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^?e cPaqjc ^uttoti is i\ptjbr cPustiing by Katherine L. Beal EDITOR'S NOTE: As a research assistant on the National M. S. Staff, Kathy Beal works primarily on engagements and projects. To have her write about a "usual day at the office" seemed somewhat difficult, since she does a variety of things. But to have her write a human-interest, behind the scenes account of one aspect of her job—that of helping prepare and making arrangements for conference presentations—did seem appropriate. We witnessed, one day, a great deal of activity involving Bob Stevens, National Director of Banking Services, two managers and Kathy. Speeches were being written, scripts were being cut and edited, slides were being re-arranged from the full-day Bank President's Conference into a two-hour Seminar for executives of a New York Bank. While talking with her a few days later, we asked if she would write an account of how a presentation evolves; better still, of some of the amusing situations that are encountered in the preparation and set-up for these meetings. This article and the accompanying pictures tell that story. I find it increasingly difficult lately to describe "my job" to someone at a party. It just isn't a clear-cut, 9 to 5 situation. But I wouldn't want it any other way. Each day is so unpredictable; a variety of situations and circumstances pop up all the time. Yet, it is this very lack of routine that makes my job what it is. Take presentations for instance. One Monday evening last December, I was coming into my apartment about 6:30 with groceries in one arm and an umbrella on the other. The phone was ringing as I put the key into the door. In my hurry, of course, the key stuck. I reached the phone on the sixth ring to hear a familiar, but longdistance, voice say: "Hullo there, (pause), it's me." "Oh! Mr. Sprague. Just a minute while I put some things down." He asked what my schedule was, and could I come to Detroit tomorrow? I explained that I was in the midst of preparing scripts and slides for a two-hour banking seminar, and that I was meeting Bob Stevens in Philadelphia on Wednesday. As if I had said nothing, he continued that he had been requested to show the S.A.V.E. speech to the M.S. Partners and Managers' meeting. "We don't have a script for the new version, so you'll have to come." I didn't know how I would produce a new script . . . our duplicate set of SAVE slides was in Los Angeles, and Bill Johnson had taken most of our main presentation to Puerto Rico just last Friday. Mr. Sprague calmly said that that shouldn't be a problem; "He's back and here at the meeting." Without going into details, I asked to talk with Bill Johnson. Yes, he was in Detroit but he'd left the slides at home in New Jersey. I asked if there was any way to get them into New York, somewhere I could send a messenger? He said he thought his neighbor, who 38 THE QUARTERLY
Object Description
Title |
Panic button is not for pushing |
Author |
Beal, Katherine L. |
Personal Name |
Beal, Katherine L. Stevens, Robert G. Sprague, Richard E. |
Portrait |
Beal, Katherine L. |
Office/Department |
Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart. Management Services Offices |
Citation |
Quarterly, Vol. 13, no. 2 (1967, June), p. 38-41 |
Date-Issued | 1967 |
Source | Originally published by: Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart |
Rights | Copyright and permission to republish held by: Deloitte |
Type | Text |
Format | PDF image with OCR under text, scanned at 400dpi |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi. Digital Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2009 |
Language | eng |
Identifier | Quarterly_1967_June-p38-41 |