We’ve all got crazy stories about co-workers, managers, and bosses. Some of those stories are funny others less so, but more often than not often worth sharing in a cathartic kind of way.
I’ve worked for a few office trade magazines during my career, including a publication that was originally launched in the late 1930’s for people who worked in an office and were responsible for making purchasing decisions. That magazine covered everything from printing and mailing technology, to supplies, to furniture. The publisher, the son of the founder, was, how do I put it nicely, a whack job. This guy has no equal when it comes to all my other employers through the years. His closest competitors come in a distant second and third. He was the 1927 Yankees of incompetent bosses.
I could write a book about him, but I’m going to stick to one story this week and save the others for another time. One day Lanier (pre Ricoh days) stopped by our office on a press tour, back when OEMs did that kind of thing. They were probably showing off a new fax machine. We met in our conference room for a product demo and discussion—the publisher, two representatives from Lanier, and me. They talked about the product and its features, gave a demo, and then opened the floor to questions. My publisher never had any questions in these meetings primarily because he was clueless about technology and most everything else we covered in the magazine, or at least he worked hard to give that impression.
I then asked if this new fax machine was similar to one from another vendor that I had seen at a recent NOMDA show. I don’t remember the response, but I do remember as soon as they left how the publisher was exasperated with me, lamenting, “Never ask about a competitor. They hate each other.”
That comment was not based on any inside knowledge about the relationship between the two companies. It was simply because they sold a similar product and obviously compete with each other, so by his reasoning they must hate each other. That’s probably why when I used to see him at press conferences in New York City when I was working for a competitive publication he’d often stand in a corner by himself not socializing with the editors and publishers from the other magazines. I would talk to everybody.
A couple of months later another vendor visits our office to demo a new product. Same cast, myself, the publisher and two people from the OEM. After the demo is done, they ask if we have any questions. There’s a brief moment of silence, and then the publisher ask, “Is this product similar to X’s product?”
I’ll never forget that.
Thanks for reading.
