I had completely forgotten about this until I looked at my archive of ideas here. I never talked about Black Friday. You see, there were some precious items to be had at Toys R Us at midnight on Black Friday, and as I didn't want to send the Queen out by herself, I went. I thought I'd go out there about an hour before midnight to see if there was a line.
Heh...
Yeah, there was a little bit of a line. The Toys R Us I went was the one at 71st and Memorial, if you're familiar with Tulsa. The line from the entrance stretched to the north from the front door across their entire parking lot, across their alley entrance, past five store fronts on the strip mall next door, turned the corner to go west past three small store fronts, one large one (Vintage Stock), and all the way to the door of the dollar theatre in that strip mall. I was amused, but there were some good deals, so I stood in line.
The line went well past me as well, but once it started moving, it went pretty quickly to get in. Some thugs cut in line behind me and then talked very loudly about how it wasn't right that they had to wait in line. I'm not racist, but they weren't of the Caucasian persuasion and acted their stereotype well. There were cops at the entrance holding back the crowd on the South side of the door who also didn't want to track down the end of the line going North. There were quite a few cops in the parking lot to control the crowd actually.
Once inside, it was wall-to-wall people. There was no line once inside. It was a mob. I fought my way around the store and got all but one item that I'd come in for. I was afraid my one big ticket item was gone when I found the row it belonged on and an empty shelf. Fortunately the checkout line was so long that I found a display of them.
As for the checkout line... Ok, so Toys R Us is a large department store, right? Department stores have a general "action alley" aisle that runs around the inside of the store with stuff on either side of it. This line went from the registers at the front of the store and snaked in and out of the individual aisles toward the outside of the store all the way down the south side of the store through the games and then the clothes, and then down the west side through the baby accessories and furniture, but when it got to the north side, it stopped snaking, though that's where I started with the line that went beyond me right back to the registers. They had this poor employee standing at the end of the line with a red balloon who kept moving back and back and back. Other employees were trying to keep the lines snaking through the aisles. It was a nightmarish situation. One employee who was trying to control the line said they never planned for that level of chaos.
You see, Toys R Us was the only store open at midnight, beating out everyone else. I saw on the news later that the other Toys R Us in town had a fight break out. People get cazy during the shopping season.
Anyway, I waited patiently in line for two hours to checkout, which went smoothly, and to her credit, the cashier still had a smile. I was impressed.
So in the end, I went to Toys R Us at 11pm. I got home at 4am just in time to wake up the Queen for her shopping time. However, I saved more money than I spent that night, which was significant. But I was very grateful to go to bed. If I find the pics from that night, I'll post them as well. I took some, but it's been a couple months and I forgot about this post.
Black Friday. I'm sure I'll be there again this year.
Black fri. Drama of xout line. Line 2 nxt dr theatre. Pics 2 post. Line out
4 hrs.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Band and Research
So it's been a little while since I posted. I know this because the Queen complained about it last night. She was telling me that "that geek and the queen site is totally dead." So I thought of something.
First, to follow up the prior band post, I did some checking into the company that purported the opportunity to play in front of people, and they apparently offer that to everyone who suggests having a band as long as they're willing to sell their own tickets. A band promises to sell X tickets to their fans, and they can play. I told him point blank that I really don't have any fans and I can't guarantee any tickets. I figured playing with other similar groups would help to introduce me, but also asked if there was an inhouse box office that sells tickets as well since I don't have a lot of personal interaction with some people who might go. He never emailed me back. Oh well.
I hear from The Mixer, though, that The Player is interested in starting back up with the piano-drum thing, which was fun while it lasted.
As to my other topic here, it's ore of something I hear around my office a lot. and by a lot, I mean A LOT. The way we work around here is we get problem requests from clients and create these service tickets so that any notes or anything can easily be passed around to whomever needs to work the problem. Word of warning: if you are the lucky recipient of this ticket, no one else will touch it. They won't help the client. They won't even guess as to the problem. And so help me, they will NOT contact you when this person decides to call the main support line to find out about. No, they'll pop a note on the ticket saying that so-n-so called in about it, and so-n-so was informed that the issue was still "being researched." Wait, so-n-so implies there's a name left. Those people don't leave names. They always write "client." Not "The client." Just "client."
So from the client side, what does being researched mean? Well, note that these same people become responsible for tickets as well, and we have a game around here called "the follow-up game." The follow-up game is where you create something called a follow-up related to the ticket with a date on which you are required to contact the client and let them know where you are on the ticket. What can potentially happen on the date when the game is played? The client gets an email stating the following. "Hello, I'm following up with you to let you know that this issue is still being researched."
