Howard, the floor is yours
Howard Weaver, the luxury-loving top news executive at McClatchy Newspapers, demonstrated two things with his online response to me, which he headlined “B.S. from G.D.” They are:
(1) As a writer of headlines, he’s no Shakespeare.
(2) He apparently doesn’t understand that sometimes, appearances matter.
Howard also seems to be tone-deaf. He’s determined to make the argument that staying in the Triangle’s most luxurious hotel during a visit to Raleigh – and during a time of extreme financial pressure on his company – was a matter of fiscal responsibility. That’s right: He booked a room at the Umstead Hotel & Spa as a cost-cutting measure.
No kidding. Here is Howard’s rationale (which is similar to the explanation he provided here two days ago):
I told Joe I’d paid $210 a night. In a follow-up email, I also mentioned that I had checked prices before coming to Raleigh, and the downtown Sheraton where I usually stay quoted us $179. Since I spent most of the day at McClatchy Interactive, which has offices closer to the Umstead, I’d have spent more than the difference on cab fare traveling back and forth from downtown.
I stay at hotels with negotiated rates approved for use by all traveling McClatchy employees by our Shared Services division. (I’m at the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington as I write this).
Where do I even start with this? Do I first point out that there are considerably more than two hotels in this major metro area? Do I note that regardless of where he stayed, he’d still need a cab to get around? Do I ask him why he didn’t forego cabs altogether and take the opportunity to mix with the rank and file by soliciting a ride from any employee who might want a top executive’s ear for twenty minutes? Do I avail myself of the truck-sized opening for mischief Howard provides, and encourage “all traveling McClatchy employees” to check into the highest-cost hotel on the list when out of town – because, you know, Howard says it’s OK?
I’ll forego those points, though. All Howard has to do is read the “comments” section on his own site, where others have made them for me. Instead, I’ll ask him to focus on the part of my previous post that he conveniently sidestepped – specifically, the million of dollars that McClatchy now wants to add to the pool of incentive money set aside to “attract and retain” executives like Howard, even as lower-level employees are being nudged out of their jobs.
The floor is Howard’s to take. I’d like to hear his thoughts on those big bonuses. But judging by his reaction to the hotel flap, I can guess his response: Sure, McClatchy may be losing billions of dollars, but fatter executive bonuses are actually a cost-cutting move.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
My wife works for large corporations, recently for one which is losing money and paying large executive bonuses while laying people off (read, my wife was laid off.) Anyway, her comment was if she or any other peon had tried such a move, they would have been told that cost was not the problem, but that the perception was the problem. Of course, executives don’t understand that when it runs the other way.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Maybe Jim Goodnight could buy the N&O, ala Sam Zell and the Tribune companies, and that would solve this problem.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
What kind of room would $210/night get at the Embassy Suites across Harrison? Or does cab fare from there cost more from there too?