[BC] IT Adventures with the Sales Department

[DANA PUOPOLO]

Problem is Sid, my priorities were usually set by the General Manager and SHE
wanted me to tend to the sales stuff first...but then (of course) it also was
my problem (fault?) when the other stuff didn't (also) get done.

By the way, this was not a small market place. It was a Los Angeles (licensed)
radio station owned by a major group. You can find clueless managers in even
the major markets!

Ever hear of the no win scenario? There's LOTS of them out there in our
business!

-D

------ Original Message ------
From: "Sid Schweiger" <sid at wrko.com>

 >>See, that's my major problem in a nutshell with broadcast engineering
these
days.

They expect you to not only fix the transmitters, STL's, consoles, etc.
but
NOW they also demand you fix the printers, sales workstations, telephone
system, web and file server, etc. etc., ad nauseum. And GOD FORBID the
Internet go down for over 30 seconds! What WILL these sales persons do
without
being able to check personal email or go onto ebay to check their bids
and
snipe!<<

If you have to be a one-man band, you set ground rules, otherwise known
as priorities, you live by them strictly and you do not deviate from
them.  I know how hard it is to tell someone that they have to wait (and
sales weasels are notorious for the "I have to have this now" mentality
and not taking "no" for an answer), but it's the only way to retain
one's sanity.  You can't let the rest of the staff set your priorities.
Even in my neck of the woods, any IT function which directly affects
live on-air product has priority, and anyone who complains about it will
soon learn what my "law" is.

When people are hired at our cluster, they are handed a new-employee
packet, which states quite clearly that we are running a BUSINESS...with
all that implies.  We own the servers, the e-mail system and its
contents, the workstations and the printers.  None of that is for their
personal use.  They are told that unlicensed software, software licensed
to them personally, or anything else not relating to our business is not
to be placed on our computers or networks, and will be removed without
warning when I find it.