I was visiting with my girlfriend this past weekend, and she said something really interesting (not that she doesn't do that all the time, but this was particularly interesting)
It was interesting not just because it was right, but also because it sounded EXACTLY like something I would say!
She asked me if I had seen the new Arby's commercial.
I hadn't, but that didn't matter, she was about to explain it to me.
"Why," she wondered "would Arby's promote their combos and set a price at five dollars and one penny?!?"
"Why the extra penny?" she continued, getting more and more animated as she built herself into an anti-Arby's rant.
The combos, near as I can tell (and now that I've seen the commercials for myself) are just their sandwiches with a drink and fries.
The commercials harp on the fact that the combos are worth the extra penny, or something like that.
My girlfriend just couldn't get it. And I agreed. Why in the world would you create a huge campaign to announce that your combo meal is incrementally MORE expensive than all the other options (Subway, Quizno's, KFC).
Maybe they're trying to establish themselves as THE premium crappy sandwich place.
I don't know much about Arby's, having been opposed to them ever since I heard they were calling their roast beef sandwiches, 'Roastburgers'.
Those things aren't burgers! As someone who cooks 90% of their own meals on a George Foreman grill, I know what the heck a burger is and what it is not and it is NOT a roast beef sandwich!
See, see how animated I got just there? That's how she got.
Either we're more similar than I thought, or I'm rubbing off on her
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Small world, this consulting thing
I've only been in consulting for a few weeks, and I've been amazed at the number of small world coincidences I've already run into through training and my first project:
- During a training exercise, our hypothetical project team had a meeting interrupted by two more senior guys playing 'partners.' As soon as they walked in, I immediately recognized one as my interviewer from internship recruiting at school for another firm. Of course, I didn't get that job, but I had always thought it was because I bombed the other interview so I didn't feel too awkward.
- In getting involved with the Chicago Booth recruiting team, I had to get in touch with the team's recruiting head. When I finally found him, it turned out he was formerly the recruiting head for a different consulting firm. I met him during internship recruiting too, and it was my discussion with him that got me my interview. Weird.
- On the first day of my project, we're sitting in a team room at the client (a large media company that will remain undisclosed). The client team is coming down, and when they come in I recognize the most senior guy. He used to be a pretty senior guy at another big consulting firm, working almost exclusively in media and entertainment. I had spent a good half an hour talking with him at a recruiting even before he jumped off the consulting ship.
Totally weird...I'm half expecting to run into every other person that didn't give me a job during business school...
That would be an awful lot of people
- During a training exercise, our hypothetical project team had a meeting interrupted by two more senior guys playing 'partners.' As soon as they walked in, I immediately recognized one as my interviewer from internship recruiting at school for another firm. Of course, I didn't get that job, but I had always thought it was because I bombed the other interview so I didn't feel too awkward.
- In getting involved with the Chicago Booth recruiting team, I had to get in touch with the team's recruiting head. When I finally found him, it turned out he was formerly the recruiting head for a different consulting firm. I met him during internship recruiting too, and it was my discussion with him that got me my interview. Weird.
- On the first day of my project, we're sitting in a team room at the client (a large media company that will remain undisclosed). The client team is coming down, and when they come in I recognize the most senior guy. He used to be a pretty senior guy at another big consulting firm, working almost exclusively in media and entertainment. I had spent a good half an hour talking with him at a recruiting even before he jumped off the consulting ship.
Totally weird...I'm half expecting to run into every other person that didn't give me a job during business school...
That would be an awful lot of people
Sunday, September 27, 2009
New New York City
Just in case you assumed I went off to work and forgot all about blogging, I'm making sure to take part of this weekend to give a quick update on what's been happening since I started work on the 11th.
In short, work has been going well.
We had a brief week of training, which was fine and a good chance to see everyone from my former summer internship class.
On the Friday of training week, we were dismissed in the early afternoon, so I went with the other new New York associates back to the office.
Throughout the week, I would keep a close watch on my inbox, looking for anything that would indicate what my staffing situation would be.
I could have been staffed anywhere, or nowhere, and I really really wanted to know.
So I'm back in the office on Friday, and haven't heard anything. Time keeps ticking, and the closer I get to the end of the day, the more I'm convinced I won't be staffed and will start my career on the 'beach'
But late in the day, I finally got an email from an admin in the office.
Later on that day I got what essentially was a confirmation.
I was indeed staffed, on a local project, on a strategy assignment for a media company.
Woo-hoo!
