Blog

What is going on?

May 29th, 2023 by Kenneth Abrahams

Business has always fascinated me to one degree or another. No, I never thought about growing up and owning a business. In fact, when I was younger, I wanted to be a fire truck. Yes, you read that right, not a firefighter but a fire truck. Look, I was a bigger kid, and the truck was bright red with lights and sirens, so can you blame me? My father was in the retail business, and it was interesting hearing him talk about how business worked along with all the moving parts of a business. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s was a different time in the business world. There were no faxes or cell phones, and absolutely no internet. So much more was done face to face. Believe it or not, you could get paid to fly overseas simply to deliver an important contract or document for a company or an individual.

People and the way they conduct business has undergone some drastic modifications and shifts over the years. In the “good old days,” deals were often solidified with a simple handshake. Perhaps, I am crazy but there seemed to be a lot less lawyers in the world and none of their faces were plastered on billboards from coast to coast. It was ingrained in me, at a very young age, that a person’s word was their bond. There are a few things that I, as an individual, or we, as a business, take more seriously. In more than 33 years in business, we have done hundreds, if not thousands, of events without the benefit of a signed contract. For some institutions it is easier to simply submit an invoice post event for payment. Clients have called us a day or so prior to or even the same day as their event. There is no time to execute a contract in those situations, but we show up, work the event, and rarely have an issue getting paid. That is what has made the last 12 to 18 months so strange.

During that time, we have had some major contractual issues along with some communication struggles with clients. Perhaps, it is how we work and the trust we put into the words of others that has gotten us in trouble. Towards the end of last year, we were working with a client to provide items for their spring day. It is an event we have worked for more than a decade, with half a dozen different advisors. They have a very specific date for the event, and it falls on the same day every year. As in years past, they also asked for a rain date. One of the vendors we were using was unable to accommodate a rain date this year and although disappointed they emailed that they were still going to use us for the primary date. As has been common in the past, they indicated that they would get back to us with the details for a contract. Figuring that we were all set, I put it out of my mind. As we were getting closer to the date, I reconnected with both the student and their advisor asking if they wanted to meet to discuss final arrangements and get the paperwork started. Shortly after that, I was sent a reply from the advisor saying they owed me a phone call or an email, as they had decided the rain date was necessary and had contracted with another vendor. It was a bit disheartening to receive that email but there was little I could do.

If that had been the only situation like that, I could have lived with it and moved on. Unfortunately, that was merely the beginning. Another school had asked for a contract, which we sent. Then did a site visit where we met with our contacts, Public Safety, and facilities all who signed off on the event. Then we got a contract from their General Counsel the likes of which I have never seen before. They were asking for insurance coverage and protection that we have never been asked for in almost 40 years in this business. Four days before the event the institutions president cancelled the contract. Believe it or not, I felt worse for my client and their students than I did for FUN or our supplier.

Most of the time when we work with a college or university, at some point we connect with a staff professional to iron out the details to make sure that the students we are working with have the budget and the backing of the institution. A common exception to that rule would be Senior week celebrations. Funding for these weeks or events often comes from different sources and it is not uncommon for students to have more autonomy on how the money is allocated and with less institutional oversite. So, there were no red flags when the group that contacted us from a school were just the students and not students plus an advisor. They seemed to have a good handle on what they wanted and there was a lot of back and forth between myself and the school. For those that haven’t worked with me in 2023, despite my love of the phone, these days I’m communicating with clients more through email and text because that is the way in which they like to communicate. I’m a rare old bird that likes to talk to people, but I fully respect that younger generations communicate differently. As is my normal protocol, I emailed the client to let them know that we were set and ready on our end to proceed but I needed additional information for the contract. I sent a list of questions to the client that they answered, a contract was sent, and the vendor was made aware that the date was a go. An email was sent to the client a few days before the event to confirm all the details, as is our normal procedure. They replied stating that they had never heard from us confirming the event, never received a contract, and oh, by the way, the space was no longer available, and they needed to cancel. When we forwarded them back the email with their responses to the contract questions they had been sent, they chose to simply not respond.

If you are still reading this, some of you are wondering if I or we have learned our lesson. These cancellations cost us, and the vendors/partners we work with, a lot of money but sadly there has been no lesson learned. There is no way after 40 years of being in this business, I can change who I am. Most of the people I work with will tell you that my word is my bond. A handshake or verbal agreement is as binding to me as a written one. Have I made mistakes and let clients down? I have, but it is unintentional. Will we continue to show up without a fully executed contract? Yes, we will. Will we get burned on occasion? More than likely. I still believe that people for the most part are decent, well-intentioned individuals. A few bad apples aren’t going to change what I believe or how I conduct business. Life is too short for me to be that cynical.

About the Author:

Ken Abrahams was born in South Bend Indiana in 1960. His mother was a teacher who passed away 7 years ago from Alzheimer’s. His father was in retail most of his career and his parents divorced when he was 14. Although several years apart he and Conan O’Brien attended the same high school and were there at the same time.

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