The consequences of over exuberant expansion.

The header of our post is taken from an article in today's edition of the Globe and Mail. Business reporter Deborah Yedlin examines the implosion of the Craig Media empire, a prairie based media group that aimed high, but got cut low. An event I watch with a bit of interest, for in a previous and more rewarding life I was briefly an employee of the Craig empire, back when it wasn't so much an empire as a whistle stop.

Now to be fair I'll have no inside dirt here, I rarely saw the Craig boys, let alone talked with them or picked their brains. Indeed, my contributions to the cause of media domination were small, brief and no doubt forgettable by the standards of the busy Craig's, as they made their plans for media conquest. Some days it appeared my main responsibility was to awaken the cat napping news anchor, so as to make sure I could have a five minute bathroom break, but I digress.

We watched the Craig brothers from a distance, as the actual operational portion of the building was barely connected to the Hallowed halls of business. The rabble were separated from the managers by a glass door and a receptionist, who tended to take her duties rather seriously regarding access to the bosses. At the time the father was still running the show, the boys just starting to gain their experience as handlers of employees and counters of beans. In fact, my arrival at the Craig mother ship of the day coincided with the expansion of the company to Portage in the east.

It was an expansion that was noticeable by the sad state of operational equipment at my new found home, a serious decay in the morale of the employees, and envy of the new operation. There is nothing worse than a lover spurned, I guess. As the Portage operation picked itself up and gained it's legs, the Brandon operation began to wither, lost in a sense of non importance. For when you're conquering the world, you tend to forget about the home front.

I left the empire after a short two year stay, moving on as it turned out in a wrong direction, but that's a story for another day. My time at ground zero was actually a rather fun period. I had the usual gripes, pay, workload, dealing with egos, but I enjoyed my co-workers for the most part, made some friends and gained some experience in an industry I loved being a part of. Keeping a low profile, I stayed the hell out of the way of the suits in the Crystal palace. I'm sure my name wouldn't register on their radar today, but I followed their progress over the years. The father's passing, the ascension of the sons and the expansion of the chain. First Calgary, next Edmonton and then the big bite, Toronto. The move that it would seem is the root cause of the downfall, the Genesis of the obits that are being prepared for the business sections.

The article is an interesting look at how a family run business is operated, required reading for business students and media moguls alike. It features a list of the wrong turns and unwise decisions, many which led to the situation the Craig's find themselves in today. It's of interest as well to the casual observer, who may wonder how they would handle the running of a business, handed down through family lines. While an interesting tale, it certainly isn't going to end with the Craig's cowering at the Welfare office. At the end of the day, they'll no doubt still have a pretty comfortable life.

If the fall from grace gets to be too much to deal with, perhaps they can contact that other Media baron in distress. I'm sure Conrad Black has some spare time these days, eager to welcome the chance to advise. He no doubt could offer a few survival strategies, maybe offer up a tax accountant or lawyer to help in the transition. In times like these the like minded must band together, it's only right to share the pain.