We started last Monday, spending most of our time in our own offices. The work has been really interesting, although given it was originally proposed as a 7 week project and got compressed to 4 weeks, there has been a fair amount of work to do.
I've spent time working on a survey to potential customers, talking with vendors, and competitive landscape analyses on other products in the potential new product's space.
I'm really glad I got put on the project, now I just have to make sure I don't screw up. (That's the downside of getting a first project exactly where you want it, screwing up would make a pretty poor first impression)
Other than that, things have been ok. I'm adjusting to my new apartment (which is nice) and my new lack of cable TV (which is also ok), and my efforts to eat better (not really as ok)
It's definitely different in Manhattan. You have the convenience of everything, with the inconvenience of millions of other people everywhere. I have yet to determine whether it's a zero sum at the end of the day.
In short, work has been going well.
We had a brief week of training, which was fine and a good chance to see everyone from my former summer internship class.
On the Friday of training week, we were dismissed in the early afternoon, so I went with the other new New York associates back to the office.
Throughout the week, I would keep a close watch on my inbox, looking for anything that would indicate what my staffing situation would be.
I could have been staffed anywhere, or nowhere, and I really really wanted to know.
So I'm back in the office on Friday, and haven't heard anything. Time keeps ticking, and the closer I get to the end of the day, the more I'm convinced I won't be staffed and will start my career on the 'beach'
But late in the day, I finally got an email from an admin in the office.
Later on that day I got what essentially was a confirmation.
I was indeed staffed, on a local project, on a strategy assignment for a media company.
Woo-hoo!
We started last Monday, spending most of our time in our own offices. The work has been really interesting, although given it was originally proposed as a 7 week project and got compressed to 4 weeks, there has been a fair amount of work to do.
I've spent time working on a survey to potential customers, talking with vendors, and competitive landscape analyses on other products in the potential new product's space.
I'm really glad I got put on the project, now I just have to make sure I don't screw up. (That's the downside of getting a first project exactly where you want it, screwing up would make a pretty poor first impression)
Other than that, things have been ok. I'm adjusting to my new apartment (which is nice) and my new lack of cable TV (which is also ok), and my efforts to eat better (not really as ok)
It's definitely different in Manhattan. You have the convenience of everything, with the inconvenience of millions of other people everywhere. I have yet to determine whether it's a zero sum at the end of the day.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Attention MBA students, big brother is watching
With summer generally comes nice weather and laziness. Chicago seems to have kept the nice weather at bay this year, but the city has done nothing to stop me from being lazy about blogging (a nice vacation in CA also didn't help).
I know postings have been long overdue, and I'm going to try and put some more out before I start work in ~2 weeks and I'm lost to the real world forever.
I got an email today that took me back, all the way back to last fall, when I was just another MBA student in the recruiting crunch.
When you try to get a job with a consulting firm (or any firm really) that recruits on campus, you're schedule quickly fills up with all kinds of sponsored events.
- Come meet a few company employees for dinner
- Attend a presentation on new intellectual capital from a company partner
- Swing by your local office to do some interview prep work with the firm
Etc. Etc. Etc., the list goes on and on, and for those trying to juggle multiple firms (which is everyone), it can get rather complicated.
This is only made worse for those paranoid students out there who worry that their every move is being tracked and evaluated. These types (and yes, I was certainly one of them), struggle with which events to attend, which to skip, and how that will be perceived by potential hiring decision makers.
Of course, there were some that dismissed such concerns, some that sat back and felt like these firms had way more important things to do rather than track candidates every move.
Well, score one for the paranoids among us.
Earlier today I got a job postings email from the school's career services office (and no, I'm not looking for a new job, I just like to see what's going on). In today's email there was a posting from a major consulting firm for a 'Recruiting Associate.' I thought that was interesting, not as a career switch for myself, but just as someone who's gone through the recruiting process. Anyway, the description was fairly generic and typical for an HR recruiting description (leaving out the odd decision to recruit MBAs for a position that doesn't require an MBA)
But the following section of the 'Essential Duties and Responsibilities' section caught my eye:
- Database Maintanence
: Maintain candidate records in database, as well as hard copy candidate files
: Maintain event records, including logistical details and candidate attendance
Paranoia justified.
I know postings have been long overdue, and I'm going to try and put some more out before I start work in ~2 weeks and I'm lost to the real world forever.
I got an email today that took me back, all the way back to last fall, when I was just another MBA student in the recruiting crunch.
