The Fifth Month

Behind you are one informal (the original question-and-answer meeting you had with the General Chairman four months ago) and two Progress Meetings with the Policy Committee. Since you haven't had your ears burned, you may assume that you've done a reasonably acceptable job up to now. But don't crow yet— you're far from being in the best possible shape.

GROWING PAINS

In the course of your recent Progress Meeting (your second) you may have become uneasily aware of some reactions on the part of Policy Committee members which, you could swear, haven't existed before. It's hard to believe, but some of the mem­bers actually seem to be growing weary of the whole affair!

Well, brace yourself: growing weary they definitely are!
It has taken awhile, but it has begun to dawn on them that a celebration doesn't blossom simply because management thinks one might be fun. They are beginning to realize that it takes more than a nod of approval to make a success of such a com­plex project; that they are facing more and tougher—instead of fewer and easier—decisions in the weeks ahead; that precedents will be set and broken and set again, and they'll be held respon­sible; that they are going to be approached to lend the services of some of their best people; that, sure as shootin', they're going to be asked to spend some money. Maybe a lot of money.
And their reaction right now, as you have sensed accurately, is: "Why don't we just give the kids some candy bars and call it a celebration?" After all, isn't it better not to take chances?

You may get the impression, and it's an accurate one, that you aren't quite the fair-haired boy (or girl) you were a month or two ago. You remember: the one who was so welcome because you were going to lift a load of work off the committee's collective back.
What's happened? You haven't changed. You know that.

True, but their picture of you has changed. You may be taking on just as big a load of work and worry as they hoped in their fondest dreams, but you are also the one who is reporting directly to the General Chairman. Their boss. And they don't like it.

So you may find suddenly that your counsel is not getting the hearing you think it merits, and that a popular solution to prob­lems is the recommendation that a staff poll be taken. This recommendation may be made even concerning such specialized matters as design of emblem or selection of the Anniversary Year color scheme. The excuse is often extremely tempting—let's in­vite employee participation.

Where such a situation develops, don't be slow about turning to your General Chairman for help. After all, he probably knows you have two strikes on you because you report directly to him, and you won't be surprising him at all.

Where sentiment for multifarious surveys appears, we advise that you express firm opposition. Reasons are simple and direct. First of all, within an organization, such surveys nine times out of ten prove cumbersome, time-consuming, and generally un­profitable in the sense of unearthing anything of value. Secondly, there are comparatively few employees qualified to express a sig­nificant opinion on what basics are necessary to a successful cele­bration or precisely what those basics are. Point out that in most questions which arise, wherein there is a choice available, there is no "right" answer. You don't simply hit a few keys, cash-register fashion, and automatically come up with the correct solution. If your goals have been selected with taste and care, and you have laid your preparatory foundation as well as you know how, you are going to come out all right.

Nothing is 100 per cent, not even our recommendations, but we believe that you—or your General Chairman, or the Policy Committee—will simply confound confusion if you abdicate re­sponsibility and take shaky refuge in indiscriminate polls.

Or you may suddenly face fretful dissatisfaction with the goals which have been accepted for attainment, or with the number and variety of them, and you may be confronted with a wish to discard them and set up new (or changed) goals by which to choose and measure Ideas for the celebration.

This is a frequent growing pain where no over-all theme has been selected for the celebration. If it happens to you, do not feel called upon to leap to the defense of the original set of goals. That's up to the General Chairman. If he does not see fit to oppose such wavering indecision, nor identify it for the trans­parent procrastination it usually is; if he appears unconcerned about the time-wasting scrimmage which can result from a full-dress committee review of all possible objectives; if, in fact, he seems to think that some such general review might be a good thing, there's nothing you can do.

You may, and should, point out that the existing goals are excellent, that time is pressing, and that this type of committee review is what you tried to avoid four months ago. Then you get out of the way of the steam roller. Let the committee prove to itself that it is Making Decisions.

You don't need to be especially concerned at such a turn of events. At this point it is not too late to make such changes, nor will the results necessarily mean loss of all Ideas thus far accepted. In fact, if you can guide the selection of the new goals, you may salvage the majority. But for heaven's sake, don't be too non­chalant. Be smart enough to pretend you are concerned, seriously.

