Maybe I need to adopt a more modern, younger, accepting attitude regarding this corporatization of the Athletic Department here at VT. I don’t want to be Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino. The thing that caused me to rethink my thoughts was an email from my son (VT Class of 2000). My wife emailed him re: my thoughts on the refunds from the VTTO for the ECU game.
This is what he wrote back. “VT is all linked up into StubHub. They consider that their "secondary ticket market" (much like the NFL and MLB is all tied up into Ticketmaster), so they have visibility into that. It does make you question, though, why they don't just sell on StubHub or through the ticket office. Hell, I bet StubHub can even do their math for them instead of Whit deciding refunds based on basic math skills from fourth grade.
You have to like the validity of any accounting formula that constitutes dividing evenly between items at different face values coupled with "rounding up", right? You'd figure that, in this particular case, they'd actually do the exact math... would save them some money (the ECU tickets were $50, if I'm not mistaken), and people can't argue when the numbers come out to what they should be. Then, maybe, they could refund the parking passes.

I don't know... seems like another short sighted decision process where, if they spent more than five minutes on it, they could save themselves a bunch of complaints, phone calls, and money.”

I’ve always said my son is more astute than I am, so, if I’m going to wholeheartedly buy in, and avoid becoming Walt Kowalski, let’s go all the way. Outsource ticket sales. Since we’re so tied at the hip to StubHub, let them handle ticket sales. They seem to be better at it than we are. And, I would expect them to have a corporate mentality, because they are a real corporation, not just a corporate wannabe. So, I would expect a paucity of transparency from a true corporation. And, their customer service demeanor would have to be better than Sandy Smith’s. Plus, it gives an anomalous entity for Whit to blame when complaints occur.
Put it out for bids to StubHub, SeatGeek, TicketMaster, etc., and let low bidder win for X-number of years. Then, re-bid it. We outsource almost everything security wise to the ubiquitous RHINO, so why not outsource ticket sales. There would be salary savings, and Whit and Co., can use the same excuse,…”It wasn’t us, call (StubHub, SeatGeek, etc.), not us. We could certainly save money on the ticket printing process from that company we now use in Arkansas, because StubHub would also handle the cost of printing tickets. And, we could certainly save money for the salaries of VTTO personnel. Why do we need a full time ticket office, when we only sell tickets for four sports. Sounds like a win, win. See, I’m not Walt Kowalski. I can get into this corporate mentality.
Also, why do we have a Hokie Club? The Hokie Club/VTAF falls under University Advancement. That’s duplication of services, with resultant extra cost. I think we all agree that the HC record keeping is deplorable, at best. I’ve always gotten better data from University Advancement. It also relieves the Athletic Department of their responsibility/control. A few of the HC staff who fund raise exclusively for Athletics can be re-assigned to University Development. Of course, a downside is we don’t need Bill “TILI” Lansden, but that’s an unfortunate consequence for the higher purpose. But that’s the purpose of a prudently run corporation which is always looking to save money and cut labor costs. A modern corporation has to be ruthless, no matter whom it hurts. It must be a paean to the bottom line. Hell, we can outsource any calls regarding ticket matters to India or the Philippines, like most modern corporations. That should cut down on complaints, because complainers like me will get so frustrated with the language barrier and the passive aggressive behavior of the people at the other end of the call, we’ll simply hang up and quit calling. Customer service would maintain at status quo, and would relieve Whit of the aggravation of actually having to communicate about decisions being made.
So, don’t call me Walt Kowalski. I can adapt. I can think outside-the-box. I can be more “corporate.” And, eventually, the Athletic Department can get what it wants,--a total opaqueness to their decisions, with no alternative for its customers but to become docile, non-complaining, and non-questioning. I would write to Whit, which my wife has done many times before. She always gets an auto-reply saying that her email is important, he reads everyone, and he will get back to her as soon as he can. She has yet to receive response ONE. Now, that’s the corporate way to handle things.
Also, if we outsource to StubHub, we can save at least $528,000 (66,000 times 8). StubHub would have only refunded $50 per ticket, not $58. That extra $528,000 could be used to hire another Assistant/Associate AD, or two, or three. We wouldn’t hire worker bees, because we never use money to hire people who actually do more than “take meetings.” We wouldn’t use the money to make necessary repairs (the doors into Cassell, the broken water fountain in Cassell, the locked doors on the Women’s Bathroom at Lane, etc.), even if the repairs are safety isues. But that may be of little consequence to Whit, because we’re already running in the red, so deficit spending does not seem to be a concern.
So, I admit that I was Walt Kowalski, because I just didn’t get it. I’m trying to “get it.” So this is my “bene sugg” for cost saving, streamlining and falling in line with the new corporate mentality. I can adapt. I won’t say get off my porch to Whit, if he’ll just respond to one of my wife’s email first.
PS
Before I posted this I shared it with my son, inasmuch as he inspired me to change from my Walt Kowalski mentality. This is what he wrote back.

“So I'm guessing that the masses on TechSideline are still bowing at the altar of the Athletic Department?

Your posting looks good to me... it's not going to sway any of the masses, but that's not a shot at you. Unfortunately, people buy into this crap that Corporate America throws at them. It's amazing what people will do or think because the head of some Corporate organization says so.

I don't know, maybe I'm off, but Whit puts out a refund program and everybody seems to feel privileged that he would give them their money back (even though that should be an expectation because a product was not delivered). In fact, I bet half of them are more worried about how they can give that money back to VT because that's what Whit implies makes a "good Hokie".

It's just a shame... it feels as though a lot of things that come out of the Hokie Club, Athletic Department, etc. could just be better handled with a little bit more tact and grace. Unfortunately, the Hokie fan base doesn't seem to demand that.”