Friday 01/29/2021
Went for The Walk about 9am, which felt fine. Then I paid a couple of bills. Then I sat down at the big computer to edit the video I’d shot of the meal cart safety talk. This took an hour to get it organized.
I had recorded two of the 10-minute sessions. The speaker covered the same points in the same order, which was handy. The first session was acceptable, except that during his third point, somebody’s phone rings, and she walks in front of me to take the call elsewhere. The recording of the second session was OK also except that some male voices were having a conversation somewhere across the lobby and their chat is audible. However, I clipped out just the third point and cut it into the first presentation, replacing the woman with the cell phone.
If I ever do that again, I have to solve the audio problem. I need a lavalier mic on the presenter and somehow get that audio into the recording. Well, I probably won’t do that again anyway. Or, after the pandemic, presentations will be back in the auditorium where we have a proper mic setup with a mixing board and all.
Anyway the video is ok and will soon be up on the CH site with other useful videos.
At noon it was time for the Stanford Women to play WSU for the 2nd time in 48 hours. They opened a 15 point lead in the second quarter and maintained it until WSU basically gave up, and both teams put in their b-squads.
At 4pm it was CEO Rhonda’s weekly Zoom chat. The principal topic this time was: we are dumping Sodexo as our dining services! Instead, as of 20th April, food service will be fully in-house, staffed and managed by CH. Rhonda explained there were two reasons. First, “while we have good food, we really need great food,” and second, the pandemic has shown them that in an emergency it is crucial to have all management unified. “We have no complaints with the Sodexo staff on-site, but there have been times in the Covid crisis when their hands have been tied by corporate decisions elsewhere. We need everybody on the same page.”
All Sodexo employees are being offered employment as Channing House employees, retaining their seniority and at least the same pay. CH has signed a two-year contract with Strategic Dining Services to manage the transition, their first task being to recruit a Dining Services Manager who will run the show and report to Rhonda. They will also be developing supplier agreements to procure food. That’s a fairly big job, as we won’t have Sodexo doing all the shopping. Shopping for 300 meals three times a day is not like shopping for a household.
Codgerville 