Dreams Do Come True

Remember when I said I was dreaming of the day when I could wake up at my convenience, walk a few feet, and work from home? By a series of miraculous events, that day has come.

Let's rewind a bit.

Scott started working at the hospital in June, when he had a series of orientation meetings including an HR presentation on benefits. It was then that we made plans for me to transition off COBRA and begin using his insurance. In mid-July we found out that because of a technical error, I was kicked off the insurance plan, and we would have to appeal for me to use Scott's benefits before the next open enrollment period. Inconvenient for sure, but I wasn't worried because Scott made it sound like the appeal was no big deal.

In the meantime, I started casually looking at potential jobs. After working at the foundation in Oregon, I knew I wanted to continue working for non-profits. (Scott's cousin asked me the other day if I had something against profit. Ha! I prefer to say that I put greater value on selfless missions and forced efficiencies. Not to mention there's a huge need for business skills in non-profit organizations.) All of the fun non-profit jobs are in downtown Milwaukee, which is more of a drive than I wanted to make... especially when you consider that my dream was to work in my living room.

Then I found it! A perfect match of a job, working form home full-time for a charity federation. I applied, and when I interviewed they told me that just that morning the job had been offered to someone in-house, but they would still like to interview me for a part-time role with the potential to move into full-time this winter.

A couple weeks later I was offered the part-time job. It was just after I found out that our insurance claim had been denied. Say what?!

I scrambled trying to figure out how to get an insurance plan. I tried everything and learned that even though there is this fancy new national health insurance market, pre-existing conditions still matter and you can't just buy insurance whenever you need it.

I know, insurance talk is boring. Fast forward to the good part.

The day arrived when it was the last possible moment I could get an insurance plan without an open enrollment period. I made one last ditch effort to get a plan and called a local broker. He told me, in blunt terms, that I had run out of options. I cried. But I also knew I could make due. I would shut myself up in my bedroom and try my best not to get sick or break a bone.

Not one hour later my job called me. My full-time job opened up months before they expected, and they were offering me a full-time gig - working from home - with full benefits!

Can you say tender mercy? I can.

Now I wake up in the morning, walk over to my second bedroom a.k.a. the office, put on my snuggie and get to work. It feels good, just in case you were wondering.

The Legend of the Food Drive Creeper

Would you believe that I was asked to co-coordinate the food drive again at work?

Yeah, I'm not surprised either. This is my third year in a row helping out, though. They didn't realize when they asked me again this year that I'm actually running out of fundraising ideas. The little events I used to get excited about now seem like too much work for what little they bring in. And my activity ideas that were successful the first year were old hat the second year. So I've shifted my focus to the major fundraising events and boosted those. But I still needed something to keep intrigue and excitement in the Foundation throughout the month.

Enter... the Food Drive Creeper.

The employee who is over facilities here at the Foundation has this plastic owl that he has been moving around. It has been a kind of game for me to find him every couple of weeks. Then I realized, I could use this! Like the Beaver hat of yore, I could use this owl to help generate attention for the food drive, though it wouldn't bring in any money directly. Mostly it was a fun, creative outlet for me.

But the idea of an owl and fundraising for food didn't really mesh well in the minds of my colleagues, and people started asking what this "creeper" was all about. They hadn't connected the dots as easily as I had imagined. So it was suggested that I throw together a story about this owl to send out to everyone and create some excitement.

And now... for your reading pleasure...
The Legend of the Food Drive Creeper

Long ago in the Foundation building, long before the Campaign for OSU hit the $1 billion goal (woot woot!), a flock of birds made their home in the rafters outside the Foundation west wing. While we at Oregon State are passionate about preserving wildlife in our great state, the staff in the west wing were becoming a bit concerned about the raucous that these new neighbors were making.

Communications and Advancement Services staff ran to our main facilities man to beg for a solution. He pondered and brainstormed. How can we remove our feathered friends without harming them in any way and help them to find a better home than our building?

