Henry Juszkiewicz's Posterous

[FLICKOFLASH]

I am building a communication infrastructure using posterous.com. Check out 4henry.com.
Posterous allows me to post via email or sms and then send the information to all my web presences. It is really easy, flexible and powerful.

I intend to let everyone know the latest happenings at Gibson Guitar and also present parts of the book I am writing, "Fan Based Marketing"®.


Hope everyone is having a great weekend.


henryej's posterous - Gibson News & Thought on Fan Based Marketing


I was born in San Nicolas Argentina. I moved to Rochester, New York when I was 5 years old. I went to grammar school (St. Andrew's) and high school (Bishop Kearney) in Rochester. I was active in Theatrics, Band, Boy Scouts and a variety of extracurricular activities and was recognized for academic excellence.

I then attend General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) graduating in 1976. I received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree with honors, and had a minor in electrical engineering. I was an officer in a fraternity (Delta Tau Delta), and officer in student government and very active in extracurricular activities.

I then worked as a Project Engineer for Delco Products division of General Motors Corp. During that time I attended night school at University of Rochester in pursuit of an MBA. I received a General Motors Fellowship to attend Harvard Business School. I graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 1979.

I accepted a position of Executive Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions at Niederhoffer, Cross and Zeckhauser (NCZ) in New York City. NCZ pioneered middle market M&A.

In 1981, I acquired a Triple I, Inc. in Oklahoma City, OK. It was a small troubled business that had never made money. I made money the first day, and it became very successful changing its name to Phi Technologies, Inc.

In 1986 I acquired Gibson Guitar which was very unprofitable and rapidly losing market share. I made money day one and the company has had a compound annual growth rate in excess of 20% since then. Gibson is now number one in electric guitars, and continue to accrue market share. Gibson bought Baldwin Piano, Wurlitzer (jukeboxes, vending machines) and many well know musical instrument brand names. It is now a global enterprise approaching $1 billion in revenues.
I believe in strong and aggressive leadership, and in the pursuit of excellence. As Chairman and CEO of Gibson I continue to be a change agent leading with innovation and turning difficult situations into highly successful ones.

I also believe deeply, that we who are fortunate, owe an obligation to give back to society and the communities in which we are citizens. I pursue a better world though the policies and practices at Gibson, through the Gibson Foundation and many philanthropic organizations which I support and participate in.

[weirdotis]

Wait... what?

[Fletch]

Yeah I feel bad about the flood but this Henry love is a little weird. Almost as weird as the pickup guy love...

fletch

[BCRGreg]

I'm not a fan. I don't care if you don't like me, Henry. You have failed.

[wormburner]

Henry, how bout you just keep using Twitter like everyone else?
I look forward to the daily updates on the factory.

[delander]

Originally Posted by fletch

yeah i feel bad about the flood but this henry love is a little weird. Almost as weird as the pickup guy love...

Fletch

lol +1

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by Fletch

Yeah I feel bad about the flood but this Henry love is a little weird. Almost as weird as the pickup guy love...

fletch

Try some Axl love

Axl Rose: The Prettiest Star

First thing is never take Talk & Hear say as the absolute . PS never jump on a bandwagon it maybe a rough ride & that some never forget.

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by BCRGreg

I'm not a fan. I don't care if you don't like me, Henry. You have failed.

Henry may soften & give you a dealership I see a restructuring coming

[Boleskinehouse]

Meh. You can find good ones if you search long enough.

[BCRGreg]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

Henry may soften & give you a dealership I see a restructuring coming

He burned too many bridges, now he NEEDS independent dealers and we won't bow to him. Too many years of burning good people. He'll never change.

[Mr Insane]

There was one constant in what he wrote: the word "I."

[allbusinessjoe]

Perhaps, after reading this, all is well with Gibson, and they have absolutely zero financial challenges?

Or is it just more old war stories? Because I don't see any words that speak to the stories that have been appearing in the Financial Times that tell a story of a ship heading in a very wrong direction.

Denial? Delusions of grandeur? What is the truth?

[KSG_Standard]

I'm not a collector. I'm not a music shop owner. I'm just one of the millions of amateur pickers in the world. I've owned a pre-Norlin, a couple of Norlin era and several Gibsons made between 1990 and 2006. I haven't ever had a bad Gibson. I've never felt overcharged or ripped off. I've never had a bad experience with Gibson customer service either. In fact, just recently one of the Gibson Customer Service folks went out of his way to help me out.

I'm a loyal Gibson customer and I appreciate what Henry has done with the company. I don't understand the Robot or Dark Fire...but that's for others to worry about, because I'm not buying one. I hope that Gibson keeps making guitars right here in America and I wish Henry some good luck.

That's all I have to say about that.

[jomo]

Impressive resume Henry. I am truly impressed. I have always dreamed of working for Gibson, maybe in Artist relations or corporate sales. I always said "If I could make what I make now with Gibson, I'd dive in head first". I have to ask though, how do you explain this?
Gibson Ranks Highly on a Worst Companies to Work For List | Assonance
I have dealt with several Gibson employees in my line of work and not once have I met someone that is happy with what they make or how they are treated. I'm not jumping on a bandwagon, I'm simply expressing my concerns.

[tazzboy]

I too appreciated the fact that saved Gibson for bankruptcy and got it straighten out, but his business practice is what everyone here does not like.

The only way people will start liking Henry again is either he changes his business Practice or resign from being the Chairman and CEO or Gibson.

