Value Stream Partners

This is  a rant - mostly.

A couple of days ago I attended a seminar by MathWorks about their products.

MathWorks has its only Indian office in Bangalore. That is not surprising, the bulk of the government hi-tech establishments are located there.

But Delhi too is important, after all it is where the headquarters of those establishments are located:-) So here they have partnered with a local company. They are part of the MathWorks value stream.

The "bandobast" (organization) - venue, registration, refreshments, lunch, gifts- for the seminar was done by the value stream partner.

I was informed, by mail from MathWorks, about my registration and asked to bring a printed copy of the mail. At the registration counter that mail was no help. The guys there had a handful of sheets listing names and organizations. There was a stack of pre-printed name cards. What was the problem in putting them in boxes according to the some ordering scheme? Better still why not keep a couple of small printers and print out the names on the spot?.I have seen electoral rolls checking, which is done by low paid government school teachers and other district staff, done better.

What does it say about MathWorks when its value stream partner does not know enough to put the lists on an Excel sheet? Does it need great administrative talent to allot a unique registration number to each participant? Is it expensive, compared to the expense of the venue, and the refreshments and lunch, to put a couple of laptops and a couple of printers at the registration counter?

The piece-de-resistance was the gift in exchange for the filled feedback sheet. It is good looking table clock. Nice big digits. The instruction sheet needs a magnifying glass. The day of the week cannot be set. Maybe some Chinese company designed it using a MathWorks product:-) Maybe all the clocks were not like that. Maybe, they fixed this one clock specifically for the guy who was making all that ruckus at the registration desk :D

Lesson: If your value stream partner interfaces with the customer, it is vital that you check the customer experience. Dog-fooding is more than eating the lunch served at the venue.