He had an idea! He arrived at the Foundation with two creepy-looking plastic owls (the owl is much lighter than it appears!). One of our adopted owls was strategically placed in the rafters of the west wing, throwing ominous stares in the direction of these birdie families. The owl was so convincing, and those owl eyes so creepy, that quickly after the creeper moved in, the birds moved out. This owl remains outside the west wing until this day serving as a sentinel for the Foundation.

The second owl, though gifted with the same realistic eyes and stealthy qualities, has been living in Brian Bauder’s cube in the east wing since the day it was adopted. The plastic creeper owl passed the time moving from perch to perch - behind plants and above doorways - spooking student callers and board members alike, but this owl was never given a true mission of its own to perform.

That was, until recently!

Last month, when we began planning for the 2014 Food Drive for the Linn Benton Food Share, this creeper found its true calling in life – helping the employees at the OSU Foundation know where to find the next food drive event or showing them the tip of the day. It is only fitting that this bird of prey, who has lived at the Foundation all its plastic life, has learned to be philanthropic and chooses to give back to its community.

So when you’re feeling low, and wondering how you could possibly contribute more to the Food Drive, watch for those creepy eyes. The Food Drive Creeper is likely to pop-up in a location near you, sharing on the break room bulletin board important information about the Food Drive happening in the month of February.

I've Been Beavered

The OSU Food Drive has begun again, and again I was asked to help co-chair the event. I'd like to say that this year I came back with bigger and better ideas. That would not really be true. This year I came with all sorts of efficiency plans... which may be less than effective. We'll see.

What do I get in return? I get beavered (someone pays for me to wear that awesome hat all day)! I'm feelin' the love.

15 Minutes of Paper Magic

Sometimes work is slow and Arby's toys become an addition to my OSU cubicle shrine. This bad boy must have added some good mojo because OSU is doing better than ever in the football world. Actually, they really came out of nowhere compared to last year! But with co-workers, students, and donors happy, I'm not complaining.

BTW, if anyone wants to join up with me on a business plan/graphic design scheme to create these paper toys for sale at university bookstores, send me a line! I'm seeing little dollar signs. Maybe their actually cent symbols, but cents can add up.

Audrey Two at OSU

I drove over to campus the other day to drop off some documents at Snell Hall, just in front of the baseball stadium. When I came out I found this plump looking flower looking rather pathetic.

My eyes may be deceiving me, but I don't remember this flower being there when I walked in. Pretty sure I would have noticed a beast of a sunflower growing all by itself.

Of course, I had to take a picture of this celebrity siting of Audrey II at OSU. It's not very often that you see a carnivorous flower this big! But seriously?! Who's idea was it to grow a single giant sunflower next to a sewer outside this old dormitory?

True Orange Fans

One thing I can say with certainty is that OSU has possibly the most loyal fans I have ever met. They are deep into Beaver love even though their sports teams may not be performing ideally. The other day our entire office celebrated the end of the food drive with a pizza party (ironic?). Though, there was clearly another reason for a pizza lunch in the board room. The OSU men's basketball team was playing in the Pac 12 Tournament that lunch hour against the number one seed, U of W. With the support of our entire office, OSU won in the last six seconds of the game! I'd like to say that by beating the #1 seed they were able to dominate the rest of the tournament and go on to the national bracket, but sadly that is not the case. I'm okay though, because I still have good memories of pizza and basketball delaying administrative meetings.

Sure love my job!

Working My Fundraising Magic

At the end of 2011 I was asked if I could help Human Resources at work put together activities for the Food Drive at OSU. Apparently the Food Drive here is a big deal, and there is one department on campus that always wins. The foundation has a history of coming in second place, despite all their valiant efforts.

I'm not sure why they chose me. Maybe because Morgan is in the HR department, and I am constantly walking up to the front to chat with her about the day or husbands in med school. I can only hope it was because my bosses have only good things to say about my sweet skill sets. In any case, I agreed and spent all of my spare time in January at work thinking of fundraising ideas for the food drive in February.

