Eye of the tiger. baby
Hi, do you want to help us elect John Kerry today?
The greeting booms out through the room. The greeter stands inside of a circle of a dozen people walking around and around. He calls out to every third or fourth person.
Hi, do you want to help us elect John Kerry today?
The people in the circle smirk, feeling a bit silly. They play along, though, shooting glib responses back at the caller.
Hi, do you want to help us elect John Kerry?
“John Kerry? Not a chance!”
Hi, do you want to help elect Kerry?
“Not today.”
Hi, do you want to help us elect Kerry today?
“Thanks, I’m all set.”
I’ve been instructed to check out the trainings. Strange echoes come from farther down the room, where a second circle of people is gathered. This circle is static. A girl turns her head, giggling, and says to the guy left of her:
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
He nods at her, turns to his left, and asks the next person:
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
The heads keep turning down the chain, passing the question like a baton.
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
Duck, duck, goose. The circle continues its domino mantra as I walk by – Josh, standing at its far edge, nods at me.
A third group is in the other corner, but this one is rather small and quiet – only a couple of people and a director. They are practicing with their clipboards; the director is talking about the order of clipboard materials. They practice flipping back and forth between the front page and the credit card payment slips. Don’t break the rhythm to find the form, be able to bust it right out in their face.
I walk back to the rotating circle, which is still larger now, having absorbed stray staffers who saw some fun and joined in. A different greeter is in the center, and is trying not to be flustered by what is now a walking barrage of jokes.
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush today?
“Viva Boosh!”
Want to help us elect Kerry?
“Get a job!”
This last one gets the biggest laughs from the circle. The guy who says it gets high-fived from the person in front of him.
* * *
There are a few other groups doing other kinds of practice drills. During this first hour of the day, all canvassers are supposed to be training. There are four different kinds of canvassers: “observers” (those on their first day, unpaid for their labor), “T1” and “T2”s (those on their second and third day), plain old “staff,” and the directors. Observers are in the static circle, just practicing the greeting; T1s are in the walking circle, joined by various staffers of good humor – T1s are practicing speaking loud and clear, projecting, anything to get people to stop.
The group in the corner, the T2s practicing with their clipboards, is small for a few reasons. First of all, “training” is over as soon as a canvasser makes above quota – which is around $200 right now. One or two canvassers out of each group will do this on their Observer day; the majority of trainees will make quota by the end of their first training day. The T2s are on their third attempt.
The second reason this group tends to be small is that each day a few people who signed up for training will be no-shows.
If, after a second day of training, a canvasser still hasn’t made quota, things get blurry. Sometimes, the director who has been training him or her will believe that another day might be needed to get the hang of it. Usually, though, after three days it’s clear who is cut out for the job.
On the day that a trainee makes quota, they are invited on as staff. They are given a contract and tax forms, and the pay scale is explained once again – if you clear quota, you get “$300 a week plus 30% of whatever you make above quota. If you don't make quota, you make $50 a day or 30% of whatever you did make, whichever is bigger.” [I had to check that with someone else. It was hard enough to figure it out the first time around, let alone remember it.]
It’s not bad money – if you can handle the work. Less than two percent of the people who call in will make it past the interview, through training, and onto staff.
The greeting booms out through the room. The greeter stands inside of a circle of a dozen people walking around and around. He calls out to every third or fourth person.
Hi, do you want to help us elect John Kerry today?
The people in the circle smirk, feeling a bit silly. They play along, though, shooting glib responses back at the caller.
Hi, do you want to help us elect John Kerry?
“John Kerry? Not a chance!”
Hi, do you want to help elect Kerry?
“Not today.”
Hi, do you want to help us elect Kerry today?
“Thanks, I’m all set.”
I’ve been instructed to check out the trainings. Strange echoes come from farther down the room, where a second circle of people is gathered. This circle is static. A girl turns her head, giggling, and says to the guy left of her:
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
He nods at her, turns to his left, and asks the next person:
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
The heads keep turning down the chain, passing the question like a baton.
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush?
Duck, duck, goose. The circle continues its domino mantra as I walk by – Josh, standing at its far edge, nods at me.
A third group is in the other corner, but this one is rather small and quiet – only a couple of people and a director. They are practicing with their clipboards; the director is talking about the order of clipboard materials. They practice flipping back and forth between the front page and the credit card payment slips. Don’t break the rhythm to find the form, be able to bust it right out in their face.
I walk back to the rotating circle, which is still larger now, having absorbed stray staffers who saw some fun and joined in. A different greeter is in the center, and is trying not to be flustered by what is now a walking barrage of jokes.
Hi, do you want to help beat George Bush today?
“Viva Boosh!”
Want to help us elect Kerry?
“Get a job!”
This last one gets the biggest laughs from the circle. The guy who says it gets high-fived from the person in front of him.
* * *
There are a few other groups doing other kinds of practice drills. During this first hour of the day, all canvassers are supposed to be training. There are four different kinds of canvassers: “observers” (those on their first day, unpaid for their labor), “T1” and “T2”s (those on their second and third day), plain old “staff,” and the directors. Observers are in the static circle, just practicing the greeting; T1s are in the walking circle, joined by various staffers of good humor – T1s are practicing speaking loud and clear, projecting, anything to get people to stop.
The group in the corner, the T2s practicing with their clipboards, is small for a few reasons. First of all, “training” is over as soon as a canvasser makes above quota – which is around $200 right now. One or two canvassers out of each group will do this on their Observer day; the majority of trainees will make quota by the end of their first training day. The T2s are on their third attempt.
The second reason this group tends to be small is that each day a few people who signed up for training will be no-shows.
If, after a second day of training, a canvasser still hasn’t made quota, things get blurry. Sometimes, the director who has been training him or her will believe that another day might be needed to get the hang of it. Usually, though, after three days it’s clear who is cut out for the job.
On the day that a trainee makes quota, they are invited on as staff. They are given a contract and tax forms, and the pay scale is explained once again – if you clear quota, you get “$300 a week plus 30% of whatever you make above quota. If you don't make quota, you make $50 a day or 30% of whatever you did make, whichever is bigger.” [I had to check that with someone else. It was hard enough to figure it out the first time around, let alone remember it.]
It’s not bad money – if you can handle the work. Less than two percent of the people who call in will make it past the interview, through training, and onto staff.
posted by Greg Bloom at 5/24/2005 12:32:00 AM
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