Look at the situation in this philosophical way:
If there is no dissatisfaction with the original goals and the question of change never arises, then obviously some sound, solid thinking went into the original selection. Just forget this section of the book and be proud of the caliber of leadership you gave.

If, on the other hand, such a readjustment of thinking about anniversary celebration goals manifests itself, you may take pride in having inspired some serious top-echelon thinking about the observance and what the company wants from it. The Policy Committee will choose new goals to reflect this thinking. Any new start will be made with a clearer understanding of what is wanted from an Anniversary Year, and what is necessary to achieve it.

MAYBE YOU REVISE THE GOALS

Just to cover all possibilities, let's follow the original proposi­tion to its natural conclusion. Let's assume that there is un· happiness and dissatisfaction with the original concept of ob­servance purposes.
What then?
Simply start over.

There will be a lengthy Policy Committee session and, if the original goals were thoughtfully chosen, the resulting new choice by the committee won't appear to be much of an improvement to anyone but committee members.

To provide an example of what might occur, we present be­low four goals which we say arbitrarily have been newly selected by the Policy Committee to reflect changed management think­ing concerning Anniversary Year objectives. (You may wish to compare the original selection on page 45.) These four new goals will be used henceforward in this book whenever and wherever reference to or use of goals is necessary.

Revised Goals for the Anniversary Year
As a result of the time, money, and effort expended on the observance of our Anniversary Year, we should, by the end of the period, have

1. Aided in increasing the over-all efficiency with which this organization performs its primary task (e.g., selling, caring for the sick, managing estates, making concrete mixers, distributing news, or whatever).
2. Provided specific benefits, or potential benefits, for company customers, potential customers, and/or the community at large.
3. Contributed powerfully toward explaining to the public why this company, rather than some similar local establishment, merits public favor, patronage, support, regard.
4. Helped to create a lasting pride of employees in the company, thus inspiring them to extend that extra meas­ure of service and make that extra effort which renders them such a potent force in relation to the company's publics.

Revised in Committee (date)

There is another step involved, but not a complicated one.
It will be necessary, of course, immediately to recast these new goals into a form which will also be used henceforward as a test for each Idea considered for inclusion in the anniversary pro­gram.
Like this:                 

Changed Goals for Measuring Ideas
Every activity or event or responsibility undertaken in connection with the anniversary celebration of this com­pany should pass at least one of the following tests:

1. It should aid in increasing the efficiency with which this company performs its primary task (e.g., selling, car­ing for the sick, managing estates, making concrete mix­ers, distributing news, or whatever).
2. It should contain a direct or indirect benefit, or po­tential benefit, for company customers, potential cus­tomers, and/or the community at large.
3. It should contribute toward telling the public why it should favor and deal with this company, rather than with some similar local organization.
4. It should tend to increase the employees' pride in their organization, thus making them a more potent force in dealing with the public.

Revised (date)
It should be emphasized here that whatever goals are estab­lished should have unanimous acceptance and guaranteed sup­port. These goals are controlling factors in the celebration plan­ning, and they cannot be changed with every shifting whim.

And to the Co-ordinator, this above all: don't let any such antics, from whatever source, disturb, divert, or discourage you. You have a fine program taking shape, and you have every right to be pleased and proud. This is not an easy thing you are doing, and you have done well up to now.

And you are going to keep right on doing well, clear to the end of the assignment.

A REMINDER ABOUT THEME

If you do not yet, at this point in the fabrication of your anni­versary observance, have a theme—even a tentative one—on which to string the activities and events you have been selecting, you are justified in underscoring to your General Chairman the dan­ger of further postponement.

Specifically, the danger is that without a unifying theme the company is apt to wind up with a conglomeration of unanchored events which happened to meet the established requirements {e.g., they contribute to the goals), and on which the Policy Com­mittee happened to agree. But, as you should remind the Gen­eral Chairman, a group of stunts, each of which stands by itself (and occasionally even heads off in its own direction), is a pro­motion—which the advertising department is better equipped to handle than you are—and is not a carefully planned public re­lations operation seeking specific results.