Here's just a peak of what we came up with this month:

A Traveling Hat (disinfected of course)

Fitness Challenges

and a variety of parties.This was our Valentine's Day bake sale!

I pretty much pulled out of my hat every fundraising rabbit I've ever seen work before. I'd say our efforts were successful, considering we raised almost 75% of our unit goal within the first week and are on our way to winning first place by the end of this month! Morgan and I keep saying that we need to do something wrong sometime soon - throw a bad event or leave a box of canned food on the curb "on accident." We don't want to be so perfect that we're called on to do this event every year. Honestly, though, I'm not sure I would mind. It was fun to use my marketing skills for a task other than reserving Enterprise cars and creating a new appointment in Outlook. Only for one month though. I'm bushed!

3 o'clock Challenge

Around 3:00 PM my student coworkers have started mentioning things like, "We need to institute a state-wide siesta in the afternoons," or "Man it's only 2:30 PM! Ugh! How am I going to make it through today." They are not used to working forty hours a week. If they were, they like me, would be accustomed to this afternoon slump and would bring snacks or take a long walk to shake it off.

To help them lift their droopy eyes, I have institute the 3 0'clock CHALLENGE! (Still needs game show theme music) Yesterday, at 2:30 Pm (because one of the students needed to be in a meeting at three) we had our first 3 o'clock CHALLENGE – Can you beat Katie’s WPM. TypingTest.com is one of my favorite afternoon brain teasers, and it’s completely worthy of office time to be practicing and bulking up your WPM. Each of us had one practice round, and then we all got down to business with one minute of Top Sports Stories typing test.

The scores:

Katie – 80 WPM
Katie the Younger – 58 WPM
Sam – 81 WPM

Sam won by ONE word! His prize was to raid the recruiting swag drawer.

Katie the Younger is in charge of our 3 o’clock CHALLENGE today, which will actually be held at 11:00 AM because I’m going to the blogger conference. Katie has chosen the Africa geography test on Sporcle.com. Pretty sure I haven’t studied the countries in Africa since Mrs. Bekeris’ class in middle school, so this will definitely tease my brain.

UPDATE: We decided not to go with Sporcle, because it didn't require you to know where the countries are located. LAME! So we're doing Europe geography challenge here.

Anatomy of the Job Hunt

BYU University Career Services some how attracts a group of amazing, creative, dedicated student employees. One of these is Andrew, who has attended many a UCS strategy meeting (a.k.a. talk session) and he has implemented some great new programs to our department as well. Quite the feat, for a student employee. Well, Andrew recently received two internship offers, after a very laborious process, from two very prestigious consulting firms. He shared with our staff meeting his experience this morning, and I asked him if I could share with you. He agreed.

Andrew and I share a few things in common: we're both brilliant, and humble... we both experienced the limbo of job searching and we now want to give back and help others through this limbo and avoid any mistakes we (mostly me) may have made. Andrew created this timeline (click to visit the interactive timeline page) of his internship hunt process to help students have an understanding of the effort and time involved with searching for an internship or full-time position.


You can scan the timeline by following the link, and then clicking and dragging on the dark gray bar at the bottom of the timeline. In total, this timeline spans four months of the effort (though I know he was working the full academic year towards this effort), 17 applications, six first round interviews, three final round interviews, six no responses, and two offers!

If you are in limbo, waiting for an internship, or your first job, or medical school results... Enjoy the ride! My chinese doctor once told me never say "Don't worry," because worrying with my personality is almost inevitable. Rather, know that it will take some time and effort, but along the way opportunities will miraculously come and in the end you will end up exactly where you need to be. Just enjoy the ride and fight the good fight. I know - I've done it twice before, and am on my third limbo... this time as an attached spectator to Scott. It's not fun to be patient, but it sure does have it's rewards!

AND if you are in job hunt limbo and need a little boost, feel free to comment or send me an email. I've got connections, so let me use them on you!

BYU Spring Retreat

BYU is starting to look and feel like Spring.


