What Is The Value
of Your Word?...

14 hours that changed the course of a young start up company.

(true story-embellished
just a little bit)

Background:

Our client needed 3000 DVDs in Las Vegas on such and such date.  The President of ROM Squared promised his client that he wouldn’t have to worry: ROM Squared would meet the schedule.

ROM Squared’s president realized that the timeline for the client was critical.  The client needed the DVDs in Las Vegas to package with other materials for his 3000 sales people for a 7:00 A.M. meeting the next day.

The story:
9:00 am The day of the delivery date ROM Squared’s client calls to confirm that the shipment was indeed shipped.

9:15 am ROM Squared calls the nationally acclaimed shipping service for a tracking number and found to their horror that the shipper (on the clients account) sent the package to the client’s home office.

9:16 am ROM Squared calls the skeleton staff that was remaining at the client’s company to alert them of the mishap and to locate the package for preparation for counter to counter shipment.

10:30 am The client’s crew claims that they cannot locate the package.

12:00 pm ROM Squared President travels 100 miles to the client’s warehouse and finds the 3 boxes buried beneath other items in the “Raiders of The Lost Ark”  warehouse that were received that day.

1:30 pm ROM Squared is blindsided with further trouble...due to stringent security after 9/11 no counter to counter shipments were to be accepted with out prior company security check and approval.

2:00 pm ROM Squared President calls 5 airlines from cell phone before he successfully  finds a puddle hopper connection from Milwaukee to  Las Vegas via MEMPHIS!

2:45 pm ROM Squared president arrives back to Corporate HQ,  grabs gym work out bag and leaves for airport.

2:46 pm ROM Squared president gets a whiff of his gym bag and wishes he didn’t work out the previous night.

3:45 pm ROM Squared president is thanking State Trooper for his ticket.

4:00 pm ROM Squared president is doing an OJ through the MILWAUKEE airport with 3 boxes and a VERY SMELLY gym bag to the roar of the crowd.

4:01 to 7:29 pm President is reading fascinating Sky Mall Magazine and eating pretzels.

7:30 pm  ROM Squared President is doing an OJ through the MEMPHIS airport with 3 boxes and gym bag to the roar of the crowd.

7:30-9:00 pm  President is reading very boring Sky Mall Magazine, eating pretzels, and noticing that his clothing is starting to smell like his gym bag!

9:01 pm  President is now doing the Oscar Madison "crawl" through the Vegas airport to unnoticing crowd with three HEAVY boxes and his pungent work out bag.

9:02 pm Hails Cab: Cabby tells President of ROM Squared, that his gym bag must go in the TRUNK!

9:30 pm  President arrives with his "reeking gym bag" at the posh resort of client and is just about arrested because he refuses to give the 3 "Boxes of Gold" to the Concierge and insists on delivering boxes PERSONALLY to his client.

9:35 pm Client in awe takes the "packages".  ROM Squared president notices his client’s nostrils are flaring. He appreciates his client’s polite silence.  They shake hands, and then client informs ROM Squared president that he has booked a room.  Unfortunately it is 20 miles away because his hotel is full!

10:16 pm ROM Squared president enters his room, throws the gym bag in the bathroom, shuts the door...plops down in his bed, and stares at the ceiling.  He mentally calculates the cost and losses of this adventure.  He reconsiders what promises he will make in the future.  Sand man comes and KOs ROM Squared’s pres.

11:00 pm the same evening ROM Squared president is shocked into consciousness by blaring telephone ringer.  He gropes for the phone, knocks it on the floor and picks it up.  It’s from his CLIENT’S president.  He is informed that he has heard about ROM Squared’s efforts: he offers a lucrative annual contract.

ROM Squared ponders this turn of events and thinks…”Yeahhhh BABYYYYY” and extends three days at the Mandalay Bay!

That is the true value of keeping ones word!

ROM Squared Inc: The Answer For the Professional Who Doesn’t Need a Gazzilion DVDs… But What He Does Need… He Needs Them FAST!

Does this sound familiar?…..

You have the client who has produced the beta multi-media program for their client’s new product line.   It has taken months to complete, (for a project that was budgeted for weeks), a thousand changes have been made, and now the client wants their DVDs duplicates - YESTERDAY!

They require 150 DVD copies to be sent to all their approval people.  They want the DVDs to look professional and want full color surface.  You call your local DVD Replicator…oh, I forgot to tell you…it’s November!

The Script: You are about to enter the Twilight Zone of REPLICATION. You pick up the phone and dial  to place your order for 150 DVDs to your replication company…. The play starts…

Ring Ring:  The secretary answers: “Hello, this is your Replication Company” she purrs.

