From a comment posted moments ago by Anonymous@9:13 p.m., who said: "So, this is why they're sprucing up the place, painting the hallways and cafeteria. And I thought it was because they cared about me." This memo apparently was sent to employees at The Tennessean of Nashville:
Craig Dubow/Gannett Chairman and CEO, Gracia Martore/President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Bob Dickey/President, U.S. Community Publishing and Robin Pence, VP of Corporate Communications will be visiting The Tennessean on Friday afternoon, July 9th. They are making a number of visits to Gannett locations this summer. They want to hear what's on people's minds and to thank them. They will meet with our management committee to discuss what's going on here and afterward they will hold a "town hall" meeting, which is scheduled for 3:00 p.m in the cafeteria. This meeting will consist of an update of what's going on in the company as well as an opportunity for questions and answers.
Earlier: On the road again, Part 1
Thursday, July 01, 2010
On the road again: Dubow, Martore, Dickey: Part 2; Corporate takes bigwig show to Nashville on July 9
25 comments:
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Thank them for what? Funding the ridiculous cash executive bonuses with money recouped from furloughs?
ReplyDeleteThese people are actually going to do a Q&A with the rank and filers? I'd sure like to be there for that one!
ReplyDeleteActually, they are making the rounds with many locations. I wish they would spend more time explaining why they are sending out Producton jobs to India when American jobs and economy are at stake. It seems a little odd. I mean, Indian jobs don't pay taxes here and the taxes are what funds the defense of our country. So it would seem that decimating the production centers across America to centralize them and send more jobs to India is VERY anti-American.
ReplyDeleteI love my job but I just don't understand the direction.
Kindly write your questions on the enclosed form so that they may be reviwed by the 3 musketeer's
ReplyDeleteentourage for proper content.
Thank you.
Management.
In the old-old days when the top brass would make site visits, the talk mostly was about content. Even Neuharth would comment about things like whether or not West Coast ball scores were making it into the sports section. VP/News John Quinn scared publishers into doing the right things, right there in front of God and everyone else. (His successor, Phil Currie, not so much -- but at least he was present.)
ReplyDeleteIs Kate Marymont even going on this latest round of visits?
Why don't they just scan the comments readers write and they'll see the compqany has huge problems.
ReplyDeleteIn Elizabethan England, they used to call these "progresses," and the entourages were so big they bankrupted some of the nobles they visited because of the costs of refurbishing castles, providing food and new beds, etc. This all has a familiar ring as Dubow, Gracia and Dickey deign to make the rounds. Newsrooms are spruced up and sometimes painted, piles of papers thrown away, special food imported, etc. The costs of these visits are becoming exhorbitant. Memo to Corporate: How about giving us the money instead of the visits. It would be more appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWell, I certainly want to thank them. I want to thank them for the furloughs that forced my wife to go back to work at a part-time job. I want to thank them for making me insecure about my future. I want to thank them for giving me no raises, while food costs are on the upswing. I want to thank them for the consolidations that cost my friends their jobs, and I want to thank them for outsourcing other tasks that gave other families food on their tables. I want to thank them for pressuring my boss, who has lost weight even though he's drinking more these days. I want to thank them for the extra work I picked up when my colleagues were laid off, and I want to thank them for emptying out the cubicles in my office. I want to thank them for my new computers and I want to thank them for the tears I heard in the hallways from employees holding their lives in a cardboard box being escorted from the building. And, yes, I certainly want to thank them for taking generous pay raises and piling up on their stock options while the rest of us lived on diminished paychecks in this recession.
ReplyDeleteAt least this will get the building cleaned up. The last time I was there the place was dirty, damaged walls going unrepaired for months/years, smelly restrooms, etc.
ReplyDeleteWill people pretend to work when these execs come by? Or will they continue to labor over their 1-2 articles a week?
ReplyDelete11:30 -- One to two articles per week is a much bigger contribution than any of these "visitors" are making to the company. As 6:38 noted, they're nothing but a drain on resources.
ReplyDeleteBetween their ridiculously high bonuses, impressive health plans and general lack of business acumen, they've put Gannett in the position it is now.
The real question is, "Why would anyone continue to work hard for them?"
I suppose personal pride is the only reasonable answer.
10:12, nicely put.
ReplyDeleteYes, 10:12, that was a well-worded whine. Be sure to have some cheese with it.
ReplyDeleteThose black-suit buffoons are nothing but expensive overhead. They demand large tax payments from the newspapers, and when the tax collections shrink, they force them to dilute the product to artificially boost margins and tax payments. They take the loot and split it up in their unnecessary and lavish executive offices. And to make themselves appear useful, they think up onerous laws from time to time and force the newspapers to obey them. Just like the British did to the Americans pre-1776.
ReplyDeleteWhen they came to Lansing, we had to make sure that the toilets all flushed at their hotels. How ironic.
ReplyDeleteRobin Pence is asking each place that they will visit to send pictures of the entrance, the meeting rooms and the overall area where Dubow and Martore will address the employees. This is a demand from Martore. They do not want to look like fools when they arrive and show up at the wrong door!
ReplyDeleteThey are also making sure that Dubow will be wheeled around comfortably while they spend a whopping 1.5 hours at each site.
The only reason for Robin to attend is to wheel Dubow around as his assistant has refused to do it anymore.
I think they'd learn more by going to a city council meeting, court trial, or hanging our with the locals at a coffee shop. That would be more of an introduction to reality than sitting in a meeting room. I say make 'em go hyper-local and end the visit with a mainstreaming and diversity report.
ReplyDeleteI'm occasionally asked to speak to groups, and always try to scope out the meeting room in advance, so I can figure out where I'll be standing, placing my laptop, etc.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I can find that information on websites, when the meeting room is at a hotel. I've never had the opportunity to get pictures taken for me, however.
if the publisher doesnt like the way Q and A is going i am sure they will shut it down thats what happened in our session
ReplyDeleteI am sure they want to scope out the available exits in case things get hot about the payraises they took at a time when everyone else's paycheck was cut.
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ReplyDeleteplease come to wilmington. please come to wilmington. please come to wilmington. please come to wilmington. please come to wilmington ...
ReplyDeletecan't wait to give those incompetent stupid jackass fucking bastards a piece of my mind.
6:40 guy slik eyou love to hide behind the blog. You would have a hard time attending the meeting let alone raising your hand. Lots of brave folks who hide behind Anonymous. Big talk buddy, but you are never going to say anything
ReplyDeleteNotice how the big-talk people are the ones with the worst writing and punctuation.
ReplyDeleteLikely it's one drone, trying to conceal his identity.