The trees are blossoming. Some of the blossoms on campus are absolutely ginormous, in fact from a distance I thought they were fake! Who could blame me? The buds are the size of a lotus flower growing on tips of branches outside of the Art building, where I can envision students getting together to make these out of paper. But I assure you that they are real.


During the Fall and Winter semesters, each department at BYU has a day of retreat. The Fall retreat resembles something that I'm used to - team building exercises, motivational speeches, food, and games. This Spring retreat was a little bizarre for my retreat tastes.

When we arrived at the Springhaven Lodge down the winding roads of Hobble Creek Canyon, there was an activity for Out of the Box thinking. On track for my retreat image..... and after we were all creatively contemplating, they told us there was nothing else scheduled for the day except lunch, so we should all enjoy the grounds. Some played basketball, volleyball, pool, or board games, but no one was doing any work. It's not very often that you get paid to do absolutely nothing, but since our department is comprised of mostly psychologists, I imagine they needed a day of from thinking, a time to let their Freudian thoughts slip. I of course was all over the board games, as well as the BBQ lunch and ice cream bar.


Then when it was time to go, I drove back down the canyon, slowly enjoying the warm breeze and beautiful day as I listened to the Pride and Prejudice CD in Scott's car. On my cruise back to Springville I saw four deer, three of which were alive. I ALWAYS see deer along the road, and the funny thing is that Scott never seems them. I tell him I have a sixth sense - "I see dead deer."

And after I got home, I took a nap. Best work day ever!

P.S. I've posted several stories today with pictures, but back dated them in order to be chronologically aligned. I fell behind a bit on recording the pictures in my camera, and lucky for me Blogspot lets you choose the date of your post.

So here is a list to the other stories I've posted today:

Watching BYU v Florida on Campus
April Fools at BYU
BYU Senior Appreciation Night
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Morning

Hillbilly Christmas

You would think that in this economy my BYU department would not be having multiple Christmas parties... but oh, yes! We did. There was one party at the beginning of the week with light refreshments for people to mingle during work hours, one party with a fancy catered dinner for current employees and retirees and spouses where people get all dressed up in fancy sparkly things, and one lunch party with a "Hillbilly" theme. How in the world do you throw a Hillbilly Christmas party?

Let me tell you, the people of BYU Counseling and Career Center know how it's done. There was a backyard gift exchange, grub...

... a watering hole, and a wall with pictures to demonstrate "You know you're a redneck if...". Prizes were given for the worst wrapping job, so I made an attempt. Of course, I have almost zero ounces of redneck inside of me (more like 50% Alaskan relaxin'). So my present turned out more like Redneck chique, but I still won second place.

Your holiday meal on wheels (aka roadkill and a part of my white elephant gift to give)

I lost to the gift wrapped in a trash bag and bandaids for tape.

Jason picked my duct taped gift and was unsuccessful in trading it. Mwwaahaha!

We ate Hawaiian haystacks and had our White Elephant gift exchange complete with Rock, Paper, Scissors challenges. I had heard rumors that the psychologists in our department could get a little risqué with this part of the event; but the only scandals I noticed were in the intern skit, and that could be ignored. Overall the Hillbilly Christmas was creative, enjoyable, and I'm walking away with an interesting gift - someone's left over law fair swag. Gotta love my job for the swag!

Career Spook Alley Success!

When I started preparing and advertising my October open house event for University Career Services at BYU, I would have never imagined that it would be such a success! The event went from 11:00am - 3:00pm (which was a long time, especially when you have to prolong lunch). Career advisors in our center acted as fortune tellers for the event, offering a fake career future for the students who visited the spook alley. Once the fortune was given, the advisors asked what the students really wanted to do and offered a list of services we could provide to help them build the career they wanted.

