What's the Most Complicated Thing You Ever Did?

Ha ! That would make for a great TV series named : LOST? You Don't Know ****.
At the end of season One, each of them would have set themselves up in a little fort of their own.

Joe(No, I'm sure they would find ways to get along)Nation

Interesting, Romeo, do you mind if I pass some of them on to my non-A2k plane geek friends?

Joe(I have two)Nation

The hard part for me is always being true, I get stuck on somebody having to something to get to the next part and I sit there thinking "There's no way to do this unless I just pull something out of thin air or my ass or something."
I won't fake it.

Then I go see Gravity and see them pull whole, not only incredible, but impossible things out of zero atmosphere to make the action go forward.

Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to suspend my sense of belief ...right. And also forget whatever small amount of physics I understand.

Joe(grumble. grumble, grumble)Nation

Joe(bullshitter)Nation: The hard part for me is always being true, I get stuck on somebody having to something to get to the next part and I sit there thinking "There's no way to do this unless I just pull something out of thin air or my ass or something."
I won't fake it.
-----------------------

You constantly fake answers to language questions, Mr BS.

Yes and yes. They sent me hundreds of low-res images of new products, and I had to group them into collections, then name both the collections and the individual products. And before you say, "Aaargh," let me tell you that this was the easy way to do it. In the beginning, they lined up hundreds of actual products against a warehouse wall, and I had to figure it all out from there. Then figure out how to photograph them to best effect. And make a catalog out of it. As a good family friend said, it was a good thing they hired a S------. Anal-retentiveness runs in our family.

I started out producing a 24-page catalog for this client, which was twice the size of anything they had printed before. Five years later, I was doing a 224-page catalog and helping them put together an in-house catalog department because they had outgrown me. Yes, the company grew that fast. They are now one of the top ten firms in decorative accessories. Showrooms in all the major US markets and many overseas as well. I left on very good terms, and I am proud of the fact that I was part of the reason they succeeded.

Product naming was actually kinda fun. At first, they didn't see the point ... this was wholesale, not retail, after all. Some of their biggest competitors only identified products by number. So they let me do whatever I wanted. I could see that their sales force needed tools. After using my first catalog, it became obvious to the salespeople and management as well: people will buy a lot more "memory chests" than "wood boxes." The day I told my Turkish clients not to name a product a "ewer" even if it was the correct term, because many of their American clients would think it had something to do with sheep ... that was the day they decided they would no longer name their own products. It was a good move on their part. I still laugh when I think about it.

Thank you, Lash! The person who got me into these "challenging" situations has always been my biggest supporter, never more so than when I am going through tough times. And there have been many. I never want to let him down. There is virtually no limit to what we can do when it is for someone we adore.

Getting through life.

Eva--is there money in product names. I have one I like. For a scent. From Paree. I can't say Gay Paree anymore.

You're talking retail. Companies that market fragrances have huge in-house marketing departments and also use agencies. Copywriters (in-house and agency) do the product naming, and it has to go through multiple management levels, focus groups, etc. before approval. So, unless you just happen to know someone in just the right position who is willing and able to circumvent the corporate process, you're out of luck. Sorry.

Or, as the case may be, sewer. (Not laughing at them, I'm interested in Turkey, as it happens.)

Eva, I knew you had it in you, but never cottoned on to how much so. So good to read, very heartening. Nothin' better than being an S.........., whatever that is.

One of the biggest and most prevelant problems was keeping the boss involved. They liked kicking things off and then not coming back till the end. Usually doesn't end well that way. It took some courage at first to find them and force them to stay involved. Leadership as a consultant is a difficult skill.

Did it happen to be in western Virginia? Rocky Mount.

To learn how to decline the verb 'be'.

No, the company is based here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Did you know we have an international seaport? It's true! Ships can bypass New Orleans, go up the Mississippi River, then the Arkansas River, and arrive at the Port of Catoosa right outside Tulsa. They go through customs here (faster than New Orleans.) Rail lines at the port then connect to wherever... It's an efficient system since we're so centrally located.

Oh, and you're absolutely right about keeping the boss involved. It is often difficult, but SO important.

Thanks for the compliment, Osso! And the "S------" refers to my family name (maiden name.) We have all been more than a little too detail-oriented, to put it nicely.

