Claire

[spruce]

Interesting conversation with a DVC booking agent a few weeks ago when we booked a BWV GV. Claire has been in member services and has met the cast member who was doing my reservation.
I understand a new management person wanting to check out the operation but this cast member had never met Jim. I like that Claire is checking out the whole operation. I wonder why the old manager didn't get down to this level.

 

[JimMIA]

Jim Lewis was a very important guy...probably much too important and busy to waste his time talking to mere employees.

There have been numerous Claire sightings.

Claire seems to have the idea that individual DVC employees are important people, and also people who may know a thing or two about the organization. She might also have the notion that these employees have a real contribution to make to the organization -- that not ALL of the brilliance in a company is located in the Puzzle Palace. She might be on to something.

 

[dvcforme1993]

you go, girl Claire!

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Glad to see Claire is employing the popular style of "Manage by walking around"

If you're holed up in your office all the time you don't know what's going on in your organization (just watch that awful reality show Undercover Boss for examples of managers that don't know what their people do). It doesn't really take all that much out of your day to meet the people that work for you, to walk around and interact with your employees, to care about what happens to them, and to be able to know that your decisions effect Steve, Bill, Amy, and Mary not just a number on a spreadsheet.

 

[tjkraz]

Good for DVC/DVD employees but don't kid yourself thinking that it will necessarily be good for members. The best interests of DVD are often at odds with the best interests of its members.

 

[disneynutz]

We can hope for change but IMO Disney is the problem. I am sure that once Claire gets settled, Disney will be putting the pressure on to increase profit and reduce costs.

Disney expects DVD/DVC to be a profit center like it was a couple of years ago when, and this is my opinion, Lewis cut corners.

Claire has her work cut out for her and I hope that she can strike a balance between profit and customer service.

Bill

 

[SmilingGrump]

We can hope for change but IMO Disney is the problem. I am sure that once Claire gets settled, Disney will be putting the pressure on to increase profit and reduce costs.

Disney expects DVD/DVC to be a profit center like it was a couple of years ago when, and this is my opinion, Lewis cut corners.

Claire has her work cut out for her and I hope that she can strike a balance between profit and customer service.

Bill

You might be right, but it's far better to have the person doing the cuts being familiar with what goes on with the front lines. Sure, changes could still be made that are not good for the customer, but at least there's the possibility that changes will actually make sense and even be beneficial to the customer.

It's very easy for supervisors and managers to hole up in their office and put the blinders on. I'm always impressed when you see those in authority checking out the actual operations they manage. Way to go Claire!

 

[Crissup]

CarolAnnC and I chatted with Claire on the member cruise. I found her to be a very likeable person who is willing to provide a straight answer to a straight question. Everything else I've heard about her indicates that she's a no nonsense executive who wants to ferret out problems in her organization and fix them. Indeed, you can bet that Karl Holz did not put her into the position to keep the seat warm. He knew he needed to do damage control and he needed someone he trusted to fix the problem.

I've also had a conversation with someone in her office who indicated that she is very interested in learning the organization and ensuring it runs smooth. I've also heard that she is very pro-cast member.

I heard a lot of bad comments about her over the member cruise this year. Personally, I felt that the issues with the member cruise were set long before Claire came on board (no pun intended). After all, she was only on board 32 days prior to the member cruise and she undoubtedly had much bigger issues to deal with.

Here's a nice photo of CarolAnnC and Claire...