screamers at hollywood momentum

I stumbled upon www.hollywoodmomentum.com recently. The Screamers section is great - a sound off for low run assistants in the entertainment biz. As they only post one Screamer for each weekly edition, I was reading back issues for past posts and news on the left coast.

This Screamer was great and so very true, so I will share:

Screamers
Story of the Week

It was my first week on a desk at a major agency, and I had to do travel for my boss and 2 other big time agents. They were going to San Francisco to sign a mid level director.

Boss: “You have to do an itinerary for everyone.”

Me: “Why can’t their assistants do their own itineraries?”

Boss: “Because you’re doing it.”

Ok. So I typed up your basic itinerary – flight numbers and departure times, car company # and where they would pick up the agents. You know, your basic stuff.

Boss: “What is this?”

Me: “An itinerary.”

Boss: “This isn’t an itinerary.”

Me: “It isn’t? What’s missing?”

Boss: “I want to know exactly how much time it should take us to go from our houses to the airport, from the curb to the gate, the flight length time, whether there will be snacks. I want every single minute accounted for.”

Was he kidding? I asked another assistant whether she thought my boss was kidding.

“Nope. You gotta treat these guys like they’re four years old. They have to be told exactly what to do at what time and for how long.”

So I typed up the most anal retentive itinerary you’ve ever seen. My boss scrutinized it, asked some clarifying questions (“So how many feet is it from the gate to the curb in San Francisco?”) and off they went.

And yes, they signed the client.