Maybe the General Chairman doesn't know the difference. Or maybe he does know the difference but doesn't care. Maybe he has, no matter what he says, a definite leaning toward a free­wheeling parade of attention-getters and promotional pyrotech­nics. Regardless, you are under obligation to point out the dif­ference to him, just to make sure.

Once you've done that, if he feels—and implies as much—that you are being unduly concerned with minor matters, there isn't another thing for you to do` about it. He's a member of a large fellowship, well known to anyone who's ever helped put cele­brations together. And it's his money.
But if he's been dreaming of a carefully blueprinted celebra­tion wherein the activities and events are tied into a unified whole by a thread of repeated emphasis, then he needs a theme. If one has not yet been chosen, it is past time to do so.

If you take any single Idea you have accepted for inclusion in the anniversary program, set it out on the table all by itself, and stare at it, it's going to look awfully naked and maybe a bit silly. That's because the effect you want to achieve comes only from the cumulative effect of a series of activities tied together and underscored by a recurrent theme or motif. It's the entire col­lection of uniformly motivated events that packs program punch. If the General Chairman will listen to you (and he's paying you to point out things like this) and decide on a theme, he'll be taking his company a long step toward the sort of celebration that is worthwhile.

A NOTE ON IMPRINTING

Imprinting certain items of company paper stock and station­ery with the anniversary emblem and slogan is strongly recom­mended. In some instances, too, color should be used: silver or gold on letterheads for, respectively, a 25th or 50th anniversary; or the company anniversary color where desired.

Naturally you will wish to consider the matter thoughtfully, and one sound way to make your selection is this:

Ask your Office Manager or Purchasing Agent to have assem­bled and delivered to your desk (or, if you're on your own, go to your supply room and collect them yourself) a copy of every paper item which carries an imprint of the company name on it. You particularly want the printed forms in regular daily use, and especially those which go regularly into the hands of the public. Among items of importance would be letterheads, envelopes, cards, tags, sales slips, booklets, recipes, boxes, receipts, bags, containers, enclosures, and so on.

Examine these carefully. Solicit comments and suggestions from the Purchasing Agent, the Advertising Manager, the Publicity Director, the Display Manager. Then make your decisions, write out your recommendations for the General Chairman, and as soon as possible discuss them with him personally at an informal meeting.

In the course of your discussion, you should point out that, since these are regularly used items anyway, most of the additional costs will be for new plates. (Your stock will rise materially if you include with your recommendations a parallel list of costs for a year's supply—or nine-months' supply, as is wiser with Anniversary Year items—of each piece. These costs should include estimates on artwork (the emblem and slogan), color, and new plates. This information can be gathered for you by your Purchasing Agent.

There are some organizations (e.g,, those whose home office routinely provides personalized supplies for many persons and units) which could not consider any such sweeping program of imprinting on other than a permanent basis.

If your company has not, up to now, considered retaining the emblem and slogan as a permanent identifying symbol, this is a good time to re-examine the matter.

We recommend selection of an identifying emblem to be the hallmark of your anniversary celebration. We believe that this hallmark should be the product of much research, thought, talent, and skill. We know that as such it will be expensive. We know of no requirement that its use be abandoned at the end of the anni­versary period. In many instances, it may just then be starting to demonstrate its value as a long-term investment.

In any event, make your recommendations and get some de­cisions soon. Many of the items you'll want to imprint must be ordered before much more time passes.

For additional uses of the emblem and slogan in an anniversary period, please consult the individual headings "Emblem" and "Slogan" in the Idea Book (Book Four).

