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The video displays a conference room meeting with five individuals. Each participant has a
notebook, pen, and water bottle arranged neatly on the oval-shaped desk in front of them.
Speaker 1: The company's director, Sam.
Speaker 2: Samantha.
Speaker 3: Lisa.
Speaker 4: Anthony.
Speaker 5: Steve.
The conversation flows as follows:
Speaker 1: "Good morning. I'm glad to see all of you at the meeting this morning looking bright-eyed at this early six thirty AM meeting. Okay, what I'd like to do is just to bring you guys up to speed in terms of [why we're] why we're here this morning. Here are the things that have been set out for us to get done in order to return to profitability within the company. One, we need to change the look and the feel of the website. Two, we need to sell space on the website."
As Speaker 1 starts to talk about the things needed to be done to return to profitability and speaker 3 stares at Speaker 1.
Speaker 3: "Sell space."
Speaker 5: "So, I am."
Speaker 1: "And create a new approach."
Speaker 4: "Sam the look and the feel of the website, we talked about this already."
Speaker 1: "I know."
Speaker 4: "How many times?"
Speaker 1: "Listen, guys, we don't, [we don't have] we don't have a choice in the matter. We don't have a choice in whether or not these things get done. These are the things that we've got to get done."
Speaker 5: "Sam, [what was it] what was it that we didn't discuss then?"
Speaker 5 interrupts speaker 1 just as he was about the finish talking. Moreover, Speaker 1 also faces multiple interruptions from the other speakers, as they collectively express their disagreement with him.
Speaker 2: "There wasn't that across the board, the clients didn't like the fact that we were advertising on the website. It made the it cheapened their entire experience for them."
Speaker 3: "Especially our oldest clients."
Speaker 2: "Yeah."
Speaker 4: "They don't want that many changes."
Speaker 2: "No, no, no, no, I know, and they're not comfortable having [but]"
Speaker 1: "[Once again,] Once again, as I mentioned, these are, we don't have an option to getting these things done, okay? The board of directors, CEO, our investors are looking for us to reposition our brand and also to lower [to]."
Speaker 5: "Samantha"
Speaker 3: "Well, I think"
Speaker 1: "To package our services to be more competitive in the marketplace."
Speaker 3: "Well, then I think that [the] the people in charge should be talking to Samantha because she's had the most experience [and]."
Speaker 5: "Absolutely. Absolutely."
Speaker 3: "And is the one who knows how these plans could come into action [and]."
Speaker 1: "Well, that's why we're all here today, including Samantha. Samantha has a lot of good ideas she brings to the table, but I want to talk about the things that have been more or less mandated that we get done, and that is, as I said again, the look and feel of the website."
Speaker 5: "But, Samantha, when we did all the research in the first place, did we ever talk to the board of directors about that? Was that something that was."
Speaker 2: "Oh, yeah. No, [we had] we had several meetings. This isn't something that appeared out of thin air. It is something that took a lot of thought across the board."
Speaker 5: "This is [well], well, travelled territory with us."
Speaker 2: "Yeah!"
Speaker 3: "We've spent years on this."
Speaker 2: "I know."
Speaker 1: "Okay. Well, [hang on], hang on, guys. Once again, it's up to me to make sure that these things get done. I would like to sit here and spend a lot of time talking about [the way things well]"
Speaker 4: "You can't make changes with our existing clients. You're forgetting about them."
Speaker 4 taps the table gently while speaking. And, the video dynamically shifts its focus frequently to capture the speakers engaged in conversation.
Speaker 1: "Well, we're not going to forget about our existing clients. All the product changes. But [the things you] the things you have done here, though, are going to get [inaudible]."
Speaker 1: "and everything that we're talking about."
Speaker 4 overlaps speaker 1 and his voice inaudibly trails off.
Speaker 5: "[Samantha, what] Samantha, what have we done in the past when we've made changes? How did we keep our clients involved and keep them up to date?"
Speaker 2: "Well, actually, they were involved through the website the way that we had it set up."
Speaker 4: "That's my point, exactly."
Speaker 1: "Okay."
Speaker 3: "With what we've got now instead of changing it."
Speaker 1: "Let me just make one thing."
Speaker 5: "I agree with you."
