for those of you who have lived in the big city yah may not understand small town mentalities so ill try and explain so yah have some background.
being a town of about 4000 ppl their is alot of community pride and cooperation. we have the oldest rodeo in the state and one that is more often than not voted the best rodeo in the state by the participents. its a 3 day event put on by the chamber of commerce and an army of voulenteers. last year they made a whopping $60 on the 3 days but as long as it breaks even we really dont care. i print the posters and the 12,000 plus tickets for the 3 day event. because of these posters and tickets i deal with 2 ppl person #1 get the general admission and the posters, person #2 gets all the reserved. last year for all the tickets alone we charged them $1500ish(remember this figure) which is about as cheap as we can do it after paying my salery, payroll taxes, paper and ink for the effort. we have almost no profit margine on these. but the rodeo is a real boost for the community and i get into the rodeo free on a press pass anyway.
the last 3 years ive done the tickets and posters Person #1 comes in with all the stuff starting the first week in May, takes her a couple weeks to get everything done and ready for us to print but this way we can start setting stuff and getting it ready and its not dumped in our lap at the last minute, we sit and look at a calendar, she tells me the exact day she wants them(May 22 this year) and inform her by that which day she needs to have 100% of everything to me(May 18 this year) to get these done and to her on the day she wants them. the posters take a full day of printing themselves, the general admission tickets take 2 days of printing and numbering. its a great working relationship, there have not been any misunderstandings. ive never been late.
now for Person #2, heres where the problem arises, this person generally CALLS on about the last week of april to dictate changes to the reserved tickets(generally just price and dates change) and hangs up, no mention of what day she needs them no nothing. so we go on the assumption of the last few years is whats happening this year. she will pick up the tickets on the Tuesday after memorial day cause the generally go on sale about June 11. this person WILL NOT take the tickets if she is not ready for them, we do not have the safe space to store 6,500ish printed, numbered and sorted tickets, we have been broke into in the past and had tickets stolen and ive had to redo days. it takes 4-5 8 hour days for me to print and number all these tickets for row and seat number, just doing these alone.
well 2 weeks ago i get a call saying they now want these tickets on the 22nd, course in my mind i say keep dreaming, im no even ready to start these yet. they are not the only person i print for, some of the other ppl ahead of them spend tons of money with us year round. well yah know what i did not get the tickets done by the 22nd, heck i havent even started numbering them yet as i was planning on starting that today, working part of my Memorial day weekend finishing them up for delivery on the tuesday after like i have done for the last 3 years. other stuff was ahead of them and i have other responsibilities at the paper other than just printing, it just couldnt happen. i explain all this to person #1 (who is actually the main person at the chamber of com.) is quite understanding and says get to them when yah can but they need to be done by the tuesday like always.
yesterday i get a phone call from an irrate Person #2 screaming that her tickets arent done and she always has them by such and such a rodeo which is on the third weekend of May EVERY YEAR, i try to calmly explain the situation to her and tell her she has never recieved these tickets for that rodeo since ive been working here. funny how i always use part of my memorial day vacation to finish numbering these tickets every year and the year they were stolen was...........drum roll please............memorial day weekend. faulty memory with old age? anyways she spouts of about needing them when she orders them ect ect ect i do my best to stay civil but im quickly loosing patients and we hang up on each other before a screaming match insues over who is right(i am, my boss even agrees)
anyways im torqued off over the whole mess yesterday and inform the boss that next year if im still doing exactly what im doing this year we cant do the tickets, i dont have the time. the boss just smiles and nods. apparently when we got the phone call that they needed them on the 22nd, she made some phone calls trying to farm out the tickets to a firm that just does this sort of thing, figuring even if we make no money on it its better to just have them done and out of the way. yah want to know the lowest quote she got? remember we are charging them about $1500, well the cheapest we could get them done for our wholesale cost was $5000 so im doing them this year.
the boss says i should write a letter of complaint over person #2's attitude to the chamber and inform them of all the circumstances that go into these tickets and what person #2 is not willing to do and such. whats your take on the situation?
