DivaBlog

The Kindness of Strangers...or Good Help is Hard to Find!

I would like to say a few words about the excellence of certain Administrative Assistants. At Sun as in many companies a great AA can make the difference between success and failure. I've just encountered a great AA and I wanted to pass on the story of how helpful she was to me today. Not a technical story, but without helpers where would we be?

A big part of my job is traveling to speak about Open Source. Lately I've been spending a lot of time in Asia, and just now I'm in Seoul, South Korea to speak (yesterday) at a seminar hosted by KIPA.

Speech went fine (although most of the questions I received were from Indian nationals living in Korea, but that makes sense since Open Source is a non-intuitive concept for Koreans still). Anyway, today I decided to check out the local Sun office on the advice of the President of KIPA, who used to be the General Manager of Sun Korea. He wanted me to convey his greetings to the current GM.

Problem is, the front desk staff don't know me from Adam (okay Eve). I have a Sun badge, I have Sun business cards. They are very polite, but don't really understand why I'm standing in their lobby.

"Would I like to activate my SunRay card?" (I said yes).

"Would I care for a beverage?" (I said no).

Finally they do as I ask and call the Assistant to the General Manager. She comes out. Immediately she figures out what I need and sets out to help me. She finds me a flex office. She gets me a local login (in record time). The GM is out, but she finds the next two guys I should talk to (eGovernment Sales and Software Sales). She lets me leave a little note for her boss. All in a few seconds (I'd been standing at the front desk for 15 minutes at that point) she has me in hand. She apologizes in imperfect but charming English for the fact that she is non-technical. She is gracious. She is equipped to handle foreign interlopers. I am *so* grateful.

So if you know a great AA, tell him/her! Don't wait for "Secretaries Day" (I've always wondered whether the Secretaries of State, War and the Interior get flowers on "Secretaries Day"?). Better yet, take that AA out to lunch to thank them for all they do for you.

And that iChat address is...?
Dave Edmondson pointed out in comments that I'd not revealed my iChat ID. Its danese.cooper@mac.com. I'm online most days I'm not traveling (and many days when I am).