A MEMO ABOUT IMPRINTING

Your written memorandum to the General Chairman about the imprinting of company paper stock might be worded some­thing like this:

It is recommended that the Anniversary Year emblem, either alone or in combination with the selected slogan and/or color(s), be imprinted on the following items in regular use in this company:

1. All regular and executive stationary and envelopes.
2. All merchandise, shopping, and garment bags; standard folding boxes, shipping cartons, miscel­ laneous goods containers.
3. Invoices, shipping tags, address labels, cashier vouchers, pay envelopes, sales checks.
4. Wrapping paper, package bands, and labels.
5. Wrapping ribbon, gift paper, Christmas paper.
6. Doorknob tags, merchandise cards, monthly state­ments.
7. All standard gift boxes, except special boxes used only in small quantity. A tissue-paper lining in­corporating the chosen imprinted design has some­ times proved a wise investment by eliminating
   much imprinting on boxes. A small metallic sticker or gummed label is another alternative to imprint­ ing difficult or small-quantity pieces.
8. Identification badges for employees.
9. Book matches, menu covers, sugar envelopes, blot­ters, butter pats, timecards, registration cards, pass­ books, postage meter.

A referee should be appointed to control these imprinting matters or the company runs the risk of disappointing results in an activity which should carry a lot of impact. It will also be necessary to decide who is to be responsible for moving out "old" (standard) supplies and replacing them with "new" (anniversary) supplies—and when.

A CALENDAR OF EVENTS

On pages 120 and 121 you will find a form for a Calendar of Anniversary Events by Months.

Such a calendar can make a definite contribution to orderly programming when drawn up at this point in observance planning, although it should not be considered anything more than a pre­liminary month-by-month grouping of selected activities into reasonably likely chronological spots.

It is not a particularly helpful instrument for producing a cele­bration, because it does not and cannot provide a complete pic­ture of the over-all operation. It must omit, for example, events which are presently hanging fire because they are tied in with outside community activities (e.g., a Flower Show, a Folk Festi­val) for which no final date has been set. Even at its best and most complete, it lists only the special events—the stunts, so to speak— and contains no record of the year-long supporting activities, such as institutional advertising, information programs, Speakers' Bu­reau activities, credit development, special promotions, tours, and decorations. Besides, there will be many shifts in direction and emphasis between now and the dates of public presentation.

Yet such a calendar is well worth preparing. It can help im­mensely in spotting weaknesses in the over-all design and composi­tion of the program, or in the sequence and progression o£ events. It can suggest economical realignment for greater impact or timeliness. It can provide mute but powerful evidence, if such is needed, of the difficulty of sustaining a peak over an entire year. And it can provide an illuminating look at what the company's choice of activities and events may look like when stretched over the full observance period.

For instance, the Calendar of Events in Fig. 15 depicts a celebra tion designed to start off strong in January and hold steady through April. The Anniversary Month (May) sees a heavy con­centration of events, which drops off sharply during the three midsummer months. (Note, however, that those three midsummer months include presentation of one of the biggest attractions of the year: the appearance on the streets of the horse-drawn delivery wagon.) Program activity picks up again in late summer, and then fades smoothly into year-end holiday festivities.

Eventually you will have need of some such calendar for pub­licity purposes. The design presented is simple and usable.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT TIME FLIES

Some loud talk, not just apprehensive thought, is all but over­due on the subject of Time.

At this stage of preparation, with the fifth month of planning almost gone, Time is growing steadily in importance. In another month it will begin to loom, and in two months it will menace, whether you began your preparations early or late.

And as you warn more insistently and urgently about the swift passage of vital Time, people will say to you: "What are you talking about—not much time? Why, we've got months! This whole thing was started off too soon anyway, if you ask me. If we had to I'll bet we could begin an Anniversary Year celebration two weeks from tomorrow!"

And yes, you probably could. But what kind of a celebration? The kind that would be a credit to the company? The kind that would rate congratulations come convention time? The kind you'd want your name on?

It is now, at this point, still possible to launch a notable pro-

gram with no overtime for anyone. No night work. No Saturdays, Sundays, holidays. No blood, sweat, tears. But from this moment on, work is going to have to proceed at a steady, sure-footed pace if everything is to be ready for kick-off time.

If you insist, or worse if the General Chairman insists, on act­ing as though opening date were light-years away, everything won't be ready, and you are all going to be sweating bullets before it is!
And don't say we didn't warn you!

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