Fortune tellers included:
Wendy from Wendy's and her French Fry fortunes
Big Navajo, the Medicine Man with chants that invoke the spirits of career advice
(don't worry, he served his mission with the Navajo people and speaks fluently. All very authentic)
Cowgirl, and her magic career advising boot
Blackstrodomus, and his magic black eight ball
Trucker, and his chew
Our local Shriner, and his magic fez hat

In total we had 185 students get counted at the end of the career spook alley. While I was hoping for really high numbers, that was about all we could handle. We were talking to students the whole time with no breaks, had short waits for fortunes, and had a lot of fun walking around and seeing what everyone else was doing. One of the advisors reported that 75 - 80% of the students who came in to visit were freshman and sophomores, which is exactly who we want to introduce to the center at this time.

Big Navajo was gracious enough to give Scott his fortune by chanting to the gods for career advice. Scott received the number 3 or 4 calling in the Navajo people... Corn Grower. Big Navajo said, " Plan A - Corn Grower. Plan B - Sports Med. People in the center here, can help you with Plan B. For Plan A though... you come to Big Navajo."

My husband, the Corn Grower

Here I was thinking that Plan B was physical therapy. Thanks for setting us straight, Big Navajo!

So I'd say it was a success! More so, it was A LOT of fun and I was so glad that everyone got as into it as I always have been. For more pictures, and to view videos of the event, visit my Facebook.

The Climax of My BYU Plot

Halloween 2008 I watched as adult college students got way too excited about dressing up for the holiday, and as a former marketing student I said to myself, "There has to be a way to capitalize on that." So I thought about the different ways the University Career Services office where I work could use Halloween and costumes to get the word out to students... I devised a plan.

I mapped out a spook alley for this year, using the back interview hallways as the path which open house visitors would follow. I planned that advisers would act as "career fortune tellers" in the interview rooms, using fish bowls or scrabble letters to predict the after-graduation futures of any student or alumni who dare to enter the spook alley. I imagined our former Christmas Grinch, dressed as a witch, ladling an empty black cauldron in the entry way, inviting students to pick a room, pick a fortune! *Cackle cackle*

I've planned this for a year! And about a month or two ago I asked permission from the big bosses to enact my plot to take over the center for a half- day. Surprisingly, they agreed and told me I could move ahead with plans! So I went for the big gun marketing tool... I posted the event on BYU's Homepage Calendar.

Today, when the webmaster told me my event description was posted, I was overjoyed. I feel that I have reached the climax of my existence at BYU. Nothing could possible be more exciting than seeing my dastardly plan in action at BYU. SOOOO Awesome! You can click on the picture to see the "Career Spook Alley" LIVE on the calendar for October 30.

Only one other person in my office shares my great enthusiasm and unending creative vision for this Halloween open house event, so I had to post my achievement on the blog. I'm glad you understand!

It's the Swine Flu COUNTDOWN!

Have you ever heard the song Final Countdown by Europe? That song has been going through my mind constantly these last two weeks, except I replace the words with Swine Flu Countdown. Doo do doo doooooo, dun nah nah nuh naaah!

Yes, sadly someone in our office contracted swine flu. It was inevitable. There are now 1 million cases of the swine flu in the U.S, according to WebMD. I've been told that the incubation period is 14 days for swine flu. So we created a paper chain at work with pink and yellow paper strips (It reminded me of pigs. I got to choose the paper.) to count down the days until we were safe. WebMD though says that if you contract swine flu you need to be quarantined for seven days (How many days did a Q last in Ricks Hall at BYU-I?).

Let's just be honest! I don't have the best immune system. Mr. Crohns is not the kindest to me in that sense. In fact, once swine flu became a pandemic and entered the MTC in Provo I started taking my multi-vitamin regularly and made the Purell readily accessible at my desk. A sufficient sleep is also necessary for me to survive, which is why I've been going to bed EXTRA early. We all know that on a normal night I fall asleep earlier than many children, but now I am making sure to take my fair share of rest after work is done.

I'm hoping that with rest, multi-vitamins, and a conscious effort to keep my hands clean and not bite my fingernails, I will be able to withstain the strain. I've concluded, though, that it would just be safer overall to have the whole office to take the week off... paid of course. It's not my choice that someone came to work with a swine flu aura. Quarantine BYU for 7 days. Is that too much to ask for our health?