Speaker 1: "Let me just make one thing clear. Okay? Right now, I am in charge here. I am the director of this company and this in this division. I appreciate Samantha. Samantha is very loyal, she's very bright, and all of you bring something to the table. But it is my responsibility to get these things done. We don't have an option, so what we need to do at this point is to wrap our minds around the things that the board and the investors has asked us to get [accomplished]."
Speaker 3: "I don't believe there's not an option."
While speaking, Speaker 3 conveyed her lack of belief. Throughout the conversation speaker 1 is interrupted by speakers 3, 4, and 5.
Speaker 1: "[We're] [We're] We're not talking"
Speaker 5: "I agree with you."
Speaker 1: "I think there."
Speaker 4: "I agree too."
Speaker 1: "Hang on. We're not talking about."
Speaker 5: "[I want to see] I want to see the research that's been done to prove that what we're doing right now."
Speaker 3: "Isn't working."
Speaker 5: "Isn't working. Absolutely."
Speaker 3: "Our company has been fruitful for years."
Speaker 5: "Absolutely."
Speaker 2: "Right. And during a poor economy, this is not the time we want to be implementing the changes you're talking about."
Speaker 1: "Well, right now if we don't implement the changes that we're talking about, it's you know, it's possible we won't have jobs."
Speaker 4 gently taps the table using the pen in his hand while speaking and speaker 3 gives an exasperated expression while speaker 1 talks.
Speaker 4: "Our numbers are not a reflection of what has been going on and what's been done in the past. It's a reflection of the economy in general. Everyone across the board in different types of business are being affected by the economy. It's not because of what we've been doing."
Speaker 5: "Right!"
Speaker 3: "And that's why the decline is so insignificant compared to most companies."
Speaker 5: "Absolutely. And, Samantha, do you think that changing the website is going to, I mean, if the problems are based on the economy, certainly changing the website is not [going to]."
Speaker 2: "No, no, no [inaudible]."
Speaker 1: "Okay. One of the things we're talking about, Steve, is not changing the website, but modernizing the website. Right now, we have to look at changing, how it's navigated, and rearrange the page structure, because."
Speaker 5: "[With all] With all due respect, Sam, don't you think that the hot spots version is a much more dumbed-down version of the website than what we had before."
Speaker 2 looks down and smiles.
Speaker 2: "I agree."
Speaker 5: "It's not modernizing, it's stepping backwards."
Speaker 4: "Exactly!"
Speaker 3 raises her eyebrows while raising her point in before Speaker 2.
Speaker 3: "I mean, [I really] I really think that our older clients are going to have a hard time with the new navigational system."
Speaker 2: "Yes. That's exactly what I was going to say."
Speaker 4: "They won't understand it. No. They won't understand it."
Speaker 2: "And to change to a new system I think when we had the meeting a year ago, we all agreed that the website needed to undergo some cosmetic changes."
Speaker 4: "Exactly."
Speaker 5: "Yes, absolutely. Cosmetic changes."
Speaker 4: "Cosmetic are different than [inaudible]. Cosmetic is okay."
Speaker 1: "Our website [is not] is not modern enough. We have to make changes to what we have in order to keep up with the changes in the industry. And we are not keeping up with the changes in the industry."
Speaker 2: "What we have has taken six years to implement. It has evolved into what it is based on what works. We've had trial."
Speaker 1: "Well, at this point, what it is What it at this point, Samantha, what it is isn't good enough, because our current."
Speaker 5: "We don't have another six years."
Speaker 1: [We have got to get] [we have got to] We've got to bring the board [inaudible] [multiple speakers]."
All speakers are speaking simultaneously overlapping each other voices.
Speaker 1: "The problem we have now is our existing clients aren't enough to pay the bills."
Speaker 5: "I mean, Lisa, you had a point."
Speaker 1: "Okay, [we've got to] We've got to draw in new clients."
Speaker 2: "We've got to draw in new clients, but why? At the risk of losing our existing clients? Because."
Speaker 1: "No, we've got to make changes that's going to build the business. We've got to bring in new clients."
Speaker 2: "We have a business."
Speaker 1: "And new clients, when they look at what we have, are not interested. We don't have a choice in the matter. We're being told that what we have is not good enough."[Multiple speakers]
While Speaker 2 begins to speak, she is interrupted by Speaker 5.
Speaker 5: "[In the past, when the board] in the past, when the board has come forward and said we need to make these changes, you've done the research, and we've gone forward, and we've said we think this is going to work, we think that's not going to work."
Speaker 2: "Correct."
