What do people see when they see the Corp at its best?

I was talking to someone who is not in the Corp last week, and as we were talking about the Corp's image, she said something that was pretty straightforward, but that has stuck with me since she said it. After I had said something along the lines of "yeah, we're working on making the DPAC Cafe a little more professional, a little more classy," she responded with "but you guys have to make sure you stay cool...you know, like the funny tip signs...they're what makes the Corp great."

I, for one, haven't made a new tip sign in a while. When I was first hired, I was really into it and poured a not insignificant amount of energy into making tip signs that were funny, attention-grabbing, and/or pathetic to encourage people to leave change. Full disclosure: I have never received more than $5 in tips in a shift, and I was even a lunch rush specialist freshman year. I hardly think about it anymore, though. When I buy food at Vittles, I can count on there being a tip sign there, more than likely one that makes me laugh. But when I think about what people appreciate or criticize about the Corp, I would never have thought about tip signs, and that was the #1 attribute in this girl's mind.

Makes me think, as the CEO, what I really should be encouraging and pushing for. To "Serve Students", what should we be thinking about? Does that kid in our discussion section want consistency and professional-quality appearance in Vittles? Does the student leader want more money to be given out by philanthropy? Do the new students visiting the DPAC Cafe want to see something with the gleams and polishes of a Cosi?

Or...do they want a funny tip sign? To see a casual, cool fellow student behind the counter, to hear the same music that's on their most recent playlist, to order drinks with creative names and to leave the store in just a little bit better of a mood than when they came in? Isn't that our most important customer - the one that finds what they're looking for in more complex ways that just caffeine -> mouth or boxes -> storage?

I suppose in my position, it's my job to push for the things in the first paragraph so that they can sustain the existence of this company and its reputation for providing needed services well. But it's also my job to help craft the Corp's image, and that's a challenging balancing act. Because if there were no tip signs, boring names, scripted customer service, and Musak, would we still be serving students? This is especially pertinent for the DPAC Cafe, where I really do believe enhancing the quality of our equipment, the precision of our planning, the training of our staff to a level the Corp has not yet demanded of its services will pay off in so many ways. So when we seek to preserve the Corp's identity in a new form...how can we make those mesh?

I'm not sure. Still working on it. I guess there's just a faith that I have that the virtues that make the Corp the Corp can be preserved while eliminating those faults that make the Corp (sigh...) the Corp.

And do not get me started on equipment maintenance. Argh.

Dear diary...

It's 3:15 and the accounting office is still buzzing. Phil is compiling financial statements ahead of the yearly audit, I am coordinating the DPAC Director selection process, and Billy is organizing inventory. Earlier, but still late, Shannon, JM, Stacy, KJ, and Dave were helping out entering costs for Billy's project and Pat was doing payroll. There was a Vittles UM meeting before that and Kelsey was settling our accounts with some incredibly uppity vendors. I wrote an e-mail (one of several tonight) to the Corp UM going through all of our active projects, a message that would not have gone through an hour earlier because the internet was down. That one was my fault (note to self: don't go screwing around with router settings you have no business screwing around with).

This is really the peak of summer Corp work - the audit is breathing down our neck, which means that everyone becomes an accounting employee in addition to working on the projects that are reaching an implementation phase or requiring major decisions. And every year, without fail, the server goes down the week before the audit. We'll have a new router tomorrow, but for a while this afternoon I was the ranking IT professional on site, which is not comforting.

Before that, I met with a possible vendor for the DPAC cafe who reminded me very much of a Corpie - loves his job, loves the people there, does it on the side with a more academic pursuit occupying much of his time. Except for us, it's class and for him its a rocket company. Like the kind that launches things into space. At least once a week, I get to do something sweet like meet with this guy, and just because of the Corp.

The meeting before that was less exciting, but not less important - JM and I talked to a paper guy. Sort of reminded me of the Prince Paper Company episode when the sales rep told me he had four kids in college. How much would it take for you to abandon Corp-branded cups and go with Mayorga-branded cups from this company? Probably a lot, right? But how much is it worth to see MUG's logo on the clutch on the cup in the hand of your classmate at 9:20 and think, damn, should have gotten coffee at MUG? What if we could save $15,000? If you think about everything in terms of philanthropy, our mundane business decisions seem more important. I mean, it's just cups. But cups alone could get student groups 50% more money. So someone should probably be looking at cups, right? Along with everything else, absolutely.

And then before that I worked at MUG. Super busy. Burnt the hell out of my hand trying to fill up a coffee while ringing it up at the same time. That's about all I remember. As with many days, my promises to Brad and Phil to be in the office by so-and-so time ended unfulfilled, so my 10a shift was the start of the day. And this is the end...I should probably get some sleep before the UG opener. And what better place to do it than IT+M?