December FE Updates!
13 years ago
Sunday, April 26, 2009
NScOrp
Back Hallway shout out to Dolan, KJ, Jenna Kelly, Lauryn Kulinski., and Pat Lenihan - the five NSO Coordinators for next year...and all the Corp Captains who are working to make NSO 2009 a raging success. And all the Corpie OA's I saw at full staff training today. It's fantastic to see you all running shit...can't wait to be a foot soldier in the NSO machine in August :)
What is retreat?
I asked that very question, having never heard of retreat until I became a Corp UM member, around this time last year. The looks I got back were priceless, often accompanied by an "ohhhhh yeah, retreat." It's not as though we're trying to keep it secret. Every year, the day after graduation, the Corp Board and UM pours into a few cars and drives over to Rehoboth Beath, DE (the classiest of beaches). We rent a beach house for a few days and talk about the Corp for several hours each day.
It's timed to take place when everyone feels comfortable in their new positions, has a sweet team of Corpies in place to help them maintain and improve their stores, and is ready to get to work over the summer with the most detailed and time-intensive projects, when we can all devote our full attention to these sorts of things. Retreat is where we bring it all together, take a break geographically from the Hilltop and figure out where we've been (since Feb./Mar.) and where we're going (till next Feb./Mar.). Last year, we talked about DPAC (still working on it!), a coffee shop in the MSB building (shame, that.), customer service and professionalism, Corpientation, CPC restructuring, and a ton more. It's exhausting. Well, it was exhausting as a participant. I imagine planning it will be insane. So I'm starting to think about it now.
If there's something you think we should be talking about at the highest levels in the greatest detail, let me or your service director know and we'll take care of it. Anything where you've said "We should really have a conversation about _____" qualifies. And yes, that means you, whether you're a seasoned Corpie, alum, or new hire. Make that your (first or next) sweetideas@thecorp.org e-mail.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sticking it to the Man.
Tear gas, protestors, anger, separation, litigation. Those are the key terms from the Corp's creation myth, which is always fun to tell parents and journalists. Things were complicated back then - we were wholly independent legally, but it wasn't until the early 90's that we spun off completely from student government. The President of GUSA used to have a guaranteed seat on the Corp Board of Directors and for a while that person was automatically Chair of our Board.
Ever since 1972, our identity has shifted steadily toward the commercial and away from the political. Since I've been a part of the Corp, I've come to understand it as an enterprise that, among other things, generates profit in order to give it back to the community. This service (philanthropy) has come to be seen as a vital campus resource, but as always we have conversations what other purposes we can serve, fitting with our mission.
CSOC came out of one of those conversations. Hopefully by this time next year everyone will instantly know what I'm talking about. At the moment, the Corp Service and Outreach Committee is growing to fill a certain vacuum in Corp-Georgetown relations. Its chair (Pat Lenihan) and vice-chair (Bill Ward) will be taking the vision (a great deal of which we owe to Jesse) and making something new, valuable, and unique out of it. If everything goes to plan, student groups, Corpies, populations in need, and the University administration will all be better served by what CSOC accomplishes. Stay tuned for applications, which will be out soon.
We told "the University" about it yesterday, when six Board members met with Georgetown VP's, as we do every semester. Jesse, Phil, Brad, me, Omar, and Pat met with Dr. Olson (VP of Student Affairs) and other pertinent administrators to talk a little bit about the Corp's place in Georgetown and our interactions with the University. Until having this job, I had always seen the Corp as super-autonomous from them and independent in every sense of the word. There's a shorthand way of talking about our relationship with them that I use frequently - "the University is our landlord, nothing else". And while that's useful for touting our independence, it doesn't do justice to the subtle interdependence that has developed since 1972.
We are a valuable partner for many reasons, at least how I see it. We provide on-campus employment, including work-study employment, for over 200 students. Our employees gain management and professional experience that enriches their university experience and will serve us for the rest of our lives. We can be a source of prestige as the world's largest entirely student-run company - it might take a little while to sink in, but once it does (as an important part of Georgetown's student-run culture), we can provide texture to Georgetown's image, too often reduced to a number . Tour guides mention us for a reason. We can weave that texture into the entire Georgetown community: giving scholarships for outside-the-box reasons, funding innovative and oft-neglected student initiatives, and organizing campus-wide events. And we can connect alumni back to Georgetown, especially now with our Director of Alumni Relations and Professional Development, Lauren Janson. As a side note, we also provide a substantial amount of money for rent and 5% of every GoCard purchase straight to their coffers.
