The news coming through my news ticker seems to be a 50/50 split between the Presidential primary and Hollywood awards cancellation news.

I have to admit, I used to watch all the award shows with bated breath and later, hold my hairbrush in front of the bathroom mirror and shed shiny tears as I thanked the academy for my imaginary win.

Good times.

This year, with the writers strike, the awards season is slowly turning into a series of press releases that announce the winners. While some people are going to shake their heads and say "so what", I’m starting to feel bad for the people this really effects: the limo drivers, the restaurants, hotel’s and ordinary Hollywood & Highland vendors who depend on this season like chocolate makers depend on Valentine’s Day.

Consider the article from the New York Post where there is an estimate from the Golden Globes cancellation of costing the LA economy 75+ million dollars.

Hotel rooms and catering contracts were being cancelled, limousine services dismissed and restaurants bracing for countless empty tables.

ABC.com says

According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the Oscars can pump as much as $130 million into the local economy. The Golden Globes can enrich the community by almost $80 million.

I don’t think I even need to add that that’s a significant amount of money, and it’s likely to keep getting bigger as each show is canceled. 

So, if you are a small business who depends on the largest sales during the awards season, what do you do now? How do you plan for that? How does a small business come back from a loss like that?

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager