It was nearly 10 years ago that my business partner and co-founder of Marketing Directions, Inc., Steve Borsch, first suggested that The Trend Curve™ needed a web presence. I told him I thought the Company had much more pressing needs and offered to list them all to make my point. He said nothing, but simply went on to create trendcurve.com on his own. Although the ecommerce piece of our web identity changed about five years ago, the basic concept of service to our subscribers that Steve put in place has remained.
Similarly, Steve came to me a year ago to say it was time for me to blog. This blog would not be an extension of The Trend Curve, but would be more personal. It would have my voice and would consist of anything from a quick quip about a great item at a trade show to random musings about concepts, colors, design directions or art. It might feel more like a diary than a publication.
I was intrigued by the idea, but just as I was a decade ago, too busy with the activities of running a trend forecasting business. 2004, I felt, was the wrong year to launch a blog. During that year I would launch two new color forecasts (‘Tis The Season™ Colors and The Trend Curve Colors™ KIDS, which will debut later this month) and a new TrendAlbum™ (Ten Top Trends), as well as return FutureHome™ to the many subscribers who missed it and asked for it again (watch for that release at the end of December). No, a blog was not in the picture.
Steve accepted my answer for several months. Then, two weeks ago, he decided to take the same approach he had taken 10 years ago. Steve presented my blog to me, named and ready to go. I couldn’t be more excited about the potential to write about things I feel are worth discussing in the world of trend, but in a more personal way than is appropriate to The Trend Curve.
I like the name Connecting the Dots™. For years, Steve and I have talked about the fact that trend forecasting is all about doing just that. We look at a myriad of topics, including lifestyle influences, demographics, world politics, retail and trade shows, then project the connections and how they will play out into the future.
By the way, Steve’s own site, also playing on the Connecting the Dots theme, deals with technology. You can find Steve’s version of Connecting the Dots here. It is well worth the visit!
So welcome to a blog that has been a year in the making. You can visit as often as you like, make comments on my topics when the spirit moves you and find in-context links when available.
I hope that each of you will enjoy Connecting the Dots as much as you enjoy The Trend Curve.
Michelle