Business travel and dinosaur orgs

[CountDeMoney]

Has the New Reality(R) affected your work like that too?

To an extent.

After working at the state (which had no money) then medical academia (which had tons of money, just not for security), I still get surprised at the sheer digits Fortune 500 throws away at the silliest shit.  That includes a shitload of useless travel.

[DontSayBanana]

To an extent.

After working at the state (which had no money) then medical academia (which had tons of money, just not for security), I still get surprised at the sheer digits Fortune 500 throws away at the silliest shit.  That includes a shitload of useless travel.

"Friendraising."  I lol'ed.

[Valmy]

I do business with people all over the state...but have never seen what any of them look like.  I do not really see the point to be honest.  We just have to agree on a contract and pricing not hair styles.  The phone and e-mail get the job done fine.

Which is good because the University budget got cut again.  The State of Texas now provides us with a whoping 10% of our budget.  I say we should just become a private school then we could set our own tuition.

[derspiess]

For my projects I still insist on meeting my clients in person for the project kickoff.  That usually means flying to some other part the country & an overnight stay for just a 2-2.5 hour meeting, but I've found that the projects go much more smoothly if make the trip.  I usually have a bunch of forms for them to sign and they seem to be a lot more responsive for the project deliverables I need from them if they've spoken with me face to face. 

Then for most conversions I need to be on site with the bank to help bring their ATMs online with my network and provide on-site support. 

One thing I have started to do remotely with some success is training.  If I can't combine the training into my conversion trip, I'll do their training remotely via Webex.  I generally prefer to do training on-site since I can tell if they're paying attention or ignoring me, but scheduling gets tricky with everything going on the week or two before a conversion and there's more flexibility doing the training remotely.

Theoretically, I should be able to do everything remotely, but each time we've experimented with that it's had negative effects.  Bank employees get too entrenched in their routines and are resistant to any kind of change.  So I need to be on-site to 1) strike the fear of God into them and 2) hold their hands as they cope with change.

Travel expenses are written into the contracts, so I'm immune to any internal pressure to cut costs by reducing travel.

[derspiess]

After working at the state (which had no money) then medical academia (which had tons of money, just not for security), I still get surprised at the sheer digits Fortune 500 throws away at the silliest shit.  That includes a shitload of useless travel.

I've had similar experiences just moving from one part of the company (operations, where you do everything possible to cut costs) to another (sales/marketing, where the cash flows freely).

[alfred russel]

I do business with people all over the state...but have never seen what any of them look like.  I do not really see the point to be honest.  We just have to agree on a contract and pricing not hair styles.  The phone and e-mail get the job done fine.

Which is good because the University budget got cut again.  The State of Texas now provides us with a whoping 10% of our budget.  I say we should just become a private school then we could set our own tuition.

I think it is much easier to do business with someone if you have met them before.

[MadImmortalMan]

I say we should just become a private school then we could set our own tuition.

It'd be easier once that sweet sweet TV cash starts flowing in.

[Valmy]

It'd be easier once that sweet sweet TV cash starts flowing in.

Yeah the athletic department is a totally separate organization financially.  Whatever they make they keep and we give them nothing and vice versa.  However supposedly ESPN is going to do something for us....like they might televise some of the fine arts productions and famous lecturers and such.  Might get some cash there.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Yeah the athletic department is a totally separate organization financially.  Whatever they make they keep and we give them nothing and vice versa.  However supposedly ESPN is going to do something for us....like they might televise some of the fine arts productions and famous lecturers and such.  Might get some cash there.

I read somewhere that ~50% of the money from the new network is going to go to the school for the first...I think it was 5 years of the contract.   Might have been 10.

Anyway, OT, I do everything via phone and email.  My wife, who works for the UT system (Health Science Center SA) does as well for the most part.  She occasionally has to "travel" up to Austin for various things, but no biggie.

[katmai]

My job makes me go everywhere.

[Ed Anger]

I do know the 'paperless office' is a load of bullshit.

[CountDeMoney]

I do know the 'paperless office' is a load of bullshit.

Which is why I drive people nuts with paper staff reviews, 3-ring binders, log books and printed emails that are signed and dated by my underlings as a read receipt.

Being a Luddite means never having to hear "I didn't get that email".

[Richard Hakluyt]

I do know the 'paperless office' is a load of bullshit.

Damn nuisance if you take a dump, apart from anything else.