From Where I Sit

Layoffs at Thomas Nelson

I hesitated about blogging on this. But it’s kind of the “elephant” in the room. I think I owe it to you, my readers, to blog about the good things as well as the difficult.

As you may have read in Publishers Weekly or the Tennessean, yesterday we laid off slightly less than 10% of our workforce. This was not an easy decision. It fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say this was one of the most difficult decisions of my tenure Thomas Nelson.

A Change in Our Trade Show Strategy

Today, we announced that we will no longer be participating in the two major trade shows in our industry: Book Expo America (BEA) or the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). As I said in our press release, we have been discussing this move for some time. In fact, it’s a conversation we have had every year since I have been at Nelson (ten years).

But the current economic downturn is forcing us to re-evaluate every marketing dollar we spend. This is not the reason for our shift in strategy, but it is the catalyst. The reality is that these trade shows provide very little return to us on a hugely significant investment.

The Half Marathon Sign-up Contest

Sometimes people just need a nudge from a friend to get with the program. This is particularly true with exercise.

Last week, Suzanne Thompson, our Nashville-based half marathon team leader, sent out an email to some employees. Lisa Stilwell, our Senior Editor for Gift Books, was one of the recipients. Yesterday, Suzanne received this response from Lisa:

Five Books on the New York Times Bestseller List

I have worked at Thomas Nelson for almost ten years. The most books we’ve ever had on the New York Times bestsellers list at one time is three. That was more than two years ago.

Yesterday, we were notified by the Times that we will have five books on the October 21, 2007 list. This is a new record for our company. These include:

The Largest Quarter in Our History

We just announced today that the quarter ending September 30 was the largest in our 209-year history. Net revenues were up 10% for the quarter and 10% for the first six months of its fiscal year. (Our fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.) EBITDA was up 10% for the quarter and 18% fiscal year-to-date.

Our publishing segment has been especially sucessful this year. It was up 12% for the six months ending September 30. I believe this is the direct result of our One Company initiative. This initiative has afforded us the focus we needed to create products that are relevant to consumers.

Wanted: Vice President, Corporate Communications

I have finally decided to hire a Vice President, Corporate Communications. Filling this need is long overdue. Because it has not really been anyone’s responsibility, we have missed opportunities to raise the Company’s visibility in the marketplace. I am also at the place where I need help with the communication I do on behalf of the Company.

So, here is the job description that is being posted tomorrow. If you know someone who is qualified and might be interested, please have them contact Jim Thomason, our Vice President, Human Resources.

Position Summary

The Vice President, Corporate Communications primary responsibility is to raise the visibility of Thomas Nelson in the overall marketplace and to enhance its image among key constituents. (This is distinct from the role of publicists embedded within the Company’s individual operating units, whose primary responsibility is to promote specific authors, brands, or products.)

Send Me Your Questions

I have read a couple of blogs where the writer answers questions from readers. It got me to thinking—this might be a good thing to do on my blog.

So, if you are so inclined, send me your questions. I have even created a new e-mail address for this purpose: Question4Mike@gmail.com.

Q & A Regarding Thomas Nelson’s “Open House” Announcement

Yesterday, we sent out a press release announcing “Open House,” an event we plan to host in Nashville for our top Christian retail accounts in the Spring of 2008. We will invite two employees from each selected store and pay their expenses to attend the weekend conference in Nashville. The Open House initiative will take the place of our attendance at the CBA Advance convention.

Publishers Weekly ran an article in PW Daily about this entitled, “Nelson Out of CBA Winter Show.” Of course, the emphasis was on the fact that we have decided not to participate in next year’s CBA Advance trade show. Open House is our alternative. I thought the article was accurate and balanced. However, as I suspected, it has created a bit of a stir.

Half Marathon Update

Several weeks ago, I registered for the Country Music Half Marathon to be held on April 28. In addition, I extended an invitation to Thomas Nelson employees to run with me.

I offered to give employees who registered a special Dragon-slayer t-shirt just for registering. If they complete the race, I will reimburse their entry fee, give them a $100 gift card, and recognize them at the May “All Employee Meeting.”

In addition, in a subsequent post, I agreed to give the employee’s spouse a t-shift and reimburse their entry fee if they also complete the race.