being a town of about 4000 ppl their is alot of community pride and cooperation. we have the oldest rodeo in the state and one that is more often than not voted the best rodeo in the state by the participents. its a 3 day event put on by the chamber of commerce and an army of voulenteers. last year they made a whopping $60 on the 3 days but as long as it breaks even we really dont care. i print the posters and the 12,000 plus tickets for the 3 day event. because of these posters and tickets i deal with 2 ppl person #1 get the general admission and the posters, person #2 gets all the reserved. last year for all the tickets alone we charged them $1500ish(remember this figure) which is about as cheap as we can do it after paying my salery, payroll taxes, paper and ink for the effort. we have almost no profit margine on these. but the rodeo is a real boost for the community and i get into the rodeo free on a press pass anyway.
the last 3 years ive done the tickets and posters Person #1 comes in with all the stuff starting the first week in May, takes her a couple weeks to get everything done and ready for us to print but this way we can start setting stuff and getting it ready and its not dumped in our lap at the last minute, we sit and look at a calendar, she tells me the exact day she wants them(May 22 this year) and inform her by that which day she needs to have 100% of everything to me(May 18 this year) to get these done and to her on the day she wants them. the posters take a full day of printing themselves, the general admission tickets take 2 days of printing and numbering. its a great working relationship, there have not been any misunderstandings. ive never been late.
now for Person #2, heres where the problem arises, this person generally CALLS on about the last week of april to dictate changes to the reserved tickets(generally just price and dates change) and hangs up, no mention of what day she needs them no nothing. so we go on the assumption of the last few years is whats happening this year. she will pick up the tickets on the Tuesday after memorial day cause the generally go on sale about June 11. this person WILL NOT take the tickets if she is not ready for them, we do not have the safe space to store 6,500ish printed, numbered and sorted tickets, we have been broke into in the past and had tickets stolen and ive had to redo days. it takes 4-5 8 hour days for me to print and number all these tickets for row and seat number, just doing these alone.
well 2 weeks ago i get a call saying they now want these tickets on the 22nd, course in my mind i say keep dreaming, im no even ready to start these yet. they are not the only person i print for, some of the other ppl ahead of them spend tons of money with us year round. well yah know what i did not get the tickets done by the 22nd, heck i havent even started numbering them yet as i was planning on starting that today, working part of my Memorial day weekend finishing them up for delivery on the tuesday after like i have done for the last 3 years. other stuff was ahead of them and i have other responsibilities at the paper other than just printing, it just couldnt happen. i explain all this to person #1 (who is actually the main person at the chamber of com.) is quite understanding and says get to them when yah can but they need to be done by the tuesday like always.
yesterday i get a phone call from an irrate Person #2 screaming that her tickets arent done and she always has them by such and such a rodeo which is on the third weekend of May EVERY YEAR, i try to calmly explain the situation to her and tell her she has never recieved these tickets for that rodeo since ive been working here. funny how i always use part of my memorial day vacation to finish numbering these tickets every year and the year they were stolen was...........drum roll please............memorial day weekend. faulty memory with old age? anyways she spouts of about needing them when she orders them ect ect ect i do my best to stay civil but im quickly loosing patients and we hang up on each other before a screaming match insues over who is right(i am, my boss even agrees)
anyways im torqued off over the whole mess yesterday and inform the boss that next year if im still doing exactly what im doing this year we cant do the tickets, i dont have the time. the boss just smiles and nods. apparently when we got the phone call that they needed them on the 22nd, she made some phone calls trying to farm out the tickets to a firm that just does this sort of thing, figuring even if we make no money on it its better to just have them done and out of the way. yah want to know the lowest quote she got? remember we are charging them about $1500, well the cheapest we could get them done for our wholesale cost was $5000 so im doing them this year.
the boss says i should write a letter of complaint over person #2's attitude to the chamber and inform them of all the circumstances that go into these tickets and what person #2 is not willing to do and such. whats your take on the situation?
