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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

2867.0. "Employee-Financed ADVERTISING!" by TPSYS::LAING (Soft-Core Cuddler * TAY1-2/H9 * 227-4472) Fri Jan 21 1994 18:25

    Here's another idea that came out of the Contexual Management course,
    mentioned by a note just prior to this one:
    
    How 'bout some of us EMPLOYEES banding together, collecting some $, and
    putting in our OWN ads for Digital?  We could say something about how
    WE care about the future of the company, how WE care about the
    customer, etc.
    
    The idea being 2-fold: (1) the direct results of customers seeing the
    ad, and (2) the "press" Digital might get if newpapers, trade mags,
    etc. write "stories" about how Digital Employees went to the trouble to
    finance and place their own unique Ads!
    
    To keep it simple at first, I'd propose placing lower-cost ads in
    newspapers or trade mags, ... the idea was suggested that we advertise
    in the WSJ ... Expensive though, from what I'm told!
    
    So, let's brainstorm on this idea.  Would it work?  How could we make
    it work?  If we were to place an ad, what would it say?  I'd suggest at
    a minimum it says
    	This ad financed and placed by employees of Digital Equipment Corp.
    	then some slogan or message (see above)
    	then a list of all the employee names that went into financing the
    		ad
    
    This would get us some attention, don't you think?
    
    	Jim

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2867.1	Audience?	TPSYS::LAING	Soft-Core Cuddler * TAY1-2/H9 * 227-4472	`Fri Jan 21 1994 18:27`	6
	One thing that came up in discussions about this idea ... was "what market (people) would we target"? The masses, i.e. using Time Magazine or the New York Times, vs. a more narrow audience thru COMPUTERWORLD or PC Magazine etc? Jim
2867.2	Legal Risk?	IAMOK::YENDER		`Fri Jan 21 1994 18:39`	8
	I believe there are legal risks to advertising which require the review and scrutiny of the corporate Law department. In the U.S., for example, the Federal Trade Commission enforces truth in advertising. If employees decide to fund advertising on their own, the safety net of corporate Law review to avoid inadvertent violation of FTC requirements is missing. George
2867.3	Here's my 2 cents	QBUS::M_PARISE	Southern, but no comfort	`Fri Jan 21 1994 19:18`	5
	This employee, upon considering all the lost benefits of the past years, considers himself to be already financing a big chunk of this company's operations.
2867.4	AMEN!!!!	ODIXIE::SCRIVEN		`Fri Jan 21 1994 19:21`	2

2867.5		45549::CROSSLEY	For internal use only	`Mon Jan 24 1994 08:35`	5
	Also makes us all sound rather desperate........ Ian.
2867.6	A Majority of One!	XCUSME::SAPP	Random Kindness/Senseless Acts Beauty	`Mon Jan 24 1994 13:04`	10
	RE: Basenote I applaud your idea and your thought! If enough employees support it, I for one wwould work to "brain-storm" in a very posiitive way some alternatives on how to pull it off. Keep up the positive thoughts! Edwin
2867.7	Here is the ad that DEC needs to run.	CIM2NI::GRAVEL	Francis Gravel	`Thu Jan 27 1994 12:57`	22
	Downsizing - Letter from an Information Week reader {Information Week, Letters Section, 24-Jan-94, p.6} [Contributed by: John Potucek] BRAGGING RIGHTS I had to smile when I read "Everything Old Is New Again" (Jan 10, p.55). I was pleased to see that other IS professionals were discovering what I learned in 1987. We "downsized" from a small IBM mainframe in April 1987. At that time, we chose a VAX system because we needed an interactive screen-driven user interface that the IBM machine could not provide in a cost-effective manner. We've never looked back. While many of my colleagues at other public transit districts struggle with PC (personal computer or politically correct?) hardware, using primitive operating systems and tedious networking software, we focus our time and efforts on improving our software. The PC downsizing frenzy is fine for those interested in bragging about the technical specifications of this week's new PC; we managers brag about our superior applications, satisfied users, and weekend activities away from work. Gerald M Kerner Data Services Manager San Francisco Municipal Railway San Francisco