In one of our several previous lives (Software development, Academician of a Dean-ish sort, Consultant, Editor of technology material), I was a staff member on two interesting short line railroads --- serving as consultant and development staff person . It became pretty clear that the railroads lost money on passenger traffic, but more than made up for it in freight income.
This encouraged them to divest themselves of their passenger burden and those short connecting lines on which they really lost money by selling off, OR in one spectacular bravado corporate maneuver, actually trying to give away short line branches. That was a phone call my corporation received one bright and sunny day that had our senior staff staring at us in disbelief : "They want to give it to us?? " .
That lesson has stood us in good stead in our later career efforts. I keep current to the best of my ability in the fields of airship development and changes in the maritime business. Folks, stick to Airship Cargo ! In particular, step in where an Airship's unique ability to skim harmlessly over the ice and snow, over the ocean surface, avoiding the many difficult passages (sinuous rivers, locks and dams, pirate-infested waters) and concentrating on fulfilling needs , can pay off in many ways . Trying to create needs by offering beautiful tourist operations may succeed for a while, but remember, always, that Fed Ex and UPS have succeeded by focusing on Core Competencies and determining what services are needed.
Apparently, it wasn't enough to witness video presentations each week of impossible (well, maybe improbable) voyages on ice roads in the Arctic. It took Dr. Barry Prentice, an expert in the previously almost unknown academic discipline of Logistics, was able, by means of his Airships to the Arctic Conferences, and his excellent marketing skills in distributing information in both written form --- Conference Proceedings --- which we strongly commend to you and in Power Point video format, to make his point. One of his effective techniques was to bring in a powerful combination of Provincial officials (that's state governments to us Yanks), academic researchers, and major Airship manufacturers prepared to build multi-million dollar prototypes, thanks to DARPA and daring entrepreneurs, and a clear demonstration of the need for this form of transportation. Dr. Prentice deftly avoided any politically-tainted arguments about global warming, holding forth the high risk video-taped efforts of the Ice Road Truckers as incontrovertible evidence of the problem.
Dr. Prentice was able to achieve that through a combination of Conference sponsorship by a first-rate, reputable, accredited, Province-level University together with imaginative commercial TV producers and an open-minded television channel. He has since then segued that into a separate non-profit organization called ISO Polar.
All this occurred just as the extraordinary value of Polar assets were being recognized for the first time :
1. the vast mineral wealth, including not just oil and natural gas, but also the rare earth minerals that are finding uses in new and critically important high technology.
2. the melting of Polar ice caps, forming and disclosing the possibility of the Northwest Passage that had been sought as almost a Holy Grail for hundreds of years.
3. the Awakening Maritime Provinces, in particular Newfoundland and Labrador, which, with the concurrence and assistance of the Canadian Federal government, realized what natural resources and biological treasures existed in an area that had previously been known mostly for its edible fishing resources. Working together, Federal and Provincial governments provided financing and infrastructure (there's that potent word again) for the establishment of marine biological laboratories of major significance. Working in harmony with informational articles in such esoteric --- but seminal --- publications as Maritime Technology Review and Marine Log ("marine" meaning saltwater rather than the "soldiers of the Navy"), they were able to inform a huge sector of important and significant members of the business world about the opportunities. ... another smart move.
4. Russia's recognition of the geopolitical importance of this area that had previously been closed off to them. The Russian regime was swift to react --- in the salty old saying of the American South, "Their mothers didn't raise no fools".
Ta-da ! A new shorter, cheaper, safer route between Russia and Europe, avoiding many potential military, predatory, economic, meteorologcal, and geographic hazards.
Then, having achieved marketing momentum (we hope that there is such a concept; if not, feel free to use it, we haven't trademarked it yet), he moved over the whole kit-and-Kaboodle to an independent non-profit organizational mode, and is moving the Conference over --- at least temporarily --- to the United States (am I correct?) .
... and much more to follow, as they say on TV advertisements.
No comments:
Post a Comment