Man up, people!!

[Kyung]

It's very annoying when you get this scattershot e-mails from agencies saying please don't do this or that, we've been getting a lot of compaints, etc.

Conversation had when calling in to confirm job

Agency: This is a really good client. Please don't be late. We've been getting a lot of complaints in general, so we're telling all of our reporters to be early.
Me: Have I ever been late for a depo?
Agency: I really don't know. We're just asking everyone to be early.

So many things wrong with the scenario. First off, if you don't even know if I've ever been late, then telling me to be early isn't going to do you one fat lot of good.

Secondly, shouldn't you be having the conversation w/the reporter who was late.

Thirdly, if there is a problem w/my services, I think I am professional enough for you to tell me one-on-one and learn and get better. When agencies do this scattershot let's tell everyone to be on time (or whatever the issue is), they're really, truly insulting their good reporters who do a good job.

Fourthly, just because he's your good client/personal friend doesn't mean I should treat him any differently. If he is professional and treats me courteously, then I will be professional and treat him courteously. If he's an ass, I will still try to be courteous. Telling the reporter that he's a good client really shouldn't make a difference to the reporter. Is he a good client bec. I am getting paid more or does this mean, that if he complains, that I'll get in trouble or I'll be handing over some freebie. That's what most reporters think when they hear good client of mine.

Follow up on this agency a day later, I hear from another reporter.

Reporter: Did you get an e-mail from XYZ agency saying to be on time?
Me: No, when did they send it?
Reporter: Last week.
Me: Who sent it?
Reporter: Oh, the calendar person.
Me: Oh, that calendar probably knows who's late and who isn't and probably just sent it to reporters who are habitually late or there's been a lot of complaints. Are you late a lot? I got the same message yesterday when I picked up my job info. But the owner doesn't have a clue as to who is late and who isn't and she's just telling everybody. I find that really annoying and rude.

So if you're having complaints of certain nature, you should probably find out who, why, when, and where before you tell everybody this or that.

This is like in the first grade when the teacher says, "There are people in the class who talk when they shouldn't be talking, and you know who you are."

Well, that's bs. When I was in the first grade, I had no idea who she was talking about. And if I hear the same thing now, I figure she must be talking about somebody else. Only if you go, hey, the attorney said you, (insert reporter's) messed up, and talk to the reporter are you going to resolve the issue.

We're not children. Don't treat us like children. If there are issues, deal with them with the person/persons who are having the issues otherwise the issue will never get resolved. They'll just think you're talking about somebody else and you insult the rest of us.

Man up!!!

[Patricia Babits]

Sometimes I get memos from the firms from Southern CA I work for about being early for jobs. I figure it's because the traffic is so horrible there that reporters are often late.

[Sue Baker]

I fixed my picture, which was formerly a black square.

This is funny and weird: A few years back, I took a job for a new agency. On the morning of the 10:00 job, I got a call about 7:30 am from the agency, "What are you doing right now?" in sort of a whisper. I whispered back, "Getting ready for your job." They said, "Oh, thank God. The last reporter we had, we had to call her to wake her up for jobs or she would oversleep." I kid you not.

[Sue Baker]

Kyung, you are hilarious. Thanks for the posts. This is my first time on here, please ignore my picture!

[Judy]

You ask: "Why are you sending them an e-mail telling them to stop doing what they're not doing?"

I'll answer it with something Virginia stated: "If rules are clearly stated..."

Rules have to start somewhere.

I never thought I'd have to have a "rule" that says you don't park in the partner's spot. But, somebody did it. I don't want it happening again. Hence, a new rule and a new memo.

I never thought I'd have to tell a working reporter with a CA certification that she needed to bring something more than a student writer with no backup capabilities and was writing paperless, just in case her computer crashed and she lost the job.

Sometimes you don't think it needs to be stated. Then, when somebody forces you to state it, you may as well make it a rule for everybody to follow. And, yes, most of it is common sense, not really a "rule."

[Kyung]

Judy,

But your other reporters aren't doing the unprofessional behavior. Why are you sending them an e-mail telling them to stop doing what they're not doing?