The Summer Work Blues

I thought that work had ended,
packed my things again,
but then I noticed the clock, it said
it's ONLY 3:00 PM.

And that's the BLUES! The Summer's here and I'm at work blluuees.

Yes, that's right. I'm so bored and tired at work that I had to distract myself for a good five minutes making up that one verse to the next Elvis song. I have the workplace summer blues. There is beautiful weather outside, families are going on vacation, work is slow, and I'm stuck inside. Let's just say, 2:00 PM rolls around and I am more than ready for a nap. I'm trying to think of new ways to keep myself awake- What excuse can I make up to take a walk?, What snack has the vitamins and nutrients needed to supply my body with three more hours of lasting energy?, What does WebMD say about adult onset of ADHD?

I actually have been concerned lately that I am exhibiting behaviors more and more like the millennial generation. It seems like my one year mark rolls around in my job and I'm anxious to find a new challenge. Of course, there are external factors. My one year mark tends to pop-up in the summer when everyone is out having fun. No employers are coming on campus during the summer, so my job isn't nearly as exciting as it will be in two months. And I'm pretty sure educational/semester habits have trained me to need a vacation every three months.

I'm bringing chocolate to work tomorrow. I've already tried fruit and celery, even adding peanut butter as a protein boost. No help. Pure sugar just gives you a 30 second high and a two hour nap. Chocolate has to be the next experimental option! AND if you need me to do some internet research for you, post a comment. That's how I keep myself entertained in the dull moments of 8 - 5.

The Grinch Who Stole the Early Holiday Thunder

It seems like Christmas is coming out a little earlier than usual this year. Is that because we feel the need to be more cheerful during the troubling economic times? Or because stores want us to feel like we should start our Christmas shopping earlier? I was at Burlington Coat Factory in SLC last weekend, November 1 to be exact, and Christmas music was already streaming across the stores system. Subliminal message???

In any case, we were discussing the issue at work when an older woman in the office stomped in and crashed at her desk. Surprised at her gloominess, but not wanting to start a 15 minute dramatic monologue from the usually chatty colleague, we ask her what the matter was. "Why are they already playing Christmas music on my morning commute? I haven't even taken down my Halloween decorations yet!!" She sassed. We tried to make explanations or find the optimism in the situation, but she refused to see it.

The students at the front desk are normally full of pranks and sarcasm, but this un-festive attitude really flared their spirits. They started a full-on campaign to bring Christmas early to this woman's life. Humming classic Christmas melodies while doing their work, changing her screen saver to a Christmas Tree by the Fireplace scene, and asking the whole department to contribute by telling this lady how lovely she looks in red or wishing her a Merry Christmas.

The icicles may not have melted from this woman's brow yet, but I can tell the corners of her mouth perk up a little bit with every new holiday remark.

So if you feel like aiding the effort to save Christmas, hang a little holly, hum along to the department store's radio, or go ahead and send an anonymous holiday eCard to a certain secretary at BYU. Any little bit helps!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Last Day at DecisionWise

Tomorrow (Thursday, August 14) I will say goodbye to my work home of the past two years. I have been in Provo since October 2006. I spent the month in temporary Kelly Services posts, meanwhile applying for many jobs and interviewing for one. I got that one job!

November 1, 2006 was my first day at DecisionWise, Inc. My job title was Assessment Project Manager, and though the title had changed with business strategy changes throughout my time at DW, I returned to the original title again to finish out my DW journey. I will be leaving DecisionWise to start a new job at the Counseling and Career Center at Brigham Young University in Provo, where my husband, Scott, is attending school.

Besides being incredibly excited about a change and new job, I am excited for the benefits that BYU offers. In the past few months I have been applying to master's programs for Public Health at BYU and U of U. My main areas of interest in public health revolve around research and social marketing. There are many health topics in society which intrigue me, like Women and Children health, population- based health, nutrition, group psychology, and epidemics. In finding the program at BYU, I discovered that the mission matched exactly what I had imagined myself doing. So I will be pursuing a career in Public Health and will start that pursuit by taking classes while working at BYU.

