Photo Album

We met:

New Braunfels Texas may seem an unusual choice for a corporate world headquarters, but the founder wanted to bring something back to the place he grew up.

At our last meeting, Mike gave us a sense of their unusual "celebratory culture" and I was anxious to experience it first-hand. It was everything he said it was, and more!

We met in "Scooter University". Scooters appear everywhere - even woven discretely into the carpets.

The culture and business processes owe much to "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits" by Verne Harnish. The SCOOTER Store has thoroughly adopted these methods.

Scooter U from outside. The building houses HR, Training, and the Cafeteria. The latter doubles as meeting space for frequent company-wide meetings and celebrations.

Their mission is simple, inspiring, and known by every employee.

One of The SCOOTER Store's philosophies is to have fun - and we saw ample demonstration of that, starting with these fun custom scooters...

Marylin Martin is on a surfer scooter (you can't see the mini-surfboards mounted behind her seat).

Ian MacNeil signals his approval of the Harley scooter.

...and Paul Wlodarczyk checks out the hot rod "Bigfoot".

In addition to "Have Fun: Make our work fun and celebrate accomplishments large and small", The SCOOTER Store takes goal-setting and performance monitoring very, very seriously.

Each quarter, they set several corporate "rocks" in place...

...and every unit sets objectives for their contributions to achieving those goals.

Additionally, every day a series of brief morning "huddles" assure that people are focused on their objectives, and that metrics and issues are filtered up to senior management.

The SCOOTER Store hires for attitude and cultural fit - and trains on job skills.

Male executive candidates are asked, "Would you be comfortable wearing a dress for a company skit?" Good question!

The energy and sense of fun is shown in how workspaces are decorated. (Check out the lamp!)

Jimmy Buffet meets The SCOOTER Store?

This bulletin board shows the emphasis on fun, and the serious attention to statistics and goals.

(Each sales team sits together, and has a name/theme, a team leader, and 9 phone sales associates.)

The link to the mission is always visible. Here are photos of people who have been helped by receiving scooters.

All these factors contributed to The SCOOTER Store being voted one of Fortune Magazine's Top 100 Places to Work in 2003.

We ate:

Early arrivals met for dinner Wednesday evening near the hotel.

On this side of the table, Paul Wlodoaczyk (Xerox), Stan Malcolm (STEP Coordinator), and Phyllis Huckabee (Quidel Corp.)

Waiting in line for lunch after the Spurs rally, Alumna Marilyn Martin (formerly of WW Grainger) makes a point with Paul.

In addition to STEP reps Mike Dickinson and Bob Berger, The SCOOTER Store was represented in our meeting by Lynn Dewey, Melissa Brooker, Jeff Austin, Beverly Echols, and Al Aranda.

Pat Chapman Ross (Agilent) and Pat Golden (Freddie Mac) joined in via speakerphone.

Continuing STEP's strong oral tradition, we had Thursday dinner in historic Gruene Texas. That's pronounced "green" if you please.

Here we're posed outside the oldest dance hall in Texas. While it was pretty quiet this evening, I was in the neighborhood Friday night and found it thumpin' 'n jumpin'.

The meeting adjourned after Friday lunch, but I stayed on as Mike's guest.

We spent Saturday on a photo safari to the Texas Hill Country.

Many thanks to The SCOOTER Store and our hosts, Mike Dickinson and Bob Berger.

Mike made us welcome despite having had shoulder surgery days earlier, and while anticipating a training event for over 1000 staff the following week. Truly above and beyond, but in the tradition of STEP and The SCOOTER Store.