I am often called on to speak at various industry events and educational forums. From the MBA students at Virginia Commonwealth University and entrepreneurs in Executive Education at the Robins School of Business to printers, contractors and child development professionals. My sessions are very lively and I usually get some great questions. But in the past they would come from a very small portion of the audience.  There were a few who seemed engaged, demonstrated by their knowing smiles and glances at one another, but many more who seemed to regard the experience as a great way to get out of the office for a morning. They laughed at my jokes, nodded along on cue following a quote from the Marketing and Sales gospel according to Kate, but they didn't ask questions. From the boomer classic Animal House, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son," I could have come away thinking of these folks, "Habitual, disinterested and unaware is no way to go through life son."

But I am noticing a change and it's a good one. In the last three weeks I have spoken to printers in Boston and retail banking and association professionals in Williamsburg and Chicago. In each case, the questions came in rapid fire succession from every location in the auditorium making me feel a bit like the Shell Answer Lady.  The mood in the room was energized, hopeful and remarkable (to steal a concept from marketing guru Seth Godin).

I sense a change in the temperament of business leaders. Perhaps we are on the verge of one of Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Points. As Americans, business people and marketing and sales professionals, perhaps we have had enough of the recession, are shaking off the paralysis that has gripped us since last fall and are now ready to use our imaginations, intellects and resourcefulness to solve this economic crisis from the ground up rather than the federal government down.