As a client, this might seem all right. They're still working on my problem, so they haven't forgotten about me. What it really means? "Oh shoot, I completely forgot about this" or "I still don't want to deal with this" or my personal favorite "God, I hate doing follow-ups for that person who is out of the office today, so I'm going to send emails." If your email says it is "still being researched," that means nothing has been done, and you're lucky that the person even acknowledged the existence of the ticket at all.
The people who play this game do not work anything that isn't due today. They will take a call, create the ticket, create the follow-up, and then promptly forget about it until it's due, even if it's something easy or something they can legitimately hand off. I've received these tickets after two days when the person finally played the game on it, sent the "still being researched" email and then forwarded it to my queue. Gee, thanks for giving me someone who has been disacknowledged for two days.
I think it's good that there's a date associated with these, since some of these people let tickets languish for weeks before this started. However, they need to be encouraged a bit more to work these things every day and keep their personal queues clean instead of playing the follow-up game. It's just annoying.
And apologies to the Queen for more of a complaint post instead of something more interesting about life, but that's what I had on my mind as I read through ticket after ticket that said "this issue is still being researched" when I know they never bothered to even find out.
First, to follow up the prior band post, I did some checking into the company that purported the opportunity to play in front of people, and they apparently offer that to everyone who suggests having a band as long as they're willing to sell their own tickets. A band promises to sell X tickets to their fans, and they can play. I told him point blank that I really don't have any fans and I can't guarantee any tickets. I figured playing with other similar groups would help to introduce me, but also asked if there was an inhouse box office that sells tickets as well since I don't have a lot of personal interaction with some people who might go. He never emailed me back. Oh well.
I hear from The Mixer, though, that The Player is interested in starting back up with the piano-drum thing, which was fun while it lasted.
As to my other topic here, it's ore of something I hear around my office a lot. and by a lot, I mean A LOT. The way we work around here is we get problem requests from clients and create these service tickets so that any notes or anything can easily be passed around to whomever needs to work the problem. Word of warning: if you are the lucky recipient of this ticket, no one else will touch it. They won't help the client. They won't even guess as to the problem. And so help me, they will NOT contact you when this person decides to call the main support line to find out about. No, they'll pop a note on the ticket saying that so-n-so called in about it, and so-n-so was informed that the issue was still "being researched." Wait, so-n-so implies there's a name left. Those people don't leave names. They always write "client." Not "The client." Just "client."
So from the client side, what does being researched mean? Well, note that these same people become responsible for tickets as well, and we have a game around here called "the follow-up game." The follow-up game is where you create something called a follow-up related to the ticket with a date on which you are required to contact the client and let them know where you are on the ticket. What can potentially happen on the date when the game is played? The client gets an email stating the following. "Hello, I'm following up with you to let you know that this issue is still being researched."
As a client, this might seem all right. They're still working on my problem, so they haven't forgotten about me. What it really means? "Oh shoot, I completely forgot about this" or "I still don't want to deal with this" or my personal favorite "God, I hate doing follow-ups for that person who is out of the office today, so I'm going to send emails." If your email says it is "still being researched," that means nothing has been done, and you're lucky that the person even acknowledged the existence of the ticket at all.
The people who play this game do not work anything that isn't due today. They will take a call, create the ticket, create the follow-up, and then promptly forget about it until it's due, even if it's something easy or something they can legitimately hand off. I've received these tickets after two days when the person finally played the game on it, sent the "still being researched" email and then forwarded it to my queue. Gee, thanks for giving me someone who has been disacknowledged for two days.
I think it's good that there's a date associated with these, since some of these people let tickets languish for weeks before this started. However, they need to be encouraged a bit more to work these things every day and keep their personal queues clean instead of playing the follow-up game. It's just annoying.
And apologies to the Queen for more of a complaint post instead of something more interesting about life, but that's what I had on my mind as I read through ticket after ticket that said "this issue is still being researched" when I know they never bothered to even find out.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Another band development
So, I've had my music out on MySpace for some time, and it surprised me the other day when I got a message from someone who was interested in booking a gig for me to play with some other bands. I was excited. It was an opportunity I'd dreamed of. To have a set of my own for me to show off my talents in front of a ready-made crowd. Problem is, I have no band.
No problem. I remember The Player, with whom I played piano some time ago. He's got equipment, connections, talent, etc. Perfect. So I write to him first telling him of my good fortune, and he's willing to help. While I'm waiting for him to respond, I do some light reading on this company that contacted me. Their terms are not unreasonable, but I'm not sure that they'll work out so well for me. There's also a lot of dissention on their practices.
You see, the gigs they schedule are scheduled at good venues, but done on off nights -- usually Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, that sort of thing. They charge a cover charge of $10-$12 for these shows which is a tad steep for an off night, especially when dealing with relative unknowns. You are scheduled with usually 4 other groups, which is fine. Reviews I've read, however, say that the music selection is usually very... eclectic. Which works for an iPod, but not so much for a concert where each group is hoping to gather some fans from the other. I mean, if I play my light rock and you've got grunge, neither of our respective fans are going to like the other group.
