Behind the Scenes at ActiveRain

I am surprised that I'm one of the first AR Staffers to report back on RE Bar Camp (Rich beat me to it...dangit!), but I have to say that I have a valid excuse!  But first, the play-by-almost-play from my Bar Camp experience.

As you know, this is the first one I've attended as a Rain staffer.  Usually, I stay back at HQ and make sure everyone's flights are lifting off properly, answering phonecalls, and trying to keep the deluge of tickets down to a dull roar.  This time, however, since Bar Camp took place in my lovely home town of Seattle, Washington, a mere THREE blocks from my actual home, I got to go play with the big kids.

The morning started off with me staring at the Wells Fargo sign and checking and rechecking the address that I was supposed to show up at.  "WTF?" I thought, one hand on my hip, frowning at the sign.  "Why doesn't Zillow have a sign up?  Am I even in the right spot?"  A polite doorman offered me a smile and directed me to the 41st floor, and up I went.  It's weird to me that a company so large doesn't have any branding on the outside of its building where it can be seen, but I digress, signage is not the point of this piece.

Moving on.  The first person I noticed (whom I knew) was Jeff - lovely Jeff! I was so relieved to see that he was there, because if he was there, that meant both Bob and Brad had already arrived, too.  Which MEANT: I was not the first ActiveRain staffer to arrive.  Now, folks, despite my innate and unfiltered ability to tell it to you all exactly how it is, I have a heart-stopping fear of strangers asking me questions about the Rain.  I worry that I'll get the answers wrong and someone will have to correct me, confusing you, making me look like an idiot, and thus killing any credibility I may have. The fact that the guys had already arrived put a bounce back in my step.

It seemed like food arrived shortly after I did; I spent a good hour BSing with Crista Caulk and our very own ActiveBrad as they tapped various important projects out on their laptops, and then suddenly, we were ousted out of the room by sandwiches arriving!  The boys down at Jimmy John's were nice enough to run and make me a sandwich without tomatoes (I'm allergic) when I asked whether anything they brought was devoid of such, thank goodness - I would have been starving later because as the sandwiches were done being laid out and Rich gave the go ahead to open the flood gates, my Martha sense took over and I was setting out drinks, chips, directing people to the roast beef, tossing water bottles across the room, and making sure all the hungry RE Bar Campers were fed.

Tired, I finally made my way out of the little room and flopped into an arm chair in the "lobby".  Rich Barton (of Zillow) sat down next to me, gave my nametag a secretive little glance, and suddenly thrust out his hand, "Hi, Claire, I'm Rich Barton!"

Flustered, I blinked.  I have, not kidding, applied for a job with this guy three different times.  Although it seemed like an eternity between the time he introduced himself and I shook his hand, it all happened in a matter of a milisecond.  "It's a pleasure to meet you," I answered, a big smile splitting my face.  We made some niceties and discussed the conference shortly, then got onto the topic of the Rain. 

The best part of the conversation came next:

Rich Barton: ActiveRain is... *pause* Hold on, thinking of something nice to say.
Me: Kicking your ass? *big smile*

To my credit, he didn't throw me out, but he did give me a slightly incredulous look as though he hadn't quite expected such a challenge to come out of my mouth.  I was always taught that when you're in someone else's court, you have to bring your A Game, and this was no different.  All in all, it was a pleasant conversation, but you all seriously should have seen the other staff's eyes bug out of their head as the story made its rounds through Jon, Bob, Jeff, and crew.

(Moving on again.)  I sat in on Rich and Brad's panel about ActiveRain as the day progressed, and it was an interesting thing to see them work in tandem; I can see why the community trusts those two so much.  They really do know what they're talking about.  I was pleased to be able to offer up some useful information and advice to some of the people in the panel who were learning how to use ActiveRain to help their business or to make connections, myself. 

I can't count how many freaking pictures were taken of me (grr) or how many hands I shook.  I do hope that in making rounds and meeting people, some good information was passed about the Rain and about what we do here.  I realize that RE Bar Camp was not simply about ActiveRain, but I can't help but feel that we had a major presence there.  I have a whole pile of business cards (and went through quite a few myself!) of people whom I met, so if you see me suddenly subscribed to your blog, that's why ;)

I learned a few things, myself:

1. I am apparently the definition of transparency (according to Brad).
2. I'm apparently funny (according to Sonny Kwan).
3. I apparently do finger quotes a lot (according to Rich's capture of me in his video).
4. I use the word "apparently" too much, as evidenced here.
5. I takeover any mundane task that appears to have no supervisor (including feeding 400).
6. I should never, ever wear heels for 15 hours at a time, especially when I'm running around trying to help an event.
7. I should never, ever, ever, take Jon's advice on sushi (I've been puking my guts out since Friday night).
8. Next time, I'm bringing hairspray and extra hair ties (I got asked by FOUR different people if I had an extra!)

Here's the scenario:

You are faced with a normal, everyday task, and it requires you to call into customer service and bitch.  No one really likes having to take time out of their day to complain, but you have to do it.

So you pick up the phone, run through the automated menu by pressing '0' repeatedly, and...

...you are suddenly greeted by a pleasant voice that says, "Hi, this is Sandra.  How can I help you today?"

The corners of your lips lift a little from the deep frown that this phonecall began with.  You explain the issue that has been plaguing you for a couple days, causing you to put off the phonecall.  Sandra listens, and then responds as if...

...as if she heard every word you said.  Sandra neatly dispatches the issue, apologizes for the problems it has caused, and asks if there's anything else she can help you with today.

You say, "No, but could you transfer me to your supervisor?"  She sounds uncertain, but transfers you.  Now, ten minutes ago, before being blessed with Sandra, you would have told her supervisor EXACTLY what was bugging you, but now, your mood has lifted.  The weight is off your shoulders.  The problem is solved, and you have Sandra to thank for it.

Thus, you tell Sandra's supervisor how lucky he is to have her.  After thanking you, the supervisor hangs up with you and you move on with your life.

Sure, you just took five minutes out of your day to compliment someone, but what have you really done?  You very well might have just saved someone's job, you might have given them a monetary bonus, or your kudos may be another note on her permanent record.  It may just have been a few kind words from you, but to Sandra, it may make significant improvements in her life and outlook on her position.

I always get comments when I do something like this; people seem amazed that not only would I take the time to give someone props, I would wait on hold to do it.  "Why?" they ask...and I tell them that it's simple: It all comes back around.  Every good thing that I do for someone else, I'll get back, eventually.

Whether you believe in good karma or not, there's definitely something to this 'pay it forward' mentality.  If you could change the outlook of one person during the day, and that person passed it on, and so on and so forth, you could, very literally, change the world.  Deep breaths ;)

So the next time you get excellent service or someone dispatches a problem quickly and efficiently or someone goes out of their way to make you happy, take the time to ask for their supervisor and let that super know how lucky they are to have that particular person on staff.  It may make little difference to your schedule, but it may make all the difference in the world to the recipient of the compliment.