economy

Greener Grass, Higher Tides
Last year in our May issue, I put a deliberately upbeat spin on market conditions that had prompted us at WaterShapes to switch temporarily to a bimonthly publishing schedule.   The tack I took did not go unnoticed.  In the aftermath of our announcement, of course, many of you let us know that you were four-square behind the magazine and offered to pitch in to do whatever you could to help – all of which was and remains most appreciated.  But there were others who, in various ways, essentially told me that
Knowing the Risks
These days, it seems natural for people to be reluctant to take risks.  We are, after all, still feeling the effects of a severe recession, and lots of folks are hunkered down, saving their pennies and waiting for something good to happen. I completely understand this conservative impulse, especially on the business front, but it’s also obvious to me that if we’re going to take the necessary steps to return to more prosperous times, then we as individuals, as an industry and even as a society will at some point need to start
Premium Pages
If you’re like me, you look forward to the arrival of every issue of this magazine. As I see it, WaterShapes provides information that helps me become better at what I do.  It’s also fun to read, informative and wonderfully affirming in that it shows our industry at its very best.  It’s truly an indispensible resource, has been responsible for a good measure of the progress the industry has made in the past 12 years – and, unfortunately, it’s also struggling to make headway in a tough marketplace. Let me say this up front:  I’m going to lay it on the line about
The View from the Editor’s Desk
Eric Herman has served as the editor of WaterShapes magazine since its inception in 1999. During a career spanning more than 25 years, he has written and edited articles across a broad range of industries, technical subjects and business interests. According to
Economy of Motion
As is true of businesses coast to coast, we at WaterShapes are counting the days until the economy turns around.  We do so confident that economic trends are cyclical and that good times have always replaced the bad. But this particular recession has been deeper and longer than most among us have ever witnessed, leaving many companies – including ours – to hunker down and make what we can out of thin stocks of available business.  As has been suggested numerous times in the pages of our magazine, however, this is no time for rash
Deficits of Trust
The Harvard Business Review recently published results of an interesting survey:  Overall, they said, some 75 percent of those contacted reported diminishing trust in U.S. business managers and their companies; moreover, their faith in educational institutions, product suppliers and government is on the decline as well – but not to quite such an extent. It all seems gloomy and pessimistic, but I couldn’t be surprised by the findings.  In fact, I can
Reasons to Believe
Although I’ve done it on a couple occasions through the past 11 years, I’ve always had trouble writing columns that welcome a New Year – even when times have been good and there have been reasons aplenty for lavish doses of optimism.  I just don’t like clichés, and they’re amazingly difficult to avoid when you look to the future with
Time to Rebound
Economists, commentators, politicians and just about anyone who’s been paying attention have described the recession that started in 2008 as the worst economic calamity to befall us since the Great Depression.  None of us needs their expert testimony to know that the past 18 months have been the toughest most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Just as we knew when times were great that the housing market was ripe for
Making Headway
If there's one thing about the world of watershaping that never ceases to amaze me, it's the wide spectrum of skills, styles and project types that define the boundaries of what people engaged in this industry do for their clients.  Recognizing that breadth and depth is always encouraging (as I've mentioned before in this space), but in today's marketplace it's becoming
Making Headway
If there's one thing about the world of watershaping that never ceases to amaze me, it's the wide spectrum of skills, styles and project types that define the boundaries of what people engaged in this industry do for their clients.  Recognizing that breadth and depth is always encouraging (as I've mentioned before in this space), but in today's marketplace it's becoming