I've been reading some interesting articles lately about the effects of the recession on jobs. Here are some tips for making yourself indispensable at your job so you'll improve your chances of keeping it through a recession. Here's another one about the best economic sectors to be in or thinking about moving towards with a coming recession. I guess it's only later in life that one starts to understand the wisdom of one's mother; my mom is a nurse at Caterpillar and I just can't imagine a much safer place to be. Cheers to Mom!

In terms of jobs my mom and I are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. She with her stable job and steady paycheck, me with my unpredictable job working from gig to gig. A friend of mine was contending recently that what I have isn't a real job, since the paycheck isn't steady and predictable. So I started wondering what it is that constitutes a real job. How is that defined these days, is there such a thing, or is it going the way of the dodo considering, among other things, the many ways that the world is getting flatter? I personally think we're moving more and more towards people having to reinvent themselves and find their own niche. The majority of people are going to need to learn to constantly educate themselves, keep up with economic and technological trends, and take risks to get their name out there in order to survive.

Southern Illinois business leaders are taking aim at the future; here's the ambitious plan neatly arranged on 17 slides. I think it's a great effort, and by coincidence I read this article this morning. People all over the world appreciate beauty and care in presentation. A lot of people around here understand how to appeal to a global audience and you can tell by their focus on the details (two small examples: Blue Sky Vineyard and Back 2 Basics). If SI is going to be successful they are going to need to help everyone around here understand and embrace that. I think the biggest hurdle will be getting people who have lived here to change. But at any rate, considering my new position as corporate sales for Arts & More Gallery, and my continued efforts to get southern Illinois on the map, I hope to do my part to beautify SI for all the new KBE workers, retirees, and tourism traffic.

I have been talking to a lot of people here in Carbondale about what it takes to be successful around here. This region presents a lot of obstacles for businesses, given the wide distances that separate everyone, the slow penetration of the internet, the sometimes less than visionary people in positions of power, and the general demographics. Simple things take longer to do here. For two and a half years I have lived here and watched people struggle along and fight against all the forces, be they the rising gas prices or falling sleet, that they cannot control. Everyone plugs along and works twice as hard to get the same results that are more easily attainable in more 'progressed' regions. It's not just here, basically anywhere somewhat rural without a significant economic advantage and all ducks in a row in terms of community and governmental support and vision is suffering.

So the bottom line that most everyone realizes or figures out is that to make it here, you have make it happen, and sometimes you have to reinvent yourself, and you have to work hard. Also, you have to get your face out in front of people, or they don't trust you.

A lot of people have less employment opportunity and this is magnified as the economy weakens. I read articles about how more people than ever are interested in voting in the upcoming elections because they're hoping some politician somewhere can help them. The fact is, like everyone in southern Illinois has already learned a long time ago, we are on our own and we're going to have to reinvent ourselves to survive. I have been trying to do that ever since the end of Starlab back in 2001, which ruined me forever for a normal 9-5 job interest (because it was such an incredible job). I hope I can help people who want to make the same changes and help them take control of their lives, and possibly make the learning curve a bit shorter for them.

I met someone last week I'm very happy to report who has been here plugging along for years and is making it work, Cavanaugh Gray with his Entrepreneur Cafe. He's been doing the Young Entprepreneurs Program since 1996 and he sees now that more and more non-youth need the same kind of assistance and inspiration. So we'll hopefully be putting our heads together on some projects, casting the nets a bit wider, and drawing on the extra strength that comes in numbers.