Meeting with the owner!

Today Monica and I met with the owner of the print media we are observing. It was a fascinating interview! Interviewing the boss last worked for us as it solidified much of what we were expecting after interviewing and observing several of the staff members.

"Is this good for the COMPANY"is a quote for the movie office space and it hangs on a banner in large letters in the production office over Megan and Sarah's desks. The owner seemed to resemble this statement as she talked about supporting staff taking time off to take advantage of professional opportunities (the CFO, who I also call the suit, calls this a benefit), how she doesn't care about the hours of the staff, they can come and go as they please as long as the work is done and excellent, and she encourages the staff to bring in their children and dogs. She recognized as the paper was getting bigger that she should no longer be the center of control and what was best for the company was for her to have them take responsibility of their own sections.

I shared with her that the interviews of her staff, which she notes that she considers them staff versus employees (the CFO calls them employees) that they express loyalty and pride for the product. She wasn't surprised and indicated that this is what she expects.

She was certainly a woman of experience and wisdom. She worked for Forbes and the New York Times in her early career only to move to The Rolling Stones and then the Village Voice where she was a managing editor that reported directly to the owners. She came to Santa Barbara with a philosophy and work ethic that she developed by paying attention to how things worked and what she felt worked best, including how the work place ran. She noticed that a rigid work week was not conducive to a creative environment and her goal was to create a progressively liberal paper.

Now it's time to sift through all my notes, come up with common themes and work with Monica to make sense of it all visually!