Shop Talk

Yahoo Messenger is my prefered communication platform at this time. Today, the servers are down due to upgrades or system maintainance as reported through rumor. There is no official word from Yahoo! and many of its users are angry that they have not been informed that their service would be interrupted.

Granted that sometimes unforseen problems occur, but if this was a scheduled upgrade, a general notice should have been issued informing all YM users. Apparently the problem extends to all facets of Yahoo! service (mail, for example) for some users while others have access to everything but the messenger service.

My take is that a notice would have been good PR wise to deter negative feelings toward the company. True, there would have been grumbling at any rate, but it’s better than leaving most everyone totally in the dark. I am fully aware that stakeholders come first, but your service answers to the little guy, the “customer,” too. Think about the competition, as well. I’m just saying …

Just a quick run-down of the news week …

+// The state shut down in NJ is over. Lawmakers agreed on a budget and all is well … for now. Perhaps good PR for Governor Corzine because he made sure they got the job done instead of throwing accusations and waiting for someone to crack. I’m still interested in some sort of poll and I’ll have to look for that. People were hitting up the slot machines as soon as the casinos re-opened. Oh, how naive of me to think that people don’t gamble at 7:30 in the morning.

+// Cingular, you got some ’splainin’ to do! The corporation is accused of not ‘raising the bar’ (pun intended) in terms of service and customer satisfaction. According to a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of as many as, if not more than 20 million AT&T Wireless customers who switched to Cingular upon its merger, service has only gone downhill. Considering the company has gone back on its original word (made public, no less), the situation needs to be rectified - fast, or more people will jump ship to other wireless providers.

+// Even bitter rivals can put aside their competitive ways and work together, as is the case with Coca Cola and Pepsi. Several employees from Coke stole trade secrets and a new product sample and attempted to sell them to Pepsi. Pepsi received a letter in an official Coke envelope from the Bronx in NY. Instead of letting curiousity get the best of the company, it alerted Coke and turned over the letter. Both companies worked together with the FBI to catch the culprits. Great, great PR move in this case. Coke is going to have to deal with some security issues, naturally, but the situation highlights the integrity of both companies (especially Pepsi). No damage control to contend with for either PR department. Perfect. Although, there is one thing: I’m wondering how and why Coke hired ex-convicts (as two of the accused spent time in prison prior to this incident - one on cocaine charges, the other on bank fraud), but I suppose that is a story for another time and day.

+// Ken Lay died of a heart attack weeks after being found guilty for his role in the Enron scandal. Some still think he’s alive, perhaps sipping drinks with supposedly slain rapper Tupac Shakur (Is he or isn’t he? Alas, the debate rages on) on some sandy beach in Mexico. If the ‘Kenny Boy’ camp releases a posthumous rap album any time soon, we’ll know something’s up.

My home state (New Jersey) is being shut down by our governor, Jon Corzine. I’ve been on the Western side of Pennsylvania so it’s been rather hard to keep up with what’s been going on back home. My mom will ask me if I heard about some news story, and I will respond with, “What are you talking about?” She forgets that what’s news in New Jersey isn’t a big deal here unless it’s big like, well, the state being shut down as the order was signed this morning.

Corzine hasn’t been in politics long. He ran for United States Senate my junior year of high school and then ran for governor as he finished his first Senate term. He’s a man who was in money (former CEO of Goldman Sachs) and has a lot of his own, even financing his own Senate campaign.

Right now, his proposal to up the state sales tax from 6 to 7% has caused a huge uproar and left the state in a gridlock. The order to shut the state down will affect construction, parks and possibly casinos within the next few days.

There’s no doubt this shutdown could bring major consequences. I’m wondering how Corzine will handle this throughout the process and what he will do to repair his image. I’d be interested to see if they poll people over their support of the shutdown. I can’t imagine that many people would look upon this situation favorably.

I am a big fan of flip-flops. They’re comfortable and something I can loaf around in when I actually take a break from my job search and leave my apartment (which is rare at the moment :().

I’m sure many women share my sentiment as flip-flops do tend to bring on that carefree “Summer is here” attitude, but the footwear of choice for women during the summer months is actually becoming problematic in the workplace.

A Reuters news piece on June 29 reports that more women are seen wearing flip-flops to the office and that is not going over too well with employers.

This should be a no-brainer. You know better than to wear flip-flops to a job interview. What makes things any different once you have the job? You represent yourself and your employer. Leave ‘em home.

If the company allows them on a “Casual Friday” type day, fine. If you decide to slip into them while out on your lunch break (as I have done at my internship while breaking in my new heels), fine.

There should be no reason to allow your professionalism to be called into question over a pair of shoes that cost a measley $10 at Old Navy - none.

A few more news outlets picking up on the flip-flop frenzy the past two months: Gawker, NY Times, Washington Post. (Links found in Gawker’s post).

Oh, I failed to mention that this problem does not just include women, but men as well. Some men have been sporting flip-flops too, or *gasp* sneakers. Leave those home too, boys.