I like my job a lot. So here, in no particular order, is a list of my 10 favorite things I do at Behrman House.
- Having educators over for lunch, having ice cream parties, birthday cakes, anniversary lunches, the donuts David brings in—anything that involves food.
- After 16 years, knowing the Behrman House building so well that I can walk through the warehouse at night in the darkness, and feel totally at home.
- Hearing educators say to me at a conference, “So you’re Terry Kaye; I get your emails all the time.”
- Thinking up contests—Name the Rabbit Contest, the G.E.F.I.L.T.E. Test, the Caption Contest—with the dozens of back-and-forth emails between the staff here, all of us trying to be cleverer than our colleagues.
- The laughable experiences shipping boxes to conferences. Remember the life-size Gimmelstein figures we had at the CAJE Conference three years ago? Well, the box never arrived back from
Seattle. We figured it was because the outside said, “Blow up Gimmelstein.”
- The big-time responsibilities (educating our children Jewishly! creating top-notch books!) and the mundaneness of some of my tasks. One year I’d ordered vegetarian chopped liver for lunch at a book fair in
New York. The day before the book fair I found the following note on my desk chair, “Terry, Joseph’s chopped liver machine broke down. What shall be done?” The framed note hangs proudly in my office.
- Setting our own personal development goals each year. It could be learning how to create HTML emails, taking a writing course, visiting printing plants, studying Hebrew—anything that makes us better at what we do.
- My colleagues. So Jeremy schlepps along in 100+ degree heat to help me set up for a technology workshop at CAJE, Vicki adds practical suggestions to my marketing plans based on her years as an analyst at Merrill Lynch, and Gila advises on the color palette for my books.
- Having the latest technology in the office. Maybe it’s because David likes toys, but it seems we’re regularly upgrading our computers, adding web cams for off-site meetings, or testing out new Smartboards. We even bring our kids in to give us lessons on the latest video games like Webkinz, Second Life, and Zoo Tycoon.
- How polite you are when I nag you to allow me to put your photo in the Open Lion. And the time you give me on the phone, at conferences, and in emails to help me—and our Firm—understand how your school works and how we can best serve you.
Now, what are the best things about your job?
