with TCAS technology, both aircraft can actively avoid each other; this concept is extremely attractive for obvious reasons, and is one of the signature components of a much more advanced paradigm known as ADS-B, but that is out of the scope of this discussion and I digress. Anyway, TCAS is basically there to help pilots avoid collisions. Of course, air traffic controllers are there to do the same thing.

The night was slow, when Peter Nielson saw a conflict alert on his radar,and immediately instructed the Russian plane, Bashkirian flight 2937, to decent 1,000 feet. This was to avoid the collision with the DHL 757 (did you read the article yet?). There was less than a minute between the aircraft and this was the correct thing to do. However, unbeknownst to Nielson, both aircraft were equipped with TCAS.  TCAS computers on-board both aircraft initiated a handshake, so to speak, and were now doing their own thing.  TCAS on-board Bashkirian 2937 instructed the pilots to climb, while at the same time, instructed the American pilots to decend. Had Nielson known this, he probably would have instructed both aircraft to disregard their TCAS. The Russian plane was clearly in a complete conflict; who should they listen to? As it turns out, they followed the controllers instructions to decent, while the 757 had followed their TCAS, and by the time the Russian plane saw the 757, it was too late.

This was clearly an example of when computers were an indirect cause to a complete failure of a system. Can one really blame the computers, though? Can they blame the air traffic controller? Both were right (read the damn Wikipedia article!), but together, they were both in conflict.

I hope this offers a bit of insight into the ever changing job market today. Perhaps you know someone (or multiple people!) who are affected by the above mentioned info. While computers are certainly making the job market more difficult, competitive, and different, we are clearly not yet to the point of computers taking over the world. We can save that for Hollywood.

What are some jobs you feel are threatened by technology? Do you think they will ever return?

College education: Does it affect income?

With the rising cost of a college education, many students (and parents) are beginning to wonder just how valuable a college education really is. From the beginning, we remember being told that getting a college degree was the sure-fire way to get a good, relatively high paying job, right from the beginning. However, in the recent decade, things have changed, and many are wondering what the value of their college degree really is.

I know many people aged 18-29 and I can confidently say that above everything else, one of the fundamental determinants in whether or not a student got a job after graduation was based on two factors:

1. What they majored in
2. If they networked

One of my good friends who will go unnamed works for an aerospace company. He got the job within a few months of graduating. He is 24 years old and probably makes around $60-80k. This person also went to a state school here in New York, so the expenses of tuition were greatly reduced, as compared to one who attends an expensive, private school. Of course, this person didn’t major in liberal arts or journalism, they majored in computer engineering.

Even with many kids graduating college and still having little or no work opportunity, a lot of students still feel that college is a necessity in today’s market.  A lot of people beg to differ.

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel recently paid 24 college students $100,000 to quit school and attempt to start their own business. While $100,000 sounds like a lot of capital (and indeed, it is), compared to some student loans, it is not an absurdly high number. When it comes to private schools, some students may easily leave with over $100,000 in student loan debt; which many know, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy court. Thiels idea was that entrepreneurs and business leadership will trump college level degrees any day. Part of me agrees with him.

In my opinion, at 24 years old, my generation, (The “Generation Screwed,” as Newsweek recently labeled us), has some of the highest levels of risk-aversion of any American generation. Many of us (or at least, the informed ones) feel that something is wrong with the ‘system’ and therefore, we are fiscally extremely conservative. Historically, this is completely against the entrepreneurial spirit of this country; we are supposed to take risks and love every second of the uncertainty. But perhaps it is because we have seen so many people lose their jobs, their businesses, their homes, their cars, or their investments. If we turn on the overly liberal media, all we hear about is the fear-loaded facts that the economy is in shambles and never returning, and perhaps it is best to put all of your $100 bills into a bag and bury them in the backyard. The number of small business start-ups is something like the lowest it has been in 35 years. Perhaps it is this way of thinking that is causing such an unreal fact.  Moreover, temp jobs are at their highest % of growth in years, and many of the jobs that were lost during the ‘Great Recession’ will not be returning, or have come back as low-wage temp positions.

What’s even worse is that a lot of kids feel that Bachelors Degrees are worthless, and everyone should go back to grad school to at least get a masters. I personally know more people than I can count that went back to grad school and graduated with one thing: debt. Again, I think it depends on what you major in; if it’s a specific skill set, by all means, it may be worth it, and especially worth it if your current employer will pay for tuition reimbursement, but to go back to grad school in order to delay the inevitable, is not only not worth it, in my opinion, but it will probably going to affect the students financial independence for decades to come.

After all of these facts, however, there is still an overwhelming advantage to having a college degree in terms of landing a job, though the income may not reflect that. Location is an important factor; considering many of the high paying jobs are in metropolitan areas, or at least in the bigger states, such as California, Texas, or New York.

I am optimistic that the jobs will return, and people will ultimately find where they belong in the workplace. The question, however, is when that will take place.

The Presidential Election and Consumer Confidence

With the election coming up, many people are becoming more and more interested in learning how the political sector in Washington affects consumer confidence in the United States, and ultimately around the world. There are a number of people who feel, for example, that consumer confidence will remain on the lower side until at least after the November presidential election. Last night, VP running mate Paul Ryan said, “We will not duck the tough issues – we will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others – we will take responsibility”.  How Ryan plans on doing this still remains unclear.

Nevertheless, another aspect to consider is how the prediction of consumer spending will ultimately affect local markets, such as residential real estate. A great number of business owners state they are still reluctant to reinvest capital into the current economy (PollingReport.com). The value of the dollar, combined with a volatile market, continues to demonstrate that this way of thinking creates a sort of ‘feedback circuit’.  With such uncertainty in the air, it is becoming more and more evident to me that a great number of people waiting to make a major investment, such as buying a home, or expanding their business, are waiting. In turn, this makes things even worse. But, perhaps they believe that things will be better after this November.

In my opinion, the markets are not as affected by these things as some economists and journalists would try to make one believe. When it comes to an overall view of the economy, people take the market and interest rates into consideration, of course. However, do many consider political and social factors as well? I do not think it is a valid concern for most informed investors and buyers.  At the basic level, the jobless rate in this country is often cited as being the result of low levels of confidence; but they ignore crucial issues, like the fact that many of these jobs have been exported, or no longer exist. Those types of hard facts influence the market far more than a sociopolitical one. This is the main reason why I would continue to ask the candidates, “How do you plan on lowering the jobless rate?”. I still have yet to see a satisfying answer.

So, it will be very interesting to see what happens to consumer confidence after November.

What do you think?

-David L