Speaker 5: "We've gone back to the board, and we've presented them with that, and I think."
Speaker 2: "Yeah. Yeah. "
Speaker 5: "That’s what you need to do in this case again."
Speaker 1: "Well, [once again,] once again. In order to make the changes that we have, we're going to we're going to have to do the research. I mean, we're not just going to."
Speaker 3: "Then talk to the woman who's done the research here."
Speaker 3 speaks the last point in audio 8 she extended her arm and points at speaker 2.
Speaker 1: "Well, we're going to have to do more research to get the things done that we're being mandated to get done. Once again, Lisa, understanding the things that we have to get done, I need you to work as hard as you possibly can."
Speaker 3: "We've talked about what."
Speaker 4 closes her eyes and displays a look of disappointment on her face.
Speaker 1: "And we've got to wrap our mind around getting these things done. As I said, we don't there's no it's not an option. We've got to."
Speaker 2: "It's not an option at all? There's no option."
Speaker 3 looks are Speaker 1 while nodding in agreement.
Speaker 3: "Okay. What do you want me to say now?"
Speaker 1: "Well, what I need for you to do is give me your ideas from a marketing perspective on how we can get these things done."
Speaker 3: "Okay. Well, I think I've stated my opinion already, as we all have, and I think that the best I can do is research, then, because I think that's I will research, then."
Speaker 1: "Okay. That's what I want from you, then. I want you to spend the time you have to spend researching all the ideas that we've talked about and come back to us at our next meeting with a plan."
Speaker 1: "Now, Anthony, from a sales force standpoint, I need for you to have your team wrap their mind around everything that we've got to get done here. Now, from where you sit, what do what are you going to bring to the table?"
Speaker 4 takes a deep breath before speaking and nods his head in disagreement while speaking.
Speaker 4: "Not getting rid of my existing clients."
Speaker 1: "Oh, we're not talking about getting rid of your existing clients."
Speaker 4: "Well, that's what it sounds like to me."
Speaker 1: "Anthony, we've gone down that road. We don't, we're not getting rid of existing clients. [We need] We need to bring on new clients."
Speaker 4: "I know about my clients. I've had them for six to ten years. Samantha, I've had them for six to ten years. I can't." [inaudible]
Speaker 4 and speaker 1 talks simultaneously overlapping each other voices.
Speaker 1: "Okay. [What I'd like you to] What I'd like you to look at is selling the space on the website to our business customers and our finance customers. Can you do that?"
Speaker 4: "Yeah."
Speaker 1: "Okay. Great. Now, from Steve, what I'd like for you to do is to look at everything that we're about to take on here, and I want you to oversee these programs and make sure that everything stays on task. All right."
Speaker 5: "We can't just break apart our existing setup willy-nilly, our existing products willy-nilly here. But I will if as I'm being forced to, go forward and see about expanding some of our offerings."
Speaker 2: "It's going to confuse a lot of people."
Speaker 1: "If everybody does their part and, you know, once again, Samantha, you understand you've been around a while, you understand what's going on. What I need you to do is to look at everything that we're going to take on from a finance point [and] and come back with a plan that's going to get us to where we need to go. Okay?"
Speaker 2: "Fine. You want me to work on the financing. I don't understand what the point is with all this. It makes no sense, but, hey, you've heard how we all feel. We'll go with what the board says, and we know what road it's going down. We're going to watch it fail, and there's nothing we can do about it."
Speaker 1: "Well, if we all do our part if we all do our part and give this thing hundred percent, it won't fail. It won't fail. You guys are too experienced; you have done great work to allow this thing to fail."
Speaker 2 looks at the other Speaker 3, Speaker 4, and Speaker 5 while speaking. Speaker 5 leans back in the chair folding his arms and looking down.
Speaker 4: "Hey, Hey, Sam, are you sure about this?"
Speaker 4 points to Speaker 2 with the pen in his hand before speaking.
Speaker 2: "I think we're in a position where there's nothing [we can't] we can't do anything but follow what they're saying. Obviously."
Speaker 1: "[Right]."
Speaker 2: It's mandated. It's not that they're offering our opinion."
Speaker 1: "Listen. Listen. There's no option. I've asked you, and you've committed to the things that we have to get done. As a team, we can get this done. So, what I'd like to do now is meet back here in two weeks to look at all the pieces, and let's put it together and make it work."
Speaker 5: "Two weeks?"
Speaker 2: "Two weeks."
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