You:  “Yes, may I speak to my Client Service Representative?”

Secretary:  “Well he has three calls holding, two people standing in the waiting room, and the president is expecting him in a production meeting in five minutes…Would you care to hold or would you like to be put into his phone box?”  before you can answer you are transferred…

The Audix Message: “Hi, this is your Client Service Representative of your Replicating Compnay, your call is very important to me… I am sorry I can’t come to the phone right now but . . .”   You let out a sigh….You know the rest of the message. 

You leave a message in your best upbeat voice and ask to have the call returned.

FOUR HOURS  LATER:  you get your call back!:

Your Phone Rings:  Ringaling

You dive for the phone because in the interim you have fielded SIX calls from your client wondering when you can get him his copies because his plane is leaving the next day for Brazil and he MUST have his DVDs.

You’re a little miffed at the time it has taken to return your call…  but you know a grain of sugar is better than an ounce of vinegar so you put on your nicest phone voice.

You: “Thanks for returning my phone call Mr. Customer Service Representative…I need to have one hundred and fifty DVD copies today for my client who……” you are interrupted by a loud, roaring laugh from the other end of the phone line….

You sheepishly say: “er excuse me, but I don’t know what’s so funny….” 

Three minutes go by and you ponder calling 911 to resuscitate the fellow on the other end of line now gasping for oxygen…… with a couple gulps of air he finally addresses your inquiry…

Customer service representative: “If I could produce your project, you would have to order at least 1000 DVDs…., the quickest turn time will be looooonnnng after Santa has visited your children,….and then it will  only happen if you are in the TOP tier of our client base (over 1 million dollars annual sales!)…. I could burn you a couple of one offs, but the best I could do would be a black text or white sticky label with text only…”

YOU:  You are beginning to hyperventilate and now are starting to panic…you fight that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach and ask: er,,, how much it would cost to get a couple of those valuable one offs DVDs.

You hear a squeal of delight and the sound of an abacus clicking away to the sound of “Flight of the Bumble Bee” in the back ground…

Your Customer Service Rep of Your Replicator  finally answers.. “I can have that ready for you in FIVE days…. With rush charges and overnight shipping cost... it will come out to exactly the cost of 1000 DVDs!  “

You: You begin to feel like a carp in a shark tank? Or in other words- not big enough to be important?

End of Script

Sound a little far fetched?

Perhaps…but not as far fetched as one might think.

The retail market heavily influences the CD/DVD replication industry and as a result many of the corporate sector have to pre plan there production to require very long turn times and in some cases additional cost.

Immediately preceding the Christmas holiday season the nations replication companies capacity is severely taxed by the  flood of retail and theatrical firms trying to get  their latest edition of that new “Nuke em” game or latest block buster reelase out before the holidays. In short, there isn’t enough room to make everyone happy.

The corporate sector small optical media runs projects are left to fend for themselves like vultures circling around the tattered bits of flesh on a Long Horn Steer carcass…so are the short run clients begging for the scraps of replication time available. 

So what does this mean to that poor soul who has the 50 – 1000 CD  or DVD requirement?

Perhaps the answer to this scenario is in ROM Squared, Inc.

ROM Squared, Inc was founded by President Tom Brunhart and Vice President Amy Woodruff in 2000.  Now celebrating their 5th year anniversary this month, the company is considered nationwide as one of the Midwest’s leaders in providing turnkey optical media products and services.  ROM Squared, Incorporated has grown to be one of the nations largest DVD-R and CD-R fast turn facilities with production capacity to provide 2000 DVD-Rs or  3000 CD-Rs in a 24 hour period.  In addition to their in house capabilities they micro manage large replication project for Fortune 500 companies nationwide.

In December ROM Squared, Inc expanded and automated its facility with $100,000 dollars of automated DVD duplication equipment. The facility expansion included 3 of Microtech’s latest model DVD automated duplicators, 2 Image Aligners, and 4 additional automated Ink Jet printers to answer their clients demands for the fastest turn time available.

“We originally opened the business to give personalized service and answer the long turn time CD-R duplication issues that had plagued this community.  As a result, we had a natural transition to expand and position ourselves as one of the nation’s leaders in fast turn, high image DVD duplication.” says Tom Brunhart

“We have a hard earned reputation as being pace setters in the optical media  industry. New products that will soon be offered are dual layered DVD-Rs, Hexalock Copy protection, 1.2Gig DVD mini rounds and 350 Meg hockey rink shaped DVD media.”