Veeck fun, 'now more than ever'

Layoffs and cuts don't make for good one-liners.

But fun is still good, Mike Veeck insists, even when business is not.

As usual, the Charleston RiverDogs president and professional sports marketing expert makes sense. Most of us were doing much better in 2005 when Veeck's "Fun Is Good" book was published. With many employees and employers scrambling for cover, the subtitle "How to Create Joy & Passion in Your Workplace & Career" truly transcends its baseball roots.

Of course, humor is put to the test when paychecks shrink.

Those wacky 401(k) managers ... hilarious, aren't they?

But Veeck thinks his one-day "Fun Is Good" seminar hosted by the RiverDogs and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce scheduled for April 17 at the Charleston Marriott comes at just the right time.

"I am my own worst critic," Veeck said. "But I look at this and I think, 'If the book worked four years ago, now more than ever. I think people respond more to it.'

"I've seen an uptick in letters and responses to the book because I think people are looking for something that's enjoyable or a way to make work enjoyable. I think employers are looking around for the first time and saying, 'If we ask people to go on furlough instead of docking them pay, how can we make it fun?' "

Mike Veeck

Hey, let's party

Working for one of the minor league baseball teams Veeck is involved with means you never know when he might walk into your office and ask you to look into a file cabinet as he lights a firecracker under your desk and walks away, giggling down the hallway during the boom.

This is a man who may or may not be packing a whoopee cushion.

Or, these days, some sort of life-preserver.

The Veeck seminar subtitle is "When the Economy Tanks ... You Don't Have To."

For those who can't make it, here are some Veeck thoughts on the state of the work-a-day world:

• Loosen up and get to know each other. Longer and friendlier non-work conversations at work are a good idea, he said.

• Come together. Schedule more social events. "In times like this, we need one another and people bond," Veeck said. "They take solace in shared experiences. Community becomes more important when things get tough."

• Advertise! "People should be advertising now more than ever," Veeck said. "They should be finding guerilla tactics, the kind we've used all the time in minor league baseball because we don't have those huge budgets. There is blogging and social networking and Facebook, things we didn't know about even five years ago. But for Lord's sake don't stop advertising."

Opportunity knocks

The "Fun Is Good" one-day fest is $125 and will include various speakers and break-out sessions (funisgood.net).

"People will come and will be surprised," Veeck said. "It's pragmatic. It's not magical and it's not motivational, it's just things that other people who have been through tough times have found to be effective."

Veeck's goal is for each attendee — employer, employee or job hunter — to leave with five ideas.

"There are a lot of people who can use these times as an opportunity," Veeck said. "I don't mean to sound Pollyanna, but if you've been doing something for 20 years only because it pays well and suddenly it's not paying well or you see the end of the tunnel, there is an opportunity. I think people want to hear that, not from us but from one another."

Fun remains pretty good.

You just have to find it.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or 937-5593.