This second task is for those, who like Pam Beesly from Scranton, are a bit more creatively inclined. While DMI Corporate is helping us to determine what our branch logo will look like, we still could use a new header for our intranet here at DM-Chicopee. Now I want to be fair to all employees, even those whose creative abilities go no further than a stick figure, so I’m not going to offer any Stanley Nickels for this task. However, the winner of this task will earn the position of Co-Creative Director of DM-Chicopee. This position will be shared with the DM employee who creates our winning logo.

Requirements:

• Header image must be 736×229 (the bottom 20 pixels will be covered by our site navigation so keep that in mind)
• Header must contain the Dunder Mifflin logo, the DM infinity logo and our branch name
• Header can not contain any copywritten images

Submission:

Similar to the motto task, I’m going to keep this task open for some time to give the new employees a chance to participate. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME YOUR HEADERS UNTIL FURTHER INSTRUCTION. I will create a site for you to upload your submissions at a later date.

All this craziness over at DMI Corporate has been a distraction, but no more.  We as a branch are going to start having a little fun.  I thought we could start by choosing our new branch motto.  Just a little phrase that tells other branches a little bit about what we’re all about here in Chicopee.

“Dunder Mifflin Chicoppe…we don’t like chick peas but we love Chicopee”

See now that’s a perfect example of why I need your help. I’m not very creative and I’m hoping we’ve recruited some employees that can show their Regional Manager how it’s done.

Leave your suggestions for branch mottos in the comments and I’ll be back later in the week with next steps.  I’d like to keep this task open for a bit so we can get the input of the new employees who will be joining us this week.

Rewards

• If you submit a motto: 1 Stanley Nickel*
• If you’re motto makes it to the semi-finals: 5 Stanley Nickels
• If you’re motto makes it to the finals: 10 Stanley Nickels
• If you’re motto is chosen to represent the branch: 20 Stanley Nickels

* You can submit as many mottos as you’d like but you only get credit for your first entry.  Stanley Nickels might not buy you much but I heard they are the same equivalent as unicorns so that’s something, right?

Head over to the DMI Corporate site to begin voting for your favorite DM-Chicopee logo. Remember, this is the logo that’s going to be representing our branch in the future and will be competing against all other DM branches so choose carefully.

And yes, I am aware that (a) there are a few logos of other branches in with ours (please don’t vote for them) and (b) your logo may not look exactly as it did when you hit “submit”. Again, issues with DMI Corporate.

Make sure you vote!

How to Vote
Click on each logo. Click “PREVIEW” to see a larger version of the logo. Click “VOTE” to make this your choice. NOTE: Click the VOTE button only when you are ready to vote. You can only vote once! Multiple votes will not be discarded. Click NEXT or PREVIOUS at the bottom of the page to navigate through all your branch’s submissions.

DEADLINE
Branch voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 8th at 1 PM PT/4 PM ET and ends Thursday, Oct. 11 at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET. Final voting for the overall Company winner will begin Friday, Oct. 12 at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET and end Sunday, Oct. 14 at 8:59 PM PT/11:59 PM ET. Company winner will be announced Monday, Oct. 15 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET.

As you all know I’ve been dealing with a bunch of issues regarding the “pending employee” file. Long story short, over the past few days I’ve spent about 3 hours approving (again) all the DM-Chicopee employees.  Well, I just logged in this morning to find out that all that work was for naught…a complete waste of time, since once again 900+ employees are back in the “pending” file.

I really don’t know what to do.  The people running this site over at NBC.com are obviously CLUELESS and they are asking OFFICE fans to waste their time on a game that is doing nothing but hurting the brand that is THE OFFICE.  Unfortunately there is no one to contact over there that will bother telling people what’s really going on.  A very big disappointment all around.

I will keep trying though.  Sorry if you’re being jerked around from branch to branch…I wish I could do something about it.

To: DM-Chicopee Employees (Current & Pending)
From: Kath0321, Regional Manager
Re: Branch Transfers

I’ve been getting a number of emails from people saying they were transfered out of DM-Chicopee and to another branch without their consent. Please know that is the doing of DMI Corporate. The Chicopee branch has NOT denied employment to anyone that has applied. I’m not sure what is causing this to happen but I have alerted DMI Corporate.

Update: I spent 2 hours last night and this morning accepting employees. Unfortunately I just logged back in and all the employees I recently approved have landed back in the pending employee file.

Pending Employment Issues
Within the first two weeks of this branch opening over 700 applied. A manager can only approve 12 employees at a time and it takes over 5 full minutes to approve those 12 employees (and usually the site times out before they can be approved). So during the first few weeks I spent a number of hours approving each employee. This past Thursday I sign in after watching the documentary about our friends in the Scranton branch to see that I have over 800 new employees to hire in my “pending employee” file. Upon further inspection I realized that the majority of these new employees had actually been approved in the past. Another technical glitch at DMI Corporate. I notified them of this issue last Thursday and have not heard back yet.

