Where this project started

A couple of years ago, John Henley encouraged me to join a professional organization called the Association for Consumer Trends (ACT), which is composed of an eclectic mix of people from a wide variety of industry categories. The common denominator: Each member is driven to understand—and capitalize on—consumer trends. Sometimes their curiosity is personal, more often it is professional; it is always intelligent and stimulating.

Last year, I became a frequent contributor to the group’s newsletter… which has had the effect of putting my already intense passion for people-watching into overdrive. My ACT colleagues have greeted my contributions warmly and the response here at CSS is the project has expanded our organizational intelligence.

For awhile, until we had a handle on where we were headed with this, we just kept this work within the CSS and ACT groups. Just recently, we’ve been test-marketing this increasing body of work among a small group of CSS clients, helping them use this knowledge for immediate benefit. This effort now has a name: Elm Street Economics.

Mike Anderson 2/17/09