When you try to get a job with a consulting firm (or any firm really) that recruits on campus, you're schedule quickly fills up with all kinds of sponsored events.
- Come meet a few company employees for dinner
- Attend a presentation on new intellectual capital from a company partner
- Swing by your local office to do some interview prep work with the firm
Etc. Etc. Etc., the list goes on and on, and for those trying to juggle multiple firms (which is everyone), it can get rather complicated.
This is only made worse for those paranoid students out there who worry that their every move is being tracked and evaluated. These types (and yes, I was certainly one of them), struggle with which events to attend, which to skip, and how that will be perceived by potential hiring decision makers.
Of course, there were some that dismissed such concerns, some that sat back and felt like these firms had way more important things to do rather than track candidates every move.
Well, score one for the paranoids among us.
Earlier today I got a job postings email from the school's career services office (and no, I'm not looking for a new job, I just like to see what's going on). In today's email there was a posting from a major consulting firm for a 'Recruiting Associate.' I thought that was interesting, not as a career switch for myself, but just as someone who's gone through the recruiting process. Anyway, the description was fairly generic and typical for an HR recruiting description (leaving out the odd decision to recruit MBAs for a position that doesn't require an MBA)
But the following section of the 'Essential Duties and Responsibilities' section caught my eye:
- Database Maintanence
: Maintain candidate records in database, as well as hard copy candidate files
: Maintain event records, including logistical details and candidate attendance
Paranoia justified.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
DVR
Haven't posted in the last few days (weeks? I really haven't been keeping track), but I guess it's because I'm in the last throes of my summer vacation before work starts in September.
I'm back here in Chicago, and faced with a similar dilemma as to how to occupy my time.
Yesterday I waited at my girlfriend's apartment so the cable guy could come and fix her DVR. That counts as productive I guess. But what was funny was when my girlfriend mentioned she'd DVR'd a lot of movies and that if I wanted to kill time I could watch them.
I just checked the list of movies. I think it speaks for itself...the following has not been edited in any way...
- The Notebook
- What Happens in Vegas
- Atonement
- Sex and the City (the movie)
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (apparently there was a sequel)
javascript:void(0)
So, a DVR'd movie didn't exactly make it onto my agenda. However, I'm more concerned with the fact that I scheduled this same DVR to record an Eagles pre-season game. I think it may set off some kind of internal alarm due to a radical gender switch in programming that indicates a kidnapping and/or home invasion has happened.
I'm back here in Chicago, and faced with a similar dilemma as to how to occupy my time.
Yesterday I waited at my girlfriend's apartment so the cable guy could come and fix her DVR. That counts as productive I guess. But what was funny was when my girlfriend mentioned she'd DVR'd a lot of movies and that if I wanted to kill time I could watch them.
I just checked the list of movies. I think it speaks for itself...the following has not been edited in any way...
- The Notebook
- What Happens in Vegas
- Atonement
- Sex and the City (the movie)
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (apparently there was a sequel)
javascript:void(0)
So, a DVR'd movie didn't exactly make it onto my agenda. However, I'm more concerned with the fact that I scheduled this same DVR to record an Eagles pre-season game. I think it may set off some kind of internal alarm due to a radical gender switch in programming that indicates a kidnapping and/or home invasion has happened.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
You Dropped it in the Toilet?
Just a brief anecdote...
I was at my girlfriend's apartment the other day. I forget the exact circumstances...but I needed to go brush my teeth.
I have a toothbrush there, and although we constantly debate the merit of her orange colored toothpaste, it's not a huge deal.
Anyway, I brush my teeth as usual and look to rinse with one of the three plastic cups sitting on the counter. There was a clear one, a blue one, and an orange one. I chose the orange one, swig some water, end of story.
That's when my girlfriend calls out from the other room.
'By the way, I dropped one of the cups in the toilet'
Now at this point I decide not to ask her why she would still keep a toilet-dunked cup on the bathroom counter...I'm much more interested in the color of said toilet-dunked cup.
'Which color cup was it???'
There was a slight pause.
'Orange.' she said.
I walked out of the bathroom and gave her a great big kiss...now we're even.
I was at my girlfriend's apartment the other day. I forget the exact circumstances...but I needed to go brush my teeth.
I have a toothbrush there, and although we constantly debate the merit of her orange colored toothpaste, it's not a huge deal.
Anyway, I brush my teeth as usual and look to rinse with one of the three plastic cups sitting on the counter. There was a clear one, a blue one, and an orange one. I chose the orange one, swig some water, end of story.