Seven Out of the Top Ten Bestsellers

Publishers Weekly just published the February Christian Marketplace Bestsellers list. Amazingly, we have seven out of the top ten hardcover bestsellers. Here’s the list:

Rank	Title	Author
1	Facing Your Giants	Max Lucado
3	The Way of the Wild Heart	John Eldredge
4	Cure for the Common Life	Max Lucado
5	Get Out of That Pit!	Beth Moore
6	Captivating	John & Stasi Eldredge
7	Grace for the Moment, Vol. 2	Max Lucado
10	The Christmas Candle	Max Lucado

Congratulations to Max, John, Stasi, and Beth, as well as our publishing, sales, and marketing teams. I’m proud of you!

Technorati Tags: bestsellers, books, publishing, thomas nelson

Thomas Nelson Enters Brazilian Market

I am pleased to announce the official launch of “Thomas Nelson Brasil.” (“Brasil” is the Brazilian spelling.) This is the first phase in our global expansion initiative. We have also opened offices in Beijing and Mexico City, which will both launch their first titles later this year.

The Thomas Nelson Brasil staff, from left to right, Judith de Almeida, Eduardo Cavalcante, and Carlo Carrenho (Publisher), all holding copies of a newly published book by Donald Miller.

As you may know, Brazil is a vast country. It is the size of the continental U.S. with a population of 180 million people. Portuguese is the spoken language. Interestingly, because of Brazil’s large population, more people in South America speak Portuguese than Spanish. Brazil is also the only country in the world to have won the Football (Soccer) World Cup five times.

According to the official census, more than 30 million Brazilians are evangelical Christians. This number is growing at the rate of 5—6% per year. Brazil has the third largest evangelical population in the world, behind the U.S. and China.

Half Marathon Follow-Up

Several people have indicated to me that they plan to accept my invitation to run the Country Music Half Marathon (or Full Marathon). Awesome. I get excited about doing it together. This will be great.

A few said that they planned to train with their spouses. So, that got me to thinking ... why not encourage this? The Bible says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10).

So, here’s the deal, if your spouse will run, too, I will give you both a t-shirt and reimburse you both for your entry fee if you both complete the race. However, I will only give you one gift card to the Mirror. (You were going to take your spouse, right?) Make sure that you email Suzanne Thompson once your spouse has registered. That way we can add them to the list and get you an additional t-shirt.

An Invitation to Run a Half-Marathon

My wife, Gail, loves to walk outdoors. She likes the fresh air. The scenery. The sense of connecting with God’s creation. For her, it is all about the process of walking.

Not me. I’m all about the destination—or the results. This isn’t necessarily better. In fact, it’s probably not. On the Strengths Finder test, “Achiever” is my number one strength. Unless I have a concrete goal, the process doesn’t mean much. (I apologize to my “Relator” friends.)

So, to be consistent at exercise, I need a goal. And, for me, the bigger the better.

So, at the urging of a couple of friends, I have decided to run the Country Music Half Marathon on April 28. This will be a challenge. I am currently running about 20–25 miles a week. Still, I have never run anything longer than about six miles. But I have 15 weeks to get ready. I figure that is plenty of time. (Said like a true first-timer!)

Subscribe to This Blog Via E-mail

Perhaps you know how to subscribe to this blog via RSS. Probably not. According to some studies, only one in ten Internet surfers know how to use RSS. If that’s you, you’re in good company.

I am not going to explain how to subscribe to Web sites and blogs via RSS. It sounds more difficult than it really is. You can find a good tutorial here. All you really need is a good RSS reader. Just search Google for “RSS +reader.” I use endo on the Mac. But I digress.

The easiest way to subscribe to this blog is via e-mail. Simply enter your e-mail address in the upper left-hand corner of this page. Then, whenever I post a new blog entry, you will receive it via e-mail. You can, of course, unsubscribe at any point along the way.

Technorati Tags: blogs, email

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

I hear lots of rumors. Usually, I don’t take them seriously until I hear them from more than one source.

According to the most recent rumor—which I’ve now heard twice—we are planning a layoff for June 19th. The rationale, I am told, is that InterMedia, our new capital partner, is wanting bigger profits. The only way to get these profits is to cut expenses. We are scheduled to close the transaction on June 12th, so, supposedly, this will happen the week following.

I want to assure you that this is indeed a baseless rumor. There is absolutely no truth to it.

