What the Shoe Salesman Has to Say About the Economy
by Joanna PinedaPosted on November 6, 2008
President-elect Obama has a lot on his plate. Perhaps most importantly, he’s got to get the economy moving again. I’m not convinced that getting people to spend money should be the top priority, but let me tell you about Mike, a shoe salesman I met at Nordstrom at Pentagon City last weekend.
I was looking for navy shoes and Mike was my guy. While I was trying on shoes, I asked him about business. Mike said that in his 15 years in the shoe department at Nordstrom, this is the worst he’s seen. I looked around, the store was packed. The food court had been packed. A couple of weeks ago, Tysons Galleria was packed. How could business be down?
Mike said, “look around, nobody’s carrying bags.” And you know what? He was right. Very few people in the store were carrying shopping bags. I was obsessed with people watching the rest of the afternoon and Mike’s words kept ringing true. Few people were carrying bags.
As Mike rang up my purchase, he said, “don’t be a stranger.”
What happens when ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude use your organization's research to answer a question but cite someone else instead of you? As AI answer engines become the front door to information, associations need a strategy for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and AI visibility to ensure their expertise remains visible, authoritative, and properly attributed. A couple of...
Let me be blunt: if your AI strategy is focused on writing blog posts faster, generating social captions, or drafting catchier emails, you’re thinking too small. Yes, AI can absolutely help with those things. And yes, it can save your team time, but that’s not where the real value is. The real opportunity lies in using AI to rethink how your...
Every January, I like to reflect on the previous year and consider what the coming year might hold for associations, nonprofits, and Matrix Group. This year, I did something different. I invited a few of my amazing team members at Matrix Group to join me on our podcast, Associations Thrive, to talk about the major trends they saw in 2025 and...
President-elect Obama has a lot on his plate. Perhaps most importantly, he’s got to get the economy moving again. I’m not convinced that getting people to spend money should be the top priority, but let me tell you about Mike, a shoe salesman I met at Nordstrom at Pentagon City last weekend.
