One With The Table - Cambridge, MA

An example of a spreadsheet program...not necessarily our host...

Yesterday we spent some time with the products of a very large and very Seattle-based company. I am not going to name it no matter what, but considering most of us use its products every day, it is going to be fairly obvious to you all.  

Our cohort was invited to use their space in Kendall Square (lovingly referred to as NERD - the New England Research and Development center--ummm, oops?), and what a wonderful space it was! Big, airy, open, and filled with computers for our use.  Also enough stalls for the girls in the women's bathroom--I am keeping a separate file of best cohort hosts and yes, bathroom stalls do play into the equation. Chalk one up for NERD.

After a great introduction and life history from a general manager at said company, we were ready to hit the computers. Not literally, as that is frowned upon. Also, that is usually done by my kids. With a football. Which reminds me that I am from the generation when if our TV was not working, my brother and I would wallop it on the side and suddenly the static was gone.  I kind of miss that wallop--if the TV is not working now, I just have to wait for FiOS to figure itself out. 

Anyway, our class was on home computing and business computer products (it is soooooo hard not to name this company) was led by a hilarious and contracted non-host-company-employee. She taught us some tricks on the spreadsheet product (errgh) and what "contextual ribbons" are. After about a half hour and some silence as we figured out these ribbons, she looks up and comments "Is anyone learning anything?" in such a desperate way, I had to laugh. 

And we were learning. My favorite learning: you must "Be One With the Table." As in, before you started changing any calculations or charts, you had to make sure you had selected a cell within the spreadsheet's table. We ran into problems consistently not following the "one with the table" admonition and she would repeat the mantra. She cracked a number of jokes and when we did not immediately respond, she told us that "These are funny jokes, people." And they were. I loved her. Most fun learning spreadsheets ever. 

Then we moved on to the company's integrated messaging, presentation, spreadsheet and who knows, perhaps it also makes dinner. And our teacher says "it's smarter than all the guys I dated in high school" and I clarify "combined?" and she says yes. This is the humor I love. This is what I miss about the work world--the smart comments, the building off each other's ideas. Not that building off my kids' lego ideas hasn't been fun, but come on. This morning at the bus stop I had to hear why the elephant crossed the road (the chicken was busy). 

Now, I will say this. I think I should name the company that hosted us because I LOVED their products. LOVED. Their updated 2013 and 2016 versions are fabulous and intelligent (not, so far, smarter than my high school boyfriends, but definitely more malleable).  But I won't, because a promise is a promise (made at the beginning of this blog).  

In any case, the cohort is off next week so I probably will not be posting. Maybe turkey pictures. Me being one with the table of food. Is anyone learning anything?