What does this get us? Too often, it seems like too little. I relayed a somewhat less coherent version of the above paragraph to the administrators we met with, referencing the Starbucks decision. But of course there are lots of factors at play, and the best we can do is position ourselves as best we can to generate opportunities and take advantage of them when they come around. Though it may grate our activist sensibilities, every service we operate was borne of a cooperative venture, independent though we may be, and every future service will have to be a cooperative venture as well, unless we're planning a takeover of the tattoo parlor across from Dean and DeLuca.
Enter CSOC. No lease, no Evil Corporate Competitor, no service fees or Facilities calls. Just the Corp connecting with students, coordinating service opportunities, and leveraging our professional relationship with the University to best address the community's needs for dialogue and cooperation. That's what we're throwing our weight behind to do justice to our mission, and it's cooperative, not antagonistic, with Georgetown administrators. Far after we're gone, they'll still be here, and its the relationships we build up that will best serve Georgetown students in the future. If not, we come back to the discussion. We'll come back anyway, because that's what we do. But I hope that we can all get behind this initiative early so that it becomes as robust a part of the Corp as philanthropy is now. Five years ago, things were very different in that arena as well. Not to mention 37 years ago.
Sorry for the epic length. It's a nuanced subject, and I hope I fleshed it out somewhat completely. I also have Russian homework and a paper outline that I don't want to do. And one last thing - as you all know, Mayorga is starting Thursday, thanks to the dedicated work of many, many Corpies. Very, very exciting.
Ever since 1972, our identity has shifted steadily toward the commercial and away from the political. Since I've been a part of the Corp, I've come to understand it as an enterprise that, among other things, generates profit in order to give it back to the community. This service (philanthropy) has come to be seen as a vital campus resource, but as always we have conversations what other purposes we can serve, fitting with our mission.
CSOC came out of one of those conversations. Hopefully by this time next year everyone will instantly know what I'm talking about. At the moment, the Corp Service and Outreach Committee is growing to fill a certain vacuum in Corp-Georgetown relations. Its chair (Pat Lenihan) and vice-chair (Bill Ward) will be taking the vision (a great deal of which we owe to Jesse) and making something new, valuable, and unique out of it. If everything goes to plan, student groups, Corpies, populations in need, and the University administration will all be better served by what CSOC accomplishes. Stay tuned for applications, which will be out soon.
We told "the University" about it yesterday, when six Board members met with Georgetown VP's, as we do every semester. Jesse, Phil, Brad, me, Omar, and Pat met with Dr. Olson (VP of Student Affairs) and other pertinent administrators to talk a little bit about the Corp's place in Georgetown and our interactions with the University. Until having this job, I had always seen the Corp as super-autonomous from them and independent in every sense of the word. There's a shorthand way of talking about our relationship with them that I use frequently - "the University is our landlord, nothing else". And while that's useful for touting our independence, it doesn't do justice to the subtle interdependence that has developed since 1972.
We are a valuable partner for many reasons, at least how I see it. We provide on-campus employment, including work-study employment, for over 200 students. Our employees gain management and professional experience that enriches their university experience and will serve us for the rest of our lives. We can be a source of prestige as the world's largest entirely student-run company - it might take a little while to sink in, but once it does (as an important part of Georgetown's student-run culture), we can provide texture to Georgetown's image, too often reduced to a number . Tour guides mention us for a reason. We can weave that texture into the entire Georgetown community: giving scholarships for outside-the-box reasons, funding innovative and oft-neglected student initiatives, and organizing campus-wide events. And we can connect alumni back to Georgetown, especially now with our Director of Alumni Relations and Professional Development, Lauren Janson. As a side note, we also provide a substantial amount of money for rent and 5% of every GoCard purchase straight to their coffers.
