Air Traffic Controller Felix
So a long while ago, Deb decided to use the metaphor of planes and airports to convey the current number of existing and potential clients we have, as a company. Each plane represented another media company, and each would have X number of stations associated with it. Planes that had landed were considered companies whose websites we’d launched; planes that were circling overhead represented potential clients, or proposals/contracts in all their various stages.
At each of our Quarterly Company meetings, (after I took on my new role), this has since been referred to as “Felix’s Airport.” Whereas I oversee the Design Team’s efforts in the first half of the process (site design mockup, site design revision, html/css build), I’m techincally in charge of the “airport.”
A while back, the airport analogy was working pretty well, and helped us quickly visualize who was up, who was next up, and who might be on the horizon. And then the skies got a little more filled. And then the initial PowerPoint slide turned into two PowerPoint slides, with a second screen to continue the list of potential, prospective clients.
Suffice it to say, the airport looks like it’ll be even busier soon, with all the planes in the air.
Which leads me to the gift I was given at today’s Quarterly Meeting:
I got a great set of light wants, which look remarkably simlar to the what I’ve seen in airports. In doing some quick digging around online, I think the actual folks who help land planes (the groundscrew) are called marshalls.
In realizing that there were actually colors on these guys (beyond simply turning on and off), I played around with the idea of just simply not speaking anymore, altogether. I could signal my thoughts and decisions: green light means yes, red light means no. If this ends up working out, I could save all SORTS of time.
Hey Felix, we have a custom project that…
*RED WAND*
Hey Felix, want to go get some coffee?
*GREEN WAND*
It’s a pretty flawless system, really.
Seeing these light wands, I can’t help but be reminded of the day that Andy came by and gave us an honest-to-god lightsaber. And, of course, the subsequent poker battle to see who got to win the lightsaber.
Below is a bit of video that Jane helped me shoot, to highlight all the different ways these two wands work:
Fun stuff. Our Quarterly Meetings are pretty great – not only do we get a ton of new info/insight into where things are with the company, it’s quite a lot of fun as well. And the door prizes ain’t bad either. Onward and upward!
Er.
I guess it’s more like downward and… parked.
Awesome! Those puppies blow Stiles’ pedestrian turn signal glasses out of the WATER!
Allison (September 17, 2008 at 10:08 am)