This is a welcome change that is drastically needed after years of infrastructure neglect. This is exactly the kind of investment in this country's future that we need for business to stay competitive in the global marketplace. Jim

This reminds me of Abraham Maslow and his thoughts on business and management. His theories on life have always resonated with me. A holistic approach to taking on any task, not only thinking about how to solve an immediate issue at hand, but looking at the bigger picture and building a foundation for success in that way. The way I feel best managed and have successfully empowered teams is when we think beyond today's fire-drill and remember overall strategy and objectives. This allows perspective on prioritizing daily activities and puts ownership and trust in the individual's hands. No one likes to feel like an automaton. Maslow says it best, himself. An excerpt from Maslow on Management... * Self-actualization-the freedom to effectuate one's own ideas, try things out, make decisions, and make mistakes * Synergy-what is beneficial for the individual is beneficial for everyone; individual success should not occur at the expense of others; align organizational goals with personal goals * Enlightened management policy-assume that all your people have the impulse to achieve; everyone prefers to be a prime mover rather than a passive helper; everyone wants to feel important, needed, useful, successful, and proud; there is no dominance-subordination hierarchy. At least that's what I strive to achieve as a manager and not forget in the heat of battle.

Marlene - Just wanted to add, I did see a shift in the Marketing develop with the recent hit Paranormal Activity as well. Early on, there was a viral advertising campaign that focused only on the fear driven images of the wife at home, scared, without any Marketing text. Once you clicked through the online ad, you were then exposed to the fact it was a film. Later in the release window, we really started seeing a full blown ad campaign. Paranormal Activity went on to achieve great financial success. Just wanted to highlight that Marketing strategy on that release as well.

I've been working a bit in social media and that's the great thing about the new world order in marketing. You can absolutely make on the fly changes in your approach. The best part, you can actually listen directly to your audience and have them tell you what to do. "Social listening," or "buzz monitoring" ends up being as important as putting a message out into the market.