What does this get us? Too often, it seems like too little. I relayed a somewhat less coherent version of the above paragraph to the administrators we met with, referencing the Starbucks decision. But of course there are lots of factors at play, and the best we can do is position ourselves as best we can to generate opportunities and take advantage of them when they come around. Though it may grate our activist sensibilities, every service we operate was borne of a cooperative venture, independent though we may be, and every future service will have to be a cooperative venture as well, unless we're planning a takeover of the tattoo parlor across from Dean and DeLuca.
Enter CSOC. No lease, no Evil Corporate Competitor, no service fees or Facilities calls. Just the Corp connecting with students, coordinating service opportunities, and leveraging our professional relationship with the University to best address the community's needs for dialogue and cooperation. That's what we're throwing our weight behind to do justice to our mission, and it's cooperative, not antagonistic, with Georgetown administrators. Far after we're gone, they'll still be here, and its the relationships we build up that will best serve Georgetown students in the future. If not, we come back to the discussion. We'll come back anyway, because that's what we do. But I hope that we can all get behind this initiative early so that it becomes as robust a part of the Corp as philanthropy is now. Five years ago, things were very different in that arena as well. Not to mention 37 years ago.
Sorry for the epic length. It's a nuanced subject, and I hope I fleshed it out somewhat completely. I also have Russian homework and a paper outline that I don't want to do. And one last thing - as you all know, Mayorga is starting Thursday, thanks to the dedicated work of many, many Corpies. Very, very exciting.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Whatever job you have, knock the shit out of it.
That line has been bouncing around in my mind for the past couple of days. I'm pretty sure I heard some variant of it from Ted, two CEO's ago and it popped back up after the recent selction of Corp Middle Managers. Corp transition is a long, energy- and attention-sapping beast, both our source of continuous innovation and our greatest limitation as a company. But now, after five transitions, everyone's in place - from the Board to the middle managers at every store, and most every position is occupied by someone new. Even if you're in the same job, you get a chance to make it your own, and yes, knock the shit out of it.
This can be a problem if you think that you can completely disregard what has gone on before you in that position. It should be the job of your supervisor to make sure that you don't do that, and keep up the progress that was made last year. But every position in this company has room for improvement - I guarantee something about your job can be done faster, easier, cheaper, or otherwise better. And that includes cashiers, grinders, and stockers. What you choose to do with your position is up to you. If you put in the requisite amount of effort, go to the meetings you're supposed to go to, call the right people, and generally enjoy it, you'll do a great job keeping this company running.
But you can also go down the road toward KTSOOI ("kat-sue-eye"?), and set the standard for every Assistant Director of Marketing for the next five years. And then next year, that person will say "yeah, Ryan was great, but I'm going to do even better". Because we're Georgetown students, and Corpies, and we're competitive and energetic and care about making the Corp a little bit better than last year. So harness that, and put it toward your position for the next 9-12 months. But how? I have some general ideas that I'll list here, but I bet other people have better ones that might apply directly to your position, like "if you could fix ____, that would be HUGE).
1. Consistency. Nothing will make a Corp leader happier than knowing without a doubt that something that is falls within your responsibility will get taken care of every time. Often, there are situations where we're challenged by others: vendors, administrators, customers, other Corpies - and being able to take it to the bank that something was taken care of, right away, in the right way is incredibly helpful. It's the difference between saying "well, something could have happened on our end; I'll check with my people and get back with you" and "this is unacceptable and you need to take care of it right away". (see: KT at Accounts Outstanding)
2. Throwing energy into a project not just while you're talking about it at a meeting, or for one night or a few weeks, but several months. From planning, to coordinating, through that death zone in between idea and fruition, all the way to making visible, tangible changes. One of the most disheartening things in Corp leadership is coming across your same idea on a memo dated 2005 and knowing that we have known about a problem for four years and done nothing about it. More likely, something was done about it that got dropped after a few setbacks, distractions, or leadership changes came up. I am as guilty of this as anyone - it's very difficult to maintain sustained effort in improving something in the Corp. Nevertheless, there have been and continue to be a few terrific employees who keep at it, week after week. (see: Lauren Goodman, Alex Klein + the Catering staff)
3. Showing up during the inconvenient and most stressful times to help out your fellow Corpies. No one's going to speak ill of you if you don't take extra Ironman shifts, help Accounting look up costs for summer inventory, or help out Midnight during finals. Really, no one will. But those Corpies with the unfortunately-timed or high-stress responsibilities will really appreciate it (your moving boxes), and it will help them do their jobs (supervising the moving of the boxes) better. (see: Jamie and Scott during Booktastrophe '08)
4. Asking questions. First, asking questions if you don't know how to do something and could use some help from other people who have been there (even of alums). Making sure you do it right the first time is even more important in the Corp, where chances are the person who tries to revamp it won't have been a party to all the conversations you had in planning. And second, figuring out what's going on at all levels in the Corp and trying to get involved with what interests you the most. (see: you, for reading this entry!)