One complicated thing I have managed a couple of times is remaining friends with both sides when friends have split up....once when the man left his wife for another friend.

That one was bloody tough! After about 25 years it sometimes still is....because the woman who was left is still very bitter It's awful because the bitterness means it's really hard to invite her when anyone from the same group that were all friends is coming....which is most of my friends. She is likely to create a scene still. I absolutely understand that....but she wants to be invited and I have been very honest with her about why I feel I can't do it. She said she would ensure she didn't talk about it...but when I had a dinner party she regaled everyone with the story. Unfortunately almost everyone there knew the other party but did not know the story. She did it when I was out of the room preparing stuff or I would have stopped it. It caused dramas and I don't feel I can rely on her. Then I feel awful because I can't invite her to stuff.

Ooh, you're right. Tangled relationships are VERY complicated! And you deal with them every day professionally, too. My hat's off to you, lady.

So, I'm interested. What's the most complicated thing YOU ever did? (This is gonna be good.)

Here - http://able2know.org/topic/235520-1#post-5585106

Of those two complicated experiences, the house design/remod was mostly great fun and satisfying. The work for the brawling exhibit directors was a matter I was exhilarated to leave behind me. Looked ok on the next resume, but not really needed, and rarely mentioned again, was sort of a lost year in un-paradise. I did get a couple of good friends out of it. Edit to add, I also gained a lot of weight that year, as I also took night classes and did homework in the wee hours or weekends, so little sleep and more than usual munching.

Translation is really hard.
At the last company I worked for there was no English website, just one in Chinese with some of the most godawful translations to English you've ever read. I was in charge of Marketing for The Western Hemisphere (that's right, the whole frigging Western Hemisphere).
I stopped everything and re-wrote pages of garbled Chinglish so that I could have something to show the contacts I was making in Canada and the USA.
The catalog they had was no better. (They, at first, wanted me to get mailing addresses of clients in order to send them a physical catalog just like it was in 1959 or 1969..... meh,) It was full of errors and phrases like "the motor bearing are seal likeState to extend service life."
I said "We need a USA website written in English." They said "Go ahead."

I had no idea how to build a website.

One of the guys in the wire-bending products division (think: all those multi-shelved shower caddies, metal spice racks and plant stands) found a website builder, I think it was actually called Website Builder, and we got started.
First, I got them to send me the pages of the catalog in jpeg files. All I had to do then was take each page and cut it up into six or eight pieces using Paint and drop each piece into a page, build a link to the page, a link to the Details of each model and a link back to the Home Page.
Each fan had graphs that had to be added to its page and then specifications for each of the models of that fan.

It was crude but you could go from page to page with the client on the phone and find what the two of you were talking about.
Have a look: http://www.dunliusa.com/Products.html

There used to a section for the Wire Products and the Hospital Beds that the corporation makes, but I guess they have given up on those.

Did I mention that we translated our website into Spanish? Yep. Did that too with the help of a guy who worked nights on it from his home.

I rewrote the all the copy about six times, but I still see some errors, ' to specification' instead of 'to specifications' .... . GAH! (Where's my editor?!)

Everything would have been fine, and I would have made some nice money, except for two things: the Chinese (at least at this company) didn't want to shell out any cash to get their products UL APPROVED (that kind of dampens the US sales) and whenever we went head to head against any German or Spanish or other Chinese Industrial Fans they beat us like a carpet on a clothesline.
<sigh>

I do like looking at the site and remembering how long it took me to figure out how to stretch the spec bar to fit the cropped figures. That was tough, but I did it. I hope they are making some money from it.

Joe(oh wait, see the PS)Nation

PS: Translation~~ They already had set up their Model Numbers; part of a Model Number should include a designation for Intake Fan or Exhaust Fan. Their's were (B) for Intake and (S) for Exhaust because they had already decided to use, instead of Intake or Exhaust, the words Blowing and Sucking. That made for some interesting phone conversations. heh.

Translation is difficult.
I bought a cheramic bowl for the owen. German and English said: Before using it for the first time fill with water and put in hot owen.
The Swedish said: Do not ever fill with water.
I often read the same book in two different languages and the funnist and most groteque translations happens.
Swedish: Father forbids daughter to marry a guy because of his big debts.
(skulder)
Danish: Father forbids daughter to marry a guy because of his large shoulders (skuldrer)