Finally, they want you to pre-sell tickets to your fans the tickets are cheaper than the door price $7-$8 compared to the $10-$12, but still... There isn't anything terribly unreasonable about this. After all, theoretically, Billy Joel is expected to draw his fans to his concerts as well. Trouble is, I have no fans. I have no advertising, nor any way of really getting myself out there other than playing like this. So I have a catch-22 of needing the fan base to play, but not able to get said fan base without playing. And then, you want to charge then to see me before they decide whether they're fans or not. Their solution? Sell to friends and family. Not unheard of, but it's a weeknight and they have to work tomorrow. I'm not a salesman, and I'd rather not sell to my family. I'd rather give them a pass in.
Don't get me wrong, though. If you fail to draw fans, you can still play. However, your pay for the gig and your play order are dependent on how many tickets you pre-sell. Hence, you sell only a few, then you probably play first and get near nothing for doing so. I play for the love of playing, so really, none of this is an issue. But I also suspect that my truthfully writing 0 fans and no, not willing to sell tickets won't fly with them. I mean, you get a cut of the door draw...as long as they came to see you.
So it's not unreasonable for a company to expect you to draw an audience to book you. Can't blame them. I'm just not enough of salesman to give them what they want.
However... The Player has connections. He knows how to book gigs as well. hence, there is a distinct possibility that the reason I got this invite was not to play shows on a Tuesday night while trying to pre-sell tickets to my lack of friends. Maybe it was the call to action I've needed for awhile to form a group and play. After all, I wouldn't have done it had I not gotten this invite. I've always held out saying I didn't have the space or resources or whatever, and yet, I used my resources to form a near instant group when the chance to play came up. Interesting, huh?
I'm curious to see where this goes. I haven't decided what to do with that company, but if I can play gigs without worrying about an audience draw, that would be ideal. That way, I'm not buying fans, I'm earning them. Maybe that's what bugged me...
No problem. I remember The Player, with whom I played piano some time ago. He's got equipment, connections, talent, etc. Perfect. So I write to him first telling him of my good fortune, and he's willing to help. While I'm waiting for him to respond, I do some light reading on this company that contacted me. Their terms are not unreasonable, but I'm not sure that they'll work out so well for me. There's also a lot of dissention on their practices.
You see, the gigs they schedule are scheduled at good venues, but done on off nights -- usually Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, that sort of thing. They charge a cover charge of $10-$12 for these shows which is a tad steep for an off night, especially when dealing with relative unknowns. You are scheduled with usually 4 other groups, which is fine. Reviews I've read, however, say that the music selection is usually very... eclectic. Which works for an iPod, but not so much for a concert where each group is hoping to gather some fans from the other. I mean, if I play my light rock and you've got grunge, neither of our respective fans are going to like the other group.
Finally, they want you to pre-sell tickets to your fans the tickets are cheaper than the door price $7-$8 compared to the $10-$12, but still... There isn't anything terribly unreasonable about this. After all, theoretically, Billy Joel is expected to draw his fans to his concerts as well. Trouble is, I have no fans. I have no advertising, nor any way of really getting myself out there other than playing like this. So I have a catch-22 of needing the fan base to play, but not able to get said fan base without playing. And then, you want to charge then to see me before they decide whether they're fans or not. Their solution? Sell to friends and family. Not unheard of, but it's a weeknight and they have to work tomorrow. I'm not a salesman, and I'd rather not sell to my family. I'd rather give them a pass in.
Don't get me wrong, though. If you fail to draw fans, you can still play. However, your pay for the gig and your play order are dependent on how many tickets you pre-sell. Hence, you sell only a few, then you probably play first and get near nothing for doing so. I play for the love of playing, so really, none of this is an issue. But I also suspect that my truthfully writing 0 fans and no, not willing to sell tickets won't fly with them. I mean, you get a cut of the door draw...as long as they came to see you.
So it's not unreasonable for a company to expect you to draw an audience to book you. Can't blame them. I'm just not enough of salesman to give them what they want.
However... The Player has connections. He knows how to book gigs as well. hence, there is a distinct possibility that the reason I got this invite was not to play shows on a Tuesday night while trying to pre-sell tickets to my lack of friends. Maybe it was the call to action I've needed for awhile to form a group and play. After all, I wouldn't have done it had I not gotten this invite. I've always held out saying I didn't have the space or resources or whatever, and yet, I used my resources to form a near instant group when the chance to play came up. Interesting, huh?
I'm curious to see where this goes. I haven't decided what to do with that company, but if I can play gigs without worrying about an audience draw, that would be ideal. That way, I'm not buying fans, I'm earning them. Maybe that's what bugged me...
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