That's all that comes to mind right now. Hope everyone has a relaxing Easter break and is ready for the mayhem to come over the next four weeks.
This can be a problem if you think that you can completely disregard what has gone on before you in that position. It should be the job of your supervisor to make sure that you don't do that, and keep up the progress that was made last year. But every position in this company has room for improvement - I guarantee something about your job can be done faster, easier, cheaper, or otherwise better. And that includes cashiers, grinders, and stockers. What you choose to do with your position is up to you. If you put in the requisite amount of effort, go to the meetings you're supposed to go to, call the right people, and generally enjoy it, you'll do a great job keeping this company running.
But you can also go down the road toward KTSOOI ("kat-sue-eye"?), and set the standard for every Assistant Director of Marketing for the next five years. And then next year, that person will say "yeah, Ryan was great, but I'm going to do even better". Because we're Georgetown students, and Corpies, and we're competitive and energetic and care about making the Corp a little bit better than last year. So harness that, and put it toward your position for the next 9-12 months. But how? I have some general ideas that I'll list here, but I bet other people have better ones that might apply directly to your position, like "if you could fix ____, that would be HUGE).
1. Consistency. Nothing will make a Corp leader happier than knowing without a doubt that something that is falls within your responsibility will get taken care of every time. Often, there are situations where we're challenged by others: vendors, administrators, customers, other Corpies - and being able to take it to the bank that something was taken care of, right away, in the right way is incredibly helpful. It's the difference between saying "well, something could have happened on our end; I'll check with my people and get back with you" and "this is unacceptable and you need to take care of it right away". (see: KT at Accounts Outstanding)
2. Throwing energy into a project not just while you're talking about it at a meeting, or for one night or a few weeks, but several months. From planning, to coordinating, through that death zone in between idea and fruition, all the way to making visible, tangible changes. One of the most disheartening things in Corp leadership is coming across your same idea on a memo dated 2005 and knowing that we have known about a problem for four years and done nothing about it. More likely, something was done about it that got dropped after a few setbacks, distractions, or leadership changes came up. I am as guilty of this as anyone - it's very difficult to maintain sustained effort in improving something in the Corp. Nevertheless, there have been and continue to be a few terrific employees who keep at it, week after week. (see: Lauren Goodman, Alex Klein + the Catering staff)
3. Showing up during the inconvenient and most stressful times to help out your fellow Corpies. No one's going to speak ill of you if you don't take extra Ironman shifts, help Accounting look up costs for summer inventory, or help out Midnight during finals. Really, no one will. But those Corpies with the unfortunately-timed or high-stress responsibilities will really appreciate it (your moving boxes), and it will help them do their jobs (supervising the moving of the boxes) better. (see: Jamie and Scott during Booktastrophe '08)
4. Asking questions. First, asking questions if you don't know how to do something and could use some help from other people who have been there (even of alums). Making sure you do it right the first time is even more important in the Corp, where chances are the person who tries to revamp it won't have been a party to all the conversations you had in planning. And second, figuring out what's going on at all levels in the Corp and trying to get involved with what interests you the most. (see: you, for reading this entry!)
That's all that comes to mind right now. Hope everyone has a relaxing Easter break and is ready for the mayhem to come over the next four weeks.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Incoming!