With my leave tomorrow, I have been reflecting over my time at DecisionWise and how working for the company has made an impact on my life. I would like to take a moment to record in blog some of my favorite DW memories:

1. My first day at work - I arrived around 9:00am to do paper work and afterward sat at my Very Own Desk. I shared an office room with Candice Blankinship, another project manager. I remember being so excited to learn new skills and absorb everything that was being taught to me. I also remember having the benefit of leaving early if all my work was done (which... I didn't have any work at that point) OR staying later if I wanted to get paid for the hours.

2. My second day at work - (Don't worry, I'm not going day by day.) I came to work on my second day all dressed-up, corporate-like, similar to my first day. However, unlike my first day, I came to the office and discovered that everyone else was in jeans and sweatshirts. I felt WAY out of place! 

3. March Madness brackets - Every year DecisionWise had prizes for those who guessed the majority of winning college basketball teams correctly during March Madness. Not only was this a fun way to route for my favorite teams, it was also the first connection that Scott and I had when we were first flirting. You could basically say that we hooked-up because of the bracket.

4. The Elevator Speech contest - During one of our many business direction meetings, it was announced that the company would have a contest to see who could best describe the new service strategy in 30 seconds. The idea behind the short description was to imagine we were describing to a friend/ random stranger what we did at our job... with only had a grocery line's or elevator trip's worth-of-time. My essay won Most Creative!

4. Dallas - It was my first ever business trip. I visited, with a DW consultant, a client of mine in Texas for which I had done some intensive work. I had my own plush room in a hotel, adjacent to the financial company headquarters, and a daily stipend. I felt extremely corporate!

Probably my most favorite memories are ones that wouldn't make for great short stories. Mostly, I enjoyed the people I worked with: our office manager, Deb, and her fun personality, stories, and amazing catering skills; the consultants, Tracy, Juan, and Paul, and their jokes and wives with catering skills; Charles, our sales guru, and marketing co-conspirator; and all of the many project managers that I have worked with during my time at DecisionWise. Good times!

The Network is Trying to Tell You Something

I have been sitting at my desk for several hours now with nothing to do but blog. My job at DecisionWise revolves around the computer, so when anything happens with the computer, I might as well go home.

Currently our inhouse network is crashing. (I believe it is that serious.) We have two networks, one that supports our online survey system, and one that supports our inhouse files. The technically supported survey system will work even if there is a major planet-wide catastrophe. People would still be able to go online, through earthquake and fire and tidlewave to give feedback to their managers and organization.

Our internal network has been showing signs of a "mental" breakdown for quite some time. It takes several minutes for Excel or any other Microsoft document to open. Strange noises have been coming from the nearby server room: beeps and loud bzzing and screams! Whether the issue is data overload or lack of technical management, (We have no current IT professional to manage the in house system. Our last guy went to Omniture...) I feel that the thrashing volcano is about to erupt. We have already seen the smoke, and we are now seeing flying debris.

With nothing to productivly work on and plenty of upcoming due dates, all three project managers gathered in a common area to discuss this tragedy and why someone hadn't already told us to go home. "This is because of data overload." "This is a no IT issue." "This is, 'Project managers are expected to work at 100% efficiency with few resources." The conversation reminded me a whole lot of those Yoplait commercials, but in a different Light.

So I've decided to share one of my favorites, that fits the season SO well.

Kenny G and other Elevator Music

Well it's been awhile since I've last posted on my newsletter blog, and I'm afriad that so much has gone on down here in Provo, UT that I can't possibly catch you up in one blog post. But in my attempt to stay connected and, as always, entertain, I am going to share with you a story from my work.

I work at a leadership consulting firm here in Provo, Utah called DecisionWise. Our company has recently adopted to transition from a survey based company to more of a process consulting business, with a focus on the coaching and end result of the surveys rather than the surveys themselves. In this transition, the employees were asked to create an elevator speech as part of a company-wide contest. An elevator speech is a thirty second conversation that may occur in a setting similar to an elevator trip or grocery store line, where a random stranger would ask about my job.