[BillB1960]

Sorry but that post sounds exactly like what his employees say about him at Glassdoor.com. It doesn't surprise me a bit that he used to work with GM because he displays the same arrogant attitude that brought the domestic automakers to their knees.

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by BCRGreg

He burned too many bridges, now he NEEDS independent dealers and we won't bow to him. Too many years of burning good people. He'll never change.

Doesn't seem like hear-say to me...

All I know is years ago I could walk into any small town music store and find new Gibsons for sale. Now that is not the case. I have to go to Guitar Center and deal with a teenager.

And that glassdoor stuff strikes a nerve with me as well, I worked in situations like that and it just sucks.

fletch

[KSG_Standard]

Maybe, but Glassdoor.com is an anonymous complaint site...isn't it? How much credence can you put in anonymous complainers?

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by KSG_Standard

Maybe, but Glassdoor.com is an anonymous complaint site...isn't it? How much credence can you put in anonymous complainers?

Well if I was a disgruntled Gibson employee, posting on that website, I surely wouldn't want to leave my name... If they weren't anonymous nobody in their right mind would bother posting.

fletch

[tazzboy]

Yeah probably cause they couldn't get any good reference from Gibson if they got caught bad mouthing the company on a web site.

or worse sued by Henry.

[BillB1960]

Originally Posted by KSG_Standard

Maybe, but Glassdoor.com is an anonymous complaint site...isn't it? How much credence can you put in anonymous complainers?

It is anonymous, it isn't necessarily a complaint site. There are plenty of companies with high ratings. It's basically an anonymous review site.

[KSG_Standard]

I was just checking out the Glassdoor site. I found a couple of interesting things.

1) Goldman Sachs CEO was voted 4th best CEO. GS had 229 anonymous entries...out of over 30,000 employees.

2) There are only 77 entries for Gibson and not all were bad reviews...How many employees does Gibson have?

I'm not saying that there aren't unhappy employees at Gibson, or that things are bad there...and I have no knowledge of what they're like to deal with as a business owner...I'm just saying that the Glassdoor thing doesn't seem too scientific or legitimate to me.

[Stonesy]

Hey Henry! One word. Boleskinehousesignaturecustomshoplimitededitionnor lin.
They'll sell like hot car...cakes.

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by KSG_Standard

I was just checking out the Glassdoor site. I found a couple of interesting things.

1) Goldman Sachs CEO was voted 4th best CEO. GS had 229 anonymous entries...out of over 30,000 employees.

2) There are only 77 entries for Gibson and not all were bad reviews...How many employees does Gibson have?

I'm not saying that there aren't unhappy employees at Gibson, or that things are bad there...and I have no knowledge of what they're like to deal with as a business owner...I'm just saying that the Glassdoor thing doesn't seem too scientific or legitimate to me.

Well with the Goldman Sachs bonus plan, there is no doubt in my mind everyone there is happy to work there...

fletch

[RichCI]

What? Posterior? I don't get it.

[#1guitarman]

Wait...WHAT??

Henry has a foundation set up to assist HIS Employees thru donations from outside of HIS billion dollar a year corporation?

"Gibson" is growing while it's employees are trying to put thier lives back together?

Yea, Henry, you are good. at walking on the backs of hard working people to get where you want to go. Since you have it all, how about forfetting your shares for the next 5 years, and turn it over to "The Foundation" to spread amoungst your flooded out employees?

Sorry if I sound all pissed off, but a "Pat me on the back, 'cause I'M the shit!!" post is NOT what we, or your employees, need at this time.

I'm not sorry I contributed to "The Foundation", Hopefully it will go to the flood victims.
I am sorry it was "Gibson is MINE!!" foundation tho...

Gibson is a total piece of shit without it's workers, Henry. Gibson is just a building with very little windows without the craftsman who build your empire for you.

Think about it, without employees who care, Gibson is nothing. You can't do it all by yourself. The only reason you(?) were able to turn Gibson around is because the people who live there 8 hours a day, everyday of thier lives, care. NOT because You're great. A Capitan is only as good as his Crew.

[Fletch]

In real world corporate accounting, the statement "I made money on the first day" is just about the silliest thing I've ever heard... you really wouldn't know such a thing until the close of a month or a quarter at least. I sit in bi-weekly staff meetings where budgets are discussed ad-nausium and it just doesn't work like this.


fletch

[Led Zep Fan]

Originally Posted by Fletch

Yeah I feel bad about the flood but this Henry love is a little weird.

Agreed.

[BCRGreg]

To answer a few questions posed to me, I am not anti-Gibson. Far from it. If, at some point, Gibson DOES figure a way to have mom and pop stores again, I would do it.

What I WON'T do is pay the outrageous entry fee and follow the ridiculous rules that are in place that force me to treat my customers in a way that I refuse to do.

A level field allows all parts-the manufacturer, the dealer and the consumer- to flourish. A stacked deck benefits the top and ONLY the top, and the bottom is forced to pay.

Nope.

I worked at a Gibson authorized shop in the late 70's/early 80's and things were good for all.

Current profitability is not long term stability.

Henry, you are welcome to contact me directly and open a dialogue. I don't expect you to, but will be willing to do so.

[allbusinessjoe]

Originally Posted by Fletch

In real world corporate accounting, the statement "I made money on the first day" is just about the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Agreed. His words shed enough insight to prove he is completely full of himself.

I'd like to see how successful he becomes selling refridgerators or tires.