NER Work Vent

MarquisDoll

So I work in knowledge management at a wonderful BigLaw firm.  Seriously, I love it, and our NY office is so incredibly well-run, you have no idea.

Anyway, one of the bigger parts of my job is organizing this monthly videoconference for all of our offices.  It's sort of a 'keep everyone in the loop' sort of thing where attorneys present to fellow attorneys about what in the world is going on. 

Anyway, we have an internal Client/Matter number that applies pretty specifically to this meeting.  Yay for no ambiguity in billing, right?  Usually I would say yes, having scheduled 4 or 5 of these already since coming back.  However, this month, someone from our flagship office (not NY) emailed me to ask me for a different number.  Uhhh... I was confused, so I asked for an explanation.  She said if it was an internal meeting, we needed a department number.  K, that sort of makes sense.  Except when I spoke to my boss, she told me Knowledge Management isn't a department.

I'm incredibly confused.  I don't think the woman who emailed me was all too pleased for me to send her an 'I don't understand' email, but, whatever.  I knew my boss would ask me questions, so I was saving one back and forth.

Ridiculous.

(And apologies for anyone who actually read this longwinded vent, lol).

MarquisDoll

zoegirlTX:

tell them it's code 666

Bahahaha.

I'm sure it's related to budget cut backs (we're fine with regards to personel, but we've been cutting spending in other places), but it's just so strange.

She didn't even have a signature block in her email either, which is odd, so I have no clue who she is.  An accountant?  An assistant?  Someone in conference planning?  Who knows.

MarquisDoll

zoegirlTX:

Random conference meeting budget note.

We have a client that will NOT pay for catered lunches at their own meetings.  So if all their experts flyin for a meeting here, we can not expense lunch from Paneras. 

If you were out traveling on yoru own, you can expense that client for lunch/meals, but they won't pay for meetings.  Do they want everybody to leave the meeting & run to KFC?  So random & illogical, but that's probably why they have so many $$$ problems to start with.

Weird!  I can see opting for outside food instead of in-house catering (ours can be rather pricey...), but not paying for anything?  Even something as inexpensive as Panera?  I hope they schedule their meetins at 3pm or something...

Will they even pay for coffee?  Soda?

MarquisDoll

zoegirlTX:

The really funny things is that with all the experts and lawyers sitting in that room, they are being billed probably over $2,000 an hour, so $150 lunch isn't reallygoing to hurt them.  My company is very small, so no inside catering.  We do privide cokes,water, snacks from Sams.....

Man, you get your soda and water from Sams?  Kudos to your office manager...