The holiday season, for many small businesses, is the best of times and the worst of times. Retailers enjoy what’s by far the biggest sales season of the year even as they scramble to keep up with the frenzy. Other types of businesses, including NewWest.Net, work to solidify contracts and financial plans for the year to come. Everyone steps up their business game a bit and weighs the perennial questions: A company holiday party? Year-end bonuses? Gifts and cards for clients? Office schedule?

Even though we’ve never had a big gift-giving tradition in my family and I’m mystified by the hype ginned up around things like “Black Friday,” I do enjoy the commercial bustle of November and December. And this year, even though the global economic news is pretty grim and the financial state of my company is as parlous as ever, I’m feeling optimistic.

The fall, in addition to being holiday-prep season, is also media-planning season, and I’ve been encouraged by what I have seen in our business so far. Everyone is cautious, but at the same time they’re spending money and hardly anyone is behaving like the sky is falling. Even in the real estate and development economy, which is especially important here in the Mountain West and is still a very long way from recovery, there’s activity in the low-end and the mid-market. Some of our long-standing real-estate advertising clients are doing just fine.

Our conference business was a little weaker this year than last year, but our major sponsors are all on board for 2010, and, in fact, we may have more people interested in doing conferences with us than we can handle. That in turn could bode well for the hotels, catering companies, printers, and others who service the event industry (though admittedly this is only a sample of one).

The late fall in this part of the country also marks the beginning of snow season, and equipment retailers and resort operators are cautiously optimistic. Bookings are up a bit over last year’s dismal season, and the weather so far has been cooperating. Real estate may not be selling at ski resorts, but if there is snow, the sale of gear and lift tickets has traditionally proven surprisingly resilient, especially at resorts that are close to population centers.

Snow-sports businesses will also get a boost this year from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Olympics always drive excitement and interest, and the location this year could be a double-benefit for U.S. mountain towns: It’s close enough to draw a lot of attention, and some skiers who might have headed to Whistler will instead avoid the crowds and head for a U.S. resort. The weakening U.S. dollar may also attract more foreign visitors this winter.