Office Space

Today was our annual office meeting. Since there are more than 400 people in the New York and Port Washington offices, we rented out a room in a place called Jericho Terrace out on Long Island. Nestled in between a strip mall and a car dealership, Jericho Terrace is modeled after a 15th century French castle and primarily serves - I'm told - as a venue for weddings. Who would want to have a wedding in such a place? Apparently, it's pretty popular amongst the Nassau/Suffolk County set. I had at least 5 people tell me they'd gone to "several" weddings there.

Prior to the meeting, we were served breakfast - the usual corporate fare of stale danishes, sour grapes (no foolin') and watered-down coffee. I shouldn't complain about that. What'd I expect? Eggs and Starbucks? Truthfully, it was a generous spread.

The meeting lasted FOUR HOURS and we covered everything from the financials, to the soft version of the strategy, to the awards for 15/20/25/30+ years of service with the company. It ended with a penetrating Q&A period - highlights of that included things like "Can we get an ATM in the building?" and "How can I get a higher bonus?" The corporate videos and powerpoint presentations were spiced up with videos of dancing cats and jokes about American Idol.



I'm a loooong way from the beer Fridays of San Francisco days.