That time I was the Groundswell...

After reading the chapter "The Groundswell Inside your Company" in Groundswell, I knew that there was only one logical thing to blog about.  I knew that there was only one thing I could possibly do: completely embarrass myself.

Let me explain.  Back in early September of 2006, I got hired as a Sales Associate at Staples, the popular office supply chain.  My friend and neighbor, Christie, had been working there for about a month and she thought it was a pretty cool job.  I figured if I had to work retail, at least I could work with Christie.

Me and My "Freedom Brother" Brendan, happy to work at Staples

It took less than a week for me to realize that this was no ordinary retail job.  This was actually the most fun retail job imaginable.  Wait, what?!  That's right.  I loved it.  Brendan, a boy who I had only been acquaintances with earlier in high school, had become my best work pal.  We would plan our breaks together, have secret hand signals and code words, and straighten the store together at night.  After a few months, we had a Staples diary.  Yep.  We had a little notebook and we bought the coolest pen in the store  and would write all about our work shift while we were on break.  If we didn't have shifts together then it was absolutely required that we write to each other.  We would write about our managers, or how many Product Replacement Plans we sold that day, or lyrics to our cover of "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake, which we remade into "EasyBack" ("we're bringing easy back, Office Max don't know how to act.").

When that wasn't enough to satisfy our urge to have Staples in every facet of our lives, we created an "I Love Cassie from Staples Radio" Facebook group.  Apparently, I am the only group member left.  But at one point, we had a good five of us there, and we would talk about the Staples Radio DJ, Cassie, and her wonderful gift ideas.

Also, about four years before I realized that I actually want to work in marketing, we would make up pretend Staples commercials with each other.

Reading Groundswell made me miss the connection I once had with Staples, and really wonder what could have been.  If Staples had implemented a program to tap into their own Groundswell like the example of Best Buy in the book, I know that Christie, Brendan, and I would have spent countless hours spreading our love of Staples and ideas.  We had so many funny stories to tell each other that we started a diary.  Imagine what could have happened if instead of just Brendan and myself reading those stories, higher-ups read them also.  Our problems could have found solutions.  We could have had a bigger support system.

Brendan, Joe, Me, and Christie.  Joe and I are not wearing the proper pants because we weren't actually working.  We just wanted to take an "EASY" photo-shoot.  Unfortunately, I ruined it with a backwards "S"

Just because every story needs an ending, I should add that unfortunately when I came home from college to work at Staples it just wasn't the same.  Christie, Brendan, and the so-far-not-mentioned-but-very-awesome-to-work-with Joe, no longer worked with me.  The shared experience wasn't there anymore and it became a retail job just like any other.  Handling the head manager was no longer something I could joke about.  All that was left was to sit in the break room, "take it easy" and remember a time that I felt devotion and connected to the huge corporation.

I took this picture during a dull 15 minute break