EPISODE 12

When Richard Glick had invited us to his office on the Tuesday after the New Orleans conference, he was polite, direct, and concise on his insisting that we both be there promptly at 11 that morning.  Of course, we didn’t make it on time.  But Richard greeted us good-naturedly.

“I see that you guys are still on Bourbon Street time,” he said with a smile as we walked in, about 15 minutes late.  “It doesn’t matter.  I only have a couple of items to go over with the two of you.  Just pull up a chair and let’s get started.”

He was seated at his desk and was looking over several neatly stacked piles of papers.  He picked up one of the piles and began to leaf through it.

“I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing your expense sheets from New Orleans,” he said quietly, never taking his eyes off the papers.

I don’t know.  I just didn’t expect this to be the preamble to a conversation that I was going to enjoy very much.  Richard flipped through the pages of paper and continued in a crisp, matter-of-fact manner.

“$2150 for additional Internet connections.  $73 for room service.”

“It wasn’t technically ‘room service,’” Allan offered.

“No?”

“Absolutely not.  The sandwiches and drinks were delivered to us in the main ballroom.”

“A nice distinction.  I’ll make note of it.  But I also notice a fairly pricey dinner for two and a couple of healthy cocktail bills from some nightclubs on Bourbon Street.”

“Those would be mine,” I said.

“I assumed so.  Michael, you are aware that SlipNot does not reimburse you for entertainment and alcohol.”

“Even if the guy I’m schmoozing is Frank Rotella?”

“You were out with Frank?’

“Absolutely.”

“Did you get any business?”

“He closed Frank on the micro camera and the new TV ad program” Allan interjected.

“Still,” Richard said, with a slight quaver in his voice, “This is not the way we do business.”

“We don’t take clients out?” I asked.

“Of course we do.  It’s just that we like to keep expenses on a short leash.  Michael, an expense account is not a license to wine and dine your favorite clients at your favorite bistros.”

This surprised me somewhat as I had actually held the opinion that this was precisely what expense accounts were for.  If not, then what the hell was the point?  With great self-control, I managed to keep this thought to myself.

“Still,” Richard continued, “Frank is a very important client of SlipNot’s and the fact that you were able to close him on those programs is good.  I’m not happy about how much of the company’s money you spent, but I’ll find some way of making it work.”

“Thanks, Richard” I replied.  I had to admit I was a little pissed off.  I’d invested a few hundred bucks in Frank’s night on the town and bought tens of thousands in good will, which would translate into huge sales down the line, not even to mention what we’d taken in on the ad programs.  But that was part of Richard’s job.  He had to watch all the nickels and dimes.

“You’re welcome,” he shot back.

Richard put down the pile of papers in his hand and picked up another from his desk.  He extracted two pages and handed one to Allan and the other to me.

“This is a new policy paper that I want you both to insert into your employee manuals.”

I knew this was going to be tough for Allan as he’d thrown his in the trash a day or two after it had been first issued to him.  Mine was at my apartment, but I honestly had no idea where.  I vaguely remembered tearing one or two pages out of it to use as scrap paper for a proposal I had been fiddling with at the time.  That was the last I’d seen of it. 

“This policy paper will probably be of some interest to you guys in Marketing.  Essentially, it details the procedures necessary for establishing new policies.”

“This is a policy paper on creating policies?” I asked with a smile.  Allan rolled his eyes and looked down at the floor, suddenly engrossed with the pattern of the carpeting in Richard’s office.

“That’s right!” Richard said proudly.  “Say that you or Allan want to institute a new policy on lunchtimes, or memo protocol, or whatever…all you have to do is fill out this form and give it to your manager.  Your manager will review it and then send it to the management team for consideration.  Once the team okays it, it comes to me and I take a look at it before deciding if it becomes policy or not.”

Somehow, I just had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be one of those little rights and privileges that either Allan or I were going to be availing ourselves of in the near or even the distant future.  Still, I smiled at Richard and patted the sheet of paper as though it was now a treasured new possession.  He smiled back, certain that he’d done his best to reach out to his two wayward charges and with that, the meeting was adjourned.

********** 

 

The next installment will be posted on November 18.

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