I was visiting friends in Tampa when we drove by an office furniture store and the big poster on the side of the building said their office furniture was cube-a-licious. Okay, that nailed my funny bone. And to their credit, I have—on and off—thought of them numerous times in the last six weeks. Cube-a-licious. teehee That’s clever!
Then last week while in Africa, I was traveling with a colleague from another Canadian boarding school I hadn’t seen since we were both on tour in China back in the fall. Although she’s never been to my school she told me it stuck in her head after she overheard me tell a kid that skeet shooting was one of our 70+ activities. That simple fact has kept Ridley in the forefront of her mind.
Skeet shooting and cube-a-licious: interesting what rattles around in one’s head. When our schools share more in common than they don’t, it seems rather important to find something that’s uniquely yours. Maybe it’s a tagline/motto or an uncommon activity or something else. But whatever it might be, it seems it’s important that it’s memorable.
After all, doesn’t everyone remember “Where’s the beef?” or “Just Do It.” or “Got Milk?”?
And don’t try and beat me to it—as soon as I post this, I’m filing trademark papers for “boarding-licious™”!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
35,000ft over the Atlantic
I had to be in Africa on Wednesday. I had to leave Tuesday evening to get there on time but couldn’t leave any earlier as I had a VIP visitor on campus on Monday and Tuesday. My “go to” airline, United, flies my exact route…six days a week. Yup, Tuesday is their off day. So I flew Lufthansa for the first time.
Now in 2010 I flew 149,137 miles (tracked on www.flightmemory.com). I am hardly a novice flyer. But on Lufthansa, I couldn’t figure out how to work the seat, where to plug in my Bose headset, or how everyone but me seemed to have socks and eyeshades. “This shouldn’t be rocket science,” I thought, too embarrassed to ask for help while subtly checking out the actions of fellow passengers for the clues I craved.
I found my airline seat all at once familiar but foreign and found my predicament humiliating, frustrating, depressing, maddening…memorable.
And then I thought about our prospective families and their first visit to our campuses and offices. It’s just visiting another school, right? It should be rather familiar. But I imagine it can also feel rather foreign. What do we do to make our guests’ experience go well? Go memorable, in a good way?
Surely we have the big things covered like visitor parking and good signage. Right? How about a comfortable place to sit that allows a family to be together? And after a possible long ride, is it obvious (to them, not us!) where to find a bathroom or something to drink? Are we careful not to use school-specific acronyms or lingo? What is an OR after all? At my school, it’s an Old Ridlean. To the outsider, it’s nothing more than a reminder that they’re an outsider.
I knew within two minutes of taking my seat on that A340-300 that I was out of my element and my comfort zone, even though flying is perfectly routine for me. It would have been a great help and comfort if a flight attendant had come over and subtly whispered to me, “Is this your first time flying Lufthansa? If so, let me know if you have any questions. I’m here to help.”
Thankfully United is taking me home from Africa. But when I return to campus, my staff will be discussing a, “I’m here to help” perspective with our guests.
(By the way, I found my kit with eyeshade and socks eight hours later when I packed up to deplane!)
Now in 2010 I flew 149,137 miles (tracked on www.flightmemory.com). I am hardly a novice flyer. But on Lufthansa, I couldn’t figure out how to work the seat, where to plug in my Bose headset, or how everyone but me seemed to have socks and eyeshades. “This shouldn’t be rocket science,” I thought, too embarrassed to ask for help while subtly checking out the actions of fellow passengers for the clues I craved.
I found my airline seat all at once familiar but foreign and found my predicament humiliating, frustrating, depressing, maddening…memorable.
And then I thought about our prospective families and their first visit to our campuses and offices. It’s just visiting another school, right? It should be rather familiar. But I imagine it can also feel rather foreign. What do we do to make our guests’ experience go well? Go memorable, in a good way?
Surely we have the big things covered like visitor parking and good signage. Right? How about a comfortable place to sit that allows a family to be together? And after a possible long ride, is it obvious (to them, not us!) where to find a bathroom or something to drink? Are we careful not to use school-specific acronyms or lingo? What is an OR after all? At my school, it’s an Old Ridlean. To the outsider, it’s nothing more than a reminder that they’re an outsider.
I knew within two minutes of taking my seat on that A340-300 that I was out of my element and my comfort zone, even though flying is perfectly routine for me. It would have been a great help and comfort if a flight attendant had come over and subtly whispered to me, “Is this your first time flying Lufthansa? If so, let me know if you have any questions. I’m here to help.”
Thankfully United is taking me home from Africa. But when I return to campus, my staff will be discussing a, “I’m here to help” perspective with our guests.
(By the way, I found my kit with eyeshade and socks eight hours later when I packed up to deplane!)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
You Asked For It!
Okay, I’m taking a break from admissions blogging and meeting the manifold demands of my friends/readers: a post about travel! So, to my fellow travelers—for business or for pleasure—here are some of my key bookmarks. These resources are the backbone of my travel planning.
www.xe.com/ucc
Basic exchange rate calculator
www.seatguru.com
Only to be used when you and I aren’t on the same flight—don’t take my seat!
http://blog.tsa.gov/
This is where I learned I don’t have to take my iPad out of my briefcase. And they’re funny, too!
www.flyertalk.com
The online Bible for maximizing your hotel, car rental, airline, credit card accounts. Warning: it’s addictive!
http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/
Scott’s most recent post about the best day of the week to buy a plane ticket is currently the #1 article read on the Wall Street Journal’s webpage.
https://www.americanexpressfhr.com
Use this service 2-3 times a year and it will have paid for itself in free extra nights, free meals, etc.
www.tripadvisor.com
You have to be savvy to not be taken in by someone with an axe to grind or an owner posting about their own business but there’s a lot of good stuff there.
www.zagat.com
Don’t know where to eat in the big city? These guys can help.
Favourite airline alliance: www.staralliance.com
Favourite airline: www.singaporeair.com
Favourite hotel group: www.starwoodhotels.com
Favourite hotel chain: www.peninsula.com or http://www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis/index.html
May your hotel rooms overlook the mountains and not the dumpsters, may your flights find you in the exit row if not an upgrade, may your rental cars not have been last driven by five guys going to a Dead concert, and may your journeys always bring you home safe to what’s important.
www.xe.com/ucc
Basic exchange rate calculator
www.seatguru.com
Only to be used when you and I aren’t on the same flight—don’t take my seat!
http://blog.tsa.gov/
This is where I learned I don’t have to take my iPad out of my briefcase. And they’re funny, too!
www.flyertalk.com
The online Bible for maximizing your hotel, car rental, airline, credit card accounts. Warning: it’s addictive!
http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/
Scott’s most recent post about the best day of the week to buy a plane ticket is currently the #1 article read on the Wall Street Journal’s webpage.
https://www.americanexpressfhr.com
Use this service 2-3 times a year and it will have paid for itself in free extra nights, free meals, etc.
www.tripadvisor.com
You have to be savvy to not be taken in by someone with an axe to grind or an owner posting about their own business but there’s a lot of good stuff there.
www.zagat.com
Don’t know where to eat in the big city? These guys can help.
Favourite airline alliance: www.staralliance.com
Favourite airline: www.singaporeair.com
Favourite hotel group: www.starwoodhotels.com
Favourite hotel chain: www.peninsula.com or http://www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis/index.html
May your hotel rooms overlook the mountains and not the dumpsters, may your flights find you in the exit row if not an upgrade, may your rental cars not have been last driven by five guys going to a Dead concert, and may your journeys always bring you home safe to what’s important.
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