The following is my contest entry:

It is an early autumn morning, and I am staring at the polished metal doors of the Marriot’s fourth-floor elevator entrance. The doors are sealed tight, and I look down at the crimson, swirl-pattern, plush carpet, listening to the consistent beep that indicates the elevator’s descent and imminent arrival.

As the elevator doors open, I notice an older gentleman, wearing a black pinstripe suit, standing in the corner of the mirrored box. “Good morning,” was his quiet greeting. I take a few steps into the elevator, notice that the lobby button is lit up, and then lean against the back left corner of the elevator. There are a few seconds of vocal silence, as we both listen to the quite melodies of a familiar Kenny G tune.

“Where are you off to this fine morning?” the man asked politely.

“The company I work for is actually conducting a leadership development workshop in the lobby downstairs for one of our clients.”

“Really? I noticed that the conference rooms were full this weekend,” the man continued. “What is your role in this workshop?”

“Well,” I begin, “for this particular workshop, we are implementing a development process involving 360° Feedback Surveys for the managers of this client organization. We are coaching the participants on how to interpret the feedback. I am the Process Manager for this client, so I have been instrumental in aligning the survey with the client company’s mission, administering the surveys, and setting up the coaching and workshops. Today I will be sitting in on the workshop to help the consultant answer questions on the survey or feedback and assist participants in the creation of action plans.”

“Interesting,” the older man responds as we reach the lobby level. “I’m actually in town because I am inspecting a local plant that has had poor performance. I have considered doing 360 surveys for this plant’s managers. Do you find that there is a significant return on investment with these surveys?”

We step out of the elevator onto the spacious, tiled lobby floor. “We have found,” I say, “that in the leadership development process, 94% of those that have received sufficient coaching, and also set goals, felt the 360 process was effective.”

I hand him a DecisionWise business card and tell him to call or email with any questions. He thanks me, and wishes me luck with the workshop and my job. As I walk away, looking down at the plush crimson carpet, I think about how I should really be getting commission for that sale.




*** P.S. I won the contest, as the most creative entry. ***

Jumping Into the Abyss

Well... The summer is coming to a close. I've really enjoyed the time in Sitka to remember my childhood and spend time with my family. I had a fantastic job teaching swimming lessons at the local pool, made new friends, enjoyed a couple vacations, and started to make plans for my jump into adulthood. I also had the privilege of watching my high school senior project come to life.


As a senior at Sitka High School, a requirement for graduation is to complete an approved project. I chose to research the possibilities of obtaining and auditorium for our high school. The idea had been brought to the city's attention once before in the 1980's, but was resurrected with new vigor by my senior project committee. After leaving for college at BYU-I, the idea of construction and funding was brought to a vote and PASSED. So today, four years plus after my graduation from Sitka High, the auditorium is under construction. The building should be finished in time for the graduation ceremonies of the Class of 2007.

With that chapter in my life coming to a grand finish, I am now beginning to make the necessary decisions of moving. After many frustrating months pondering what next steps I should take in life, I have decided to move to Utah in preparation for a Masters degree program. I've referred to this move as a leap into the abyss of adulthood, only to be told that Orem, UT is not exactly an abyss. I'm hoping, within the next few weeks, to find an apartment, make job connections, and purchase airline tickets to make the move in the end of September. I am excited and scared at the many possibilities that lie before me, and hope that I'll find some confirmation of my decisions.

Before I leave for Utah, I will be traveling with my dad to New England. Dad has a conference to attend in Maine and wanted to visit our extended family in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. With the knowledge that this may be my last chance to visit the East Coast for quite some time, and a $50 Alaska Airlines companion ticket to anywhere AA flies, I've decided to go along for the ride. We will be gone for about two weeks and return just before my expected departure to Salt Lake.

Thank you for all your encouragement and advise. I will post again soon with new updates and pictures as I plunge deeper.