I haven’t approved any new employees since Thursday as I am hoping DMI Corporate will get back to me with a solution on how to fix the issue. The thought of spending hours approving employees again does not sit well with me. But there are so many newbies that I can’t distinguish who has already been approved and who is new as of this week. I’m not sure but this may have something to do with people be randomly reassigned branches.

Next Steps
If you have been reassigned to another branch, please email DMI HR at: HR@dundermifflininfinity.com and let them know you would like to be transferred back to the Chicopee branch.

I’m sorry that I can’t give you an answer as to what is going on. I’m increasingly frustrated with this situation and can only hope that Ryan Howard and his team figure out how to fix these MAJOR issues or they’re going to see a mass exodus to Staples or Office Depot.

Please leave all questions in the comments section and I will address that as best I can.

Sincerely,

Kath0321
Regional Manager, Chicopee

DM-Chicopee employee Erin just made a suggestion that I wanted to share with the team.  She had suggested that perhaps DM-Chicopee would have its own set of tasks unrelated to those over at DMI-Corporate.  Of course our tasks would be on a voluntary basis and wouldn’t earn you any SchruteBucks, but we could assign a value to Chicoppe tasks…perhaps the Stanley Nickel?

If this is something you might be interested in, please leave a comment and let me know.  I’ve already got a few ideas lined up that could be fun (and NOT time consuming).

Dunder Mifflin Corporate assigned our branch another task.  If you ever played with dress-up dolls then you might shine at this second task.  Read on!!

Description
The workplace is constantly evolving. While experience is still vital to an employee’s success, youth and innovation are quickly becoming more desirable qualities. At Dunder Mifflin Infinity, we take age discrimination seriously. That’s why we do everything in our power to make our employees look younger so they don’t have to deal with the scorn that visibly older employees face in the workplace. Please help us alter Creed’s appearance so that he appears younger using the tools provided.

Voting
After you submit your design, the members of your branch will vote on their favorite conception of “Young Creed.” When the branch has chosen their favorite Creed, it will be entered into a company-wide competition for the best Creed of all. Good luck!

Rewards
All rewards are payable in SchruteBucks, the official currency of Dunder Mifflin Infinity

• For submitting a Creed design: Sb$50
• f your Creed is chosen as Top 5 in the branch: Sb $75
• If your Creed is chosen as the Branch Winner: Sb $200
• f your Creed is chosen as the Company Winner: Sb $300
• If your branch’s Creed is chosen as the Company Winner: Sb $25

Prizes
In addition to SchruteBucks, if your version of Creed is chosen as the best “Young Creed” in the company, you’ll get a framed, autographed print of your winning design. Also, a small poster version of your design will be available for purchase in the virtual store so other Dunder Mifflin Infinity employees can display it at their virtual desks.

DEADLINE
Monday, Oct. 8, 2007 @ 6 PM PT/9 PM ET: Deadline for logo submissions.

NOTE: you may play around all you want with Creed, but be aware that only the LAST Creed you submit before the deadline is the one that will be voted on. Employees can submit multiple times but only their first Sb $50 will be paid out.

Voting, both at the branch and global level, will commence shortly thereafter.

Let’s do this…help Creed recapture his youth. CLICK HERE to work on this latest task.

LET’S GO CHICOPEE…LET’S GO!! 

From time to time there are going to be branch matters that we as a group need to weigh in on. So for these such matters I think it’s only appropriate that we meet in the Conference Room. Next week we’ll collectively come together to vote on our new branch logo, but there will be things outside of the tasks that I’d like all of you to weigh in on.

Here’s a few items on my agenda that I would love your input on:

• This site vs. DMI Corporate – the reason I started this site was because I found the technical issues over at the DMI Corporate site to be limiting. However, I don’t want to make it more difficult for you to stick with your new job. So Id’ love your thoughts on communicating at this site versus the DMI Corporate site.
• Message Boards / Forums – I’ve been planning on adding message boards to this site but I didn’t know if you all would want to use them.  Would you like if I added them here or would you rather use the forums over on the DMI Corporate site? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.  And if you are someone that does want the message boards here, then let me know if you’d be interested in being a board moderator.

• Suggestion Box - Do you have any ideas to make this branch more profitable (or the game more fun). Please feel free to share.

If you haven’t yet submitted your branch logo there’s still time.  DMI Corporate has extended the deadline for submission until Wednesday at 9pm EST.  So go out there and earn those SchruteBucks!

DM-Chicopee employees:

You may have noticed that just below our branch header there is a new page called “SchruteBucks (Confidential)”. Only employees of DM-Chicopee are authorized to view this page. If you are interested in viewing the confidential information on this page and are a confirmed employee of this branch then please use the “Contact Us” page above to request the password.

• Please include your DMI username
• Please make sure the email address you include in the form is valid.