In the next month or so, a Starbucks coffee shop and Cosi cafe will be opening up in the Leavey Center. There was no Saxby's when I was hired, nor Epicurean. Campusfood.com has grown considerably in the last few years, removing that pesky requirement of actual conversation with a human being in ordering delivery. Leo's has gotten better, noro notwithstanding. Bottom line: the "Corp monopoly on campus" is being challenged.
(Side note: some people don't realize that in exchange for our sweet locations, the Corp pays rent to the university. Oh sweet Jesus, do we ever pay rent. It's a downside of being completely independent - almost 300 G's worth of a downside.)
I once heard a story that the Corp was mentioned by name in a Starbucks corporate document as an example of a competitor currently in control of a lucrative market. On a related note, the CollegeBoxes company has (more than once) offered to buy out Student Storage because we provide a better service at better prices, and that's not good for their business model. As far as I can tell, that consists of charging more in exchange for less. Same goes for Starbucks. But still, many students use these outside companies for on-campus services - why is that? The general battle the Corp fights for those hearts and minds is one of legitimacy and professional quality of service. We're winning in the storage game, and we can win in the coffee game as well.
A few ways to overcome that: first, word-of-mouth marketing. Many of your roommates and friends will default to whatever corporate solution comes up in a Google search for college summer storage instead of a better service that's local and reinvests in the Georgetown community. So tell them, and be honest about how good it is (very good). Same goes for our new coffee (!) and how 10% of what we pay will go to the Fabretto Foundation.
Second, we can just flat-out compete. I will not accept that Starbucks have better-tasting coffee, better-made drinks, or more consistent service. On all of those fronts, we are more than capable of competing with our existing practices or adapting them to be superior. We will have no reason to be worried about businesses encroaching on our territory if we dismantle every argument for their being better competitors.
And last, we're Hoyas, which means we share a culture, frustrations, and demands with our customers, and all of those should help us do our jobs better and make our fellow students more comfortable, satisfied, and likely to come back for more. Customer loyalty has probably never been as important to the Corp as it is today.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
What's going on with _____ ?
What's up, Corpies. This blog has been growing for a few weeks now - you might want to scroll all the way down and read from the beginning to get a sense of why this is my gchat status right now and why I'm glad you're here reading.
...
Welcome back. Once the employee website is revamped (the next few months), this blog will be embedded there as part of a larger project to disseminate information as best as possible within the Corp. So, what more do you want to hear about? Comment and let me know. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out and post an answer for everyone to see, so that instead of just hearing rumors about "DPAC" or something with t-shirts, you can be as well-informed as possible.
I think there are several benefits to this - first, if you have a particular desire to work on a project, we can often use extra hands/minds to contribute, because we all do our best work when it's something we like doing. Second, you probably talk to your friends about the Corp, and they come to you and ask you "what's up with ____ ?". You can also tell them what's going on with the Corp, or speak confidently about some of finer points mentioned below that can influence their perception of the organization and what we do. And third, you may have concerns about a path we're taking, and in hearing what our thought process has been so far, you could respond with constructive criticisms through your service UM or director.
One random plug - if you don't already use Google Reader, it's worth looking into if you check blogs or the news regularly and want to pull all those different sources into one place. You can also subscribe to this blog by clicking "Add a Subscription" on the top left hand side.
...
Welcome back. Once the employee website is revamped (the next few months), this blog will be embedded there as part of a larger project to disseminate information as best as possible within the Corp. So, what more do you want to hear about? Comment and let me know. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out and post an answer for everyone to see, so that instead of just hearing rumors about "DPAC" or something with t-shirts, you can be as well-informed as possible.
I think there are several benefits to this - first, if you have a particular desire to work on a project, we can often use extra hands/minds to contribute, because we all do our best work when it's something we like doing. Second, you probably talk to your friends about the Corp, and they come to you and ask you "what's up with ____ ?". You can also tell them what's going on with the Corp, or speak confidently about some of finer points mentioned below that can influence their perception of the organization and what we do. And third, you may have concerns about a path we're taking, and in hearing what our thought process has been so far, you could respond with constructive criticisms through your service UM or director.
One random plug - if you don't already use Google Reader, it's worth looking into if you check blogs or the news regularly and want to pull all those different sources into one place. You can also subscribe to this blog by clicking "Add a Subscription" on the top left hand side.
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