Rollercoaster to the Bottom
We went to RezRez‘s Christmas Party last night. It was awful. Drinks were $6.50 (hip flasks courtesy of Farshad were an easy solution to that problem). But that was only the beginning.
First up, Stan Sprenger, the company’s CEO. Imagine you were the CEO of a company, set to deliver a speech to the 300-plus employees and guests attending the corporate Christmas party. Would you consider the following anecdote appropriate?
I was at the mall today, and I saw a little blond girl get up on Santa’s knee.
“What do you want for Christmas?” Santa asked.
“I want Barbie and GI Joe!” the little girl proclaimed.
Santa looked confused at this request.
“I don’t understand. Doesn’t Barbie come with Ken?” Santa asked.
“No. Barbie comes with GI Joe. She only fakes it with Ken.”
Probably not. I don’t think I know a single self-respecting executive officer who would consider that an appropriate joke for a corporate Christmas function. But it didn’t stop there.
There were the little barbs volleyed by the Chief Operating Officer during her introduction of the CEO. Perhaps they were subtle enough that most people didn’t notice, but I detected the distinct edge of frost in the COO’s delivery of some carefully chosen jokes sent in the CEO’s direction.
About halfway through last night, everyone at the party transformed in my mind into Sims characters. I even saw the body language of those engaged in conversation match those of Sims characters, all exaggerated and overly animated. I felt very alone in that room. It’s not just that I didn’t know a lot of the people there or that I didn’t fit the age demographic of the company (newly graduated high school teens in the call center, mid-thirties burnouts everywhere else). The thing that really struck me was just how much I couldn’t relate to the people I was around.
I mean, yes, it’s a party. People are looking to have fun and be a little silly. But there was something else at work last night. I couldn’t actually imagine myself ever being like one of those people. They were so…unsophisticated. Low brow. Or for lack of a better word, stupid.
I’ve always thought that most people are as smart as I am, at least from the point of view of common sense. Maybe it wasn’t an explicit assumption, but I now realize it’s probably the reason people fail to meet my expectations a lot of the time. I know the people at the party weren’t stupid, just that they had a different set of priorities and values. But I can’t help wondering: why can’t I share those values? Why can’t I just let go, forget about trying to make a difference and just enjoy the rollercoaster ride to the bottom?
ouch!
Ah, i just stumbled across this today… sadly so late. Anyway, this coming from a guy who posts his daily life on a website (does that tell you anything about yourself? sadly lacking in certain areas of your life are we?). any-hoo… “Why can’t I just let go”, cause sadly my friend, you are a nerd.
Wow….it’s a pity you attended the party, seeing as you obviously have difficulties interacting on a social level, it would have been nice to allow someone else to come in your place. Perhaps, someone who knows how to have fun and take a joke. I’d rather work for a company with a CEO that can crack a joke, instead of boring everyone with some mind numbing speech that no one will remember anyway. Clearly Mr. Springer’s speech moved you, as you remembered every word of it.
Welcome to Geekville, Population YOU!!!!
bahahahaha
rezrez funkn blows my friend, unfortunately, so do you…….loser.
In the last day, a number of comments have been posted here, mostly by people from within RezRez (IP addresses don’t lie). On reflection, I understand their comments – was I overly harsh in my assessment? Certainly. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a number of talented and hardworking people within the company who are trying their best to make it work. But there’s also a sinister underlying dysfunction that threatens to destroy the company – it surprised me that people could be so upbeat in spite of all the company’s inner turmoil. Call it envy – I wondered how some people could be given garbage and go on smiling like it’s ice cream. It’s not a skill I possess.
As for the event itself, yes, I was probably a bit bitter. Who enjoys going to a “company” event where the company was so cheap that it required employees to pay for the privilege of attending (attendance expected), overpaying for alcohol, and lining up for lukewarm food. Call me a social reject, but that’s not my idea of a good time.
In response to the other (less eloquent) posts, let me ask one question: if I’m such a loser, this website is so sad, and RezRez is such a great place to work, then what are you doing wasting your time posting to it in the middle of your workday?
Brendon, I’ve no idea why you’d take the time to lash out at what was RezRez.com. I agree 100% with you. I was at that party. I was the front desk receptionist/admin assistant to Stan Springer from 2000-2004. I know for a fact that Stan sold his business to Intrawest and then ran the company into the ground until he quit. The biggest problem with RezRez.com was that Stan envisioned this huge internet travel company with resorts all over the world, BUT he didn’t have decent airfare or any contracts with major airlines in place. So he tried to sell for example resorts in Mexico to Americans but he had no decent airfare to go with the resort packages.
Yeah, in retrospect, it wasn’t a positive post. I think the problem for me was that I was, at that point, realizing how very small and unsophisticated Vancouver and, by extension, the Vancouver technology scene was at the time (and continues to be). It wasn’t the most constructive way to channel that frustration.