I’m still a few years away from retirement when I’ll get to shift gears and do more with web things. Until then, I’m fortunate to be able be able to support some unique and wonderful people during my 9:00 to 5:00.
I do support for the English Department at Iowa State University. English is the largest department on campus. I have around 200 faculty and staff members that I look after that come from all over the world and it’s really a very special privilege to support these customers.
I think of my customers as the stars of the show. They’re the ones who are front and center in front of the students who pay a good sum of money go come to our university. If these folks weren’t top shelf they couldn’t attract the student base that they do, and so as cornerstones of the organization, it’s important to keep them doing what they do.
Some of the new TAs when they come in each year haven’t experienced the kind of support I strive to provide and I often explain it like this: If you think of your favorite television show, there are probably not more than six or eight actors in any given scene. Behind the scenes however, There are many more people than you see on the screen at any particular point. There are producers, directors, show runners, caterers, lights, sound, camera operators, costume designers, choreographer and many others I’m sure.
That point I’m getting at is there are many more people than the ones you see that are all working together to make the scene look good for their customers., That describes how I feel about my customers. They’re the stars of the show, they’re the ones that students come to our organization to learn from. My job (and the job of many others!) is to enable those stars to do what they so enrollment stays up and we can all keep doing what we’re doing. They’re just the tip of the iceberg really. So I feel responsible for helping them to have a really amazing day when I can, and I want to make sure their interaction with me is as painless as possible.
I don’t remember where I heard it first, but someone said, “Technology is at its best when it’s least visible.
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