No one speaks to InterMedia more than I do, and I have never had such a discussion with them. It has never come up. Other than the usual administrative stuff, most of our discussions have been been focused on how we can grow the business together to fulfill our mission as a Company.

If you hear this rumor, I would be grateful if you would help me short-circuit it. You can tell ’em it’s not true, and you heard it directly from me.

More Bestsellers in Six Weeks Than All of Last Year

In our last fiscal year (ending March 31), we placed seven books on the New York Times extended bestsellers list. Since our new fiscal year began on April 1, we have already had eight books on the list. These include:

The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell (Nelson Books)

Aruba by Dave Holloway (Nelson Curreent)

The Constitution in Exile by Andrew Napalitano (Nelson Current)

The Journey by Bill Graham (W Publishing)

Muzzled by Michael Smerconish (Nelson Current)

The Political Zoo by Michael Savage (Nelson Current)

Rick and Bubba’s Excellent Guide to God, Country, Family & Anything Else We Can Think Of by Rick Burgess and Bill (Bubba) Bussey (W Publishing)

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (Nelson Books)

This is very exciting and a “first-ever” for our Company. I am so proud of our teams. Congratulations!

Technorati Tags: bestsellers, books, publishing

Video of All Employee Meeting

Okay, it’s not The Chronicles of Narnia or King Kong. It’s just a video of the All Employee Meeting we held on Friday, November 18. In case you missed it, this is your chance to catch the action.

Please note that this is a behind-the-firewall thing. You will not be able to watch the video unless you are a Thomas Nelson employee with access to our intranet server.

Thanks to Gabe Wicks, who oversaw the video production, and Rick Proctor, who got the video working on our server. I think it’s a pretty good first effort. Please let me know what you think! We will hold the next All Employee Meeting in early February.

Technorati Tags: meetings, employee, video

Food Drive and Katrina Update

In case you missed it, Jim Thomason sent out the following email message regarding our disaster relief efforts.

After pledging 100,000 Bibles and $50,000 in employee matching funds (hopefully $100,000 eventually), the Company has been looking for a third channel for those who want to give material aid to Katrina victims. To date, the company has sent $55,762 (half employee money and half company match) to Samaritan’s Purse, who is using that money to purchase and distribute personal hygiene items to flood victims. A truck will leave here this weekend with our first shipment of 23,040 bibles bound for three distribution points in Texas.

After careful consideration of our options, the Disaster Response Committee has recommended, and Senior Leadership has approved, that we support the Second Harvest Food Bank here in Nashville as it struggles to provide food for Katrina victims sheltered in Middle Tennessee.

Several thousand refugees are here, or on their way here, and this overwhelms the capacity of local charities. Our money and bibles are going to the gulf region, so we believe our remaining charity should be directed locally to Katrina victims in our own backyard. Second Harvest reports that many of those whom they are currently helping are large families with small children who arrived here with nothing. They have an immediate need for:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Formula
• Small boxes of cereal
• Canned fruit with pop-top lids (so a can opener is not required)
• Peanut butter
• Crackers
• Individually wrapped snack items such as granola bars, cereal bars, etc.

Please bring your items to the Human Resources department. We have a set of cubicles reserved to keep those items until we can transport them to Second Harvest, who is unable to come get them due to the demands on their time for distributing food. We plan to take these over about twice a week, but if anyone has a truck or large trunk and can take those more often we’re glad to have the help.

Donation Update

You may have already read this. Jim Thomason gave an update before we all left for the weekend. On Friday, our employees gave $13,652 toward disaster relief in the Gulf region. The Company matched it with a check for an equal amount. Consequently, we overnighted a check to Samaritan’s Purse for $27,304. They received the check on Saturday. I know this is just a start.

If you haven’t given already, please do so now. With each passing day, we learn that the need is greater than we thought. It’s going to take all of us working together to make an impact.

Thomas Nelson’s Disaster Relief Efforts

As I am writing this, I am watching Fox News. The images of refugees trying to flee New Orleans are gut-wrenching. I can’t remember witnessing anything in our country as disastrous as what I have seen in the last three days.

This morning, I started getting e-mails from our employees with ideas for how our Company could help. Everyone feels the need to do something. I know I do. You can only watch the images for so long before you feel compelled to take action.