Now, I have the urge to take a bath in perfume, wear leggings with a long t-shirt, and park in the CEO's parking spot when I go to take a depo. Things I would never have ever in a million years considered doing. J/K.

Those behaviors are kind of extreme, and I would assume you would stop using a reporter who continued to behave in such a manner if they wouldn't or couldn't learn what's appropriate and what's inappropriate after you've told them something. And if you send out an e-mail after you've told someone, that reporter isn't going to believe that it's only them doing the inappropriate behavior and the other reporters are going to go what is she talking about. and probably ignore it too.

I guess it's kind of a Catch-22. All I can do is speak for myself. If a reporting agency told me of a complaint or a behavior, I would listen.

[Judy]

Virginia,

I think there was only one time I didn't want to confront the reporter. Maybe I should have been a bit more clear, I thouht the reporter was unstable and it would have done no good to contact the reporter personally.

But many times you don't think there needs to be a rule regarding such things. For instance, I never thought there needed to be a "rule" regarding pouring a bottle of perfume/cologne on your person before a job; nor a rule regarding making sure your writer has a backup mechanism for in case you lose the job on your computer (I didn't tell you about that one. Never bring a paperless student writer to a depo); nor a rule regarding parking in a spot that has somebody's initials on it; nor a rule regarding wearing professional cloting. I mean, that stuff should be common sense. But when one person needs to be told, agencies assume this is an appropriate time to share with all that this is now a rule, so that it is now clearly stated.

[Judy]

Well, it's been my experience the offending person never think it's about them.

I had a reporter once that thought she deserved to park in a partner's spot, clearly labeled with the partner's initials. It wasn't just one partner, it was whatever partner did not have his/her car parked there when this reporter arrived. We got a call from the Administrator, of course. And you never want to get a call from ~this~ Administrator. Apparently the Administrator even told the offending reporter not to do it. We asked one reporter about it, did she know anything? Yep, she talked to the offending reporter and the offending reporter told her it was okay to do, even after the Administrator told her not to do it. We talked to the offending reporter. Of course she denied it. So... out goes the memo to all reporters.

Then there was the time a reporter was wearing leggings under long shirts to jobs. She actually thought that was appropriate. We knew who it was b/c that's how she came into the office. We talked to her about it. Of course that's not how ~she~ went to jobs. So... out goes the memo to all reporters.

And then there's the reporters who think ~they~ get a longer period of time to turn jobs in, well, just because it's them. So... out goes the memo to all reporters. Just as a side note on this one, I actually had one reporter take THREE months to turn in a job and another reporter take almost TWO months to turn in a job [sigh].

Then there's the one reporter who called the client's secretary stating the job was a waste of his/her time and they should be ashamed of themselves. Didn't even want to personally confront that reporter for fear of my life. So... out goes the memo to all reporters. And that memo stated something to the effect of "do not personally contact the clients."

Then there's the reporter who gave my client her business card with her home phone number on it (I have to assume so he could call her personally). How do I know? It was taped to the client's secretary's computer cabinet one day (yep, you bet it disappeared one day). Didn't confront her either, just never called her again. But, you guessed it... out goes the memo to all reporters.

Oh, and let's not forget the reporters who drench themselves in perfume before they leave for jobs. They NEVER think they put on too much perfume. It's only after the 40-something perimenopausal partner calls screaming that she's got a migraine because of the obnoxious perfume... out goes the memo to all reporters.

But, I will say, at one point the memos became do's and don'ts on my website that I had reporters log into to download their jobs.

UFL, I could go on and on, but I think you get the scent of the point I'm trying to make... the offending person almost never thinks that it refers to them.

[Kyung]

Of course, I didn't tell them to man up. I was a tad more diplomatic than that. Just in case you were wondering.

[Kyung]

Actually, I have. I know of two agencies that have mentioned to me tardiness issues. And I told both of them the above. One I asked point blank, have I ever been late. Her reply, I don't know.

The other agency, I told them pretty much what I wrote above.

[Judy]

So have you told the agency all of the above too??? I always say, tit for tat.