That's when my girlfriend calls out from the other room.
'By the way, I dropped one of the cups in the toilet'
Now at this point I decide not to ask her why she would still keep a toilet-dunked cup on the bathroom counter...I'm much more interested in the color of said toilet-dunked cup.
'Which color cup was it???'
There was a slight pause.
'Orange.' she said.
I walked out of the bathroom and gave her a great big kiss...now we're even.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
RCN Sucks
I only have about a week left in my apartment, and mercifully, I will soon be rid of RCN as my cable provider. With some good fortune, I'll never have to deal with them again.
Of course, I couldn't just run out the clock on my cable plan without another example of how completely inept and ridiculous this company is.
I commented over a week ago about how my cable bill shot up to well over $100/month. I figured I had been on a promotion, and RCN, being a sneaky company that doesn't genuinely care about its customers (at least until they come perilously close to churning) just opted not to remind me.
I was wrong about that, they did remind me...today, a good 10 days after I got my 'enhanced' bill.
The letter I got today, which is dated July 13th, included the following:
Dear JC,
We want to thank you for being a loyal and valued RCN customer. As a valued customer, you deserve the best services at reasonable prices.
This letter is to inform you that the promotional pricing you signed up for is scheduled to end on your next billing cycle. We'd like to offer you the opportunity to keep all your current services for only an additional $20 per month.
Blah Blah Blah...All of us at RCN appreciate your business.
They appreciate my business and respect me so much that they waited until after I paid a higher bill to inform me that my bill would be going up...Gee, thanks guys. I sure can tell I'm a valued customer.
I also love that I have the great 'opportunity' to pay an extra $20/month. I can't wait for other great opportunities they might have like getting gouged for a premium movie channel, extorted into equipment 'rental' fees, or just having RCN thugs grab me outside my office and steal my lunch money.
This only adds to RCN's rich history of providing poorly functioning cable boxes, providing disturbingly inferior VOD interface, and let's not forget the six months I spent trying to get my internet fixed because my modem needed "re-provisioning" (note: Re-provisioning just means some worthless call center employee in either Bangalore or Salt Lake City types a 3 instead of a 2 on their computer...it took a number of visits from technicians and calls to figure it out)
So to Tom McKay, Senior Vice President of Operations & General Manager of RCN...I'm going to decline your generous offer of having me pay you more money. I look forward to returning your equipment, washing my hands of the whole affair, and never doing business with your organization again, unless it's to acquire your firm, torch the headquarters, and desecrate your remains.
Peace.
Of course, I couldn't just run out the clock on my cable plan without another example of how completely inept and ridiculous this company is.
I commented over a week ago about how my cable bill shot up to well over $100/month. I figured I had been on a promotion, and RCN, being a sneaky company that doesn't genuinely care about its customers (at least until they come perilously close to churning) just opted not to remind me.
I was wrong about that, they did remind me...today, a good 10 days after I got my 'enhanced' bill.
The letter I got today, which is dated July 13th, included the following:
Dear JC,
We want to thank you for being a loyal and valued RCN customer. As a valued customer, you deserve the best services at reasonable prices.
This letter is to inform you that the promotional pricing you signed up for is scheduled to end on your next billing cycle. We'd like to offer you the opportunity to keep all your current services for only an additional $20 per month.
Blah Blah Blah...All of us at RCN appreciate your business.
They appreciate my business and respect me so much that they waited until after I paid a higher bill to inform me that my bill would be going up...Gee, thanks guys. I sure can tell I'm a valued customer.
I also love that I have the great 'opportunity' to pay an extra $20/month. I can't wait for other great opportunities they might have like getting gouged for a premium movie channel, extorted into equipment 'rental' fees, or just having RCN thugs grab me outside my office and steal my lunch money.
This only adds to RCN's rich history of providing poorly functioning cable boxes, providing disturbingly inferior VOD interface, and let's not forget the six months I spent trying to get my internet fixed because my modem needed "re-provisioning" (note: Re-provisioning just means some worthless call center employee in either Bangalore or Salt Lake City types a 3 instead of a 2 on their computer...it took a number of visits from technicians and calls to figure it out)
So to Tom McKay, Senior Vice President of Operations & General Manager of RCN...I'm going to decline your generous offer of having me pay you more money. I look forward to returning your equipment, washing my hands of the whole affair, and never doing business with your organization again, unless it's to acquire your firm, torch the headquarters, and desecrate your remains.
Peace.
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