Realizing we need to act quickly, I asked Jim Thomason, our HR Director, to form a “Disaster Relief Committee” and make a recommendation to me by the end of the day. He and his team met and then made two proposals. (For Jim’s account, please click here.) I immediately approved both.

First, we will donate 100,000 Bibles to the relief efforts. Why Bibles? This afternoon, an official in Baton Rouge said on Fox News, “We need water, food, ... and Bibles.” This is something I knew we could help with. Samaritan's Purse, an organization headed by Franklin Graham, one of our authors, has agreed to distribute these for us. We will begin shipping them to Louisiana as soon as we get instructions from Samaritan’s Purse.

The Executive Leadership Team

Several people have asked, “Okay, so who now reports to Mike?” I created a top-level organizational chart that answers that question. You can double-click on the chart for a larger view.

I Have a New Job

Since I write this blog (when I write it) primarily for our Thomas Nelson employees, this will likely be old news. But, I felt this is probably something I should document for the sake of the few readers who won’t get the news any other way.

On Thursday, August 18, the Thomas Nelson Board of Directors made me the new CEO. Sam Moore, the former CEO, who had held the job for forty-seven years, will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Board. You can read the press release here. My new title is “President & Chief Executive Officer.”

Mr. Moore made the announcement at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, which was held immediately after the Board meeting. He gave me a gavel with my name, the date, and my new title inscribed on it. Obviously, he had been thinking about it for a while, but I only learned of his decision and the Board’s the day before.

At the Shareholders’ Meeting, Mr. Moore gave me a five-fold charge:

1. Make your family your top priority and remain faithful to your wife. (Actually, he said it a little more colorfully than this, but this is what he meant.)
   
   
2. Take care of your customers and your authors. If you do this, everything else will take care of itself.
   
   
3. Be kind to your employees. You have to take care of those who take care of you.
   
   
4. Be careful with the overhead. “A CEO has to have one glass eye and one real eye.” He has to be able to say, “No.”
   
   
5. Remember your old man (Mr. Moore). “He’s the one who brought you to the dance.”

I was very touched by his words. He is a tough act to follow. When the tenure of the average CEO today is five years, his forty-seven years as CEO are particularly noteworthy. He’s been more than a CEO; he’s the patriarch of our company. I'm convinced that people will still be celebrating his life and legacy a hundred years from now.

New Blog Search Feature

I have had several people request that I add a search feature to my blog. I have finally done this, using “Google Search.” You can find the search feature on the left sidebar.

Please note that the search engine searches both of my blogs (From Where I Sit and Working Smart) at the same time. This is a technical limitation with Google Search (it can’t search subdomains), but I think it’s actually a nice feature.

Enjoy.

Confidentially Speaking

Occasionally, you may want to pass on something confidential to me. If so, please send it to hyatt.confidential@gmail.com. No one has access to this account other than me—not Vicki, my assistant, nor any of the Thomas Nelson staff. In fact, it completely bypasses the Thomas Nelson servers. (GMail is a free service provided by Google.)

I promise that I will not forward your message or reveal your name to anyone else without your express permission. I will respond to each e-mail sent to me at this address, provided you use your real name. No question or comment is off limits. You are free to tell me the truth without fear of embarrassment or retaliation. I will do my best to listen carefully and respond accordingly.

No More E-Mail Updates

If you are an employee of Thomas Nelson, you know that I have been sending out an e-mail message every time I update my blog. Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that this is going to get old. If you are like me, you already get more e-mail than you can manage. So here’s what I have decided to do:

1. I will no longer send out e-mail notifications to employees.


2. If you want to be notified that I have posted something new, you can subscribe to my blog, using the “Subscribe” link on the top left corner of my page. Just enter your e-mail address and you’ll get an e-mail notification each day with a summary of the new posts that I have added. If I haven’t posted anything new, you won’t get an e-mail.

Welcome to My New Blog!

I have been trying to figure out some way to communicate with our employees on some sort of regular basis. I considered a “Webcast.” In fact, we even video-taped one. But, frankly, it looked forced and artificial. We ended up scuttling the project.

I also considered sending out a semi-regular e-mail blast. This certainly has it’s advantages. For starters, I can communicate to almost every employee without any initiative on their part. In addition, it’s free.

However, after thinking about it for a few weeks and after consulting with a few of our executives, I decided to set up a blog (short for “Web Log”). That’s what you are reading now.

I think it has several advantages: