Undercover Boss , CBS , CEO of Churchill Downs

[Igeteven]

Undercover Boss , CBS , CEO of Churchill Downs


Just watch the show, on CBS, This man is all Class, Grade 1,

Love the show.

I hope other watch it.


http://www.churchilldowns.com

Lester

[Show Me the Wire]

Very good show tonight. Really, illustrated the importance of purse levels for compensation of the baskside workers.

[NJ Stinks]

It was a great show. The COO gets points for the experiment. :ThmbUp:

[tzipi]

Going to have to watch it on internet or their site. Missed it :mad: Glad it was good though.

[Igeteven]

http://www.cbs.com/

watch and enjoy

[illinoisbred]

I was somewhat surprised how clueless he was of the pay scale and hardships of employees and independent contractors (trainers) plying their trade at his racetracks. Christsakes, that female custodian is practically paying to work at Arlington-$8.oo per hour and driving each day from Chicago to Arlington and back-she's nuts. Also, his mispronunciation of the word "valet" surprised me.

Rather than someone gaining an understanding/appreciation of the love and dedication of those trying to earn a living at the track,I think the show better pointed out the woeful ignorance those in charge possess.

[sandpit]

In the nature of full disclosure, I once worked for CD. I thought the show was pretty good, but agree with Illinois that it's incredible how clueless the guy is when it comes to the workers' plights. He kept talking about how he was stuck in his office and didn't get out amongst the people, but that is nobody's fault but management's. CDI is not a huge company like IBM. The show really pointed out the division between mgmt and employees. I know that most of these guys in the room with Carstanjen NEVER interact with their employees, except for the poor head of HR, who has the unenvieable duty of firing people every six months or so.

I found it very ironic that he said the company needed more people that had the diverse experience of front/back side. For the past several years, there MO has been to fire those type of people and hire people with NO horse experience, like Carstanjen, who came from GE.

I hope for the sake of everybody there that this show does help all the employees get more respect for what they do, because there are many very passionate people there, but I seriously doubt much will change.

[jognlope]

$8 an hour for that gal to clean the place, man that is despicable, glad she got a raise.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

I have to admit that the thing with the valet was very emotional. Good for Arlington to name a race after the daughter.

Not surprisingly, the racing exec was completely out of touch with what makes the track tick.
It is worse when it comes to their knowledge of their customer (the bettor).

I don't know about anyone else but I couldn't help but thinking how nice the boardrooms looked, and then contrast that with the $8 cleaner, it made CD look like a slave labor situation. Funny that the exec couldn't do an $8 an hour job.

I don't recall the cleaning lady getting a raise. She was given an "opportunity" to not have to drive an hour and a half to and from work to make $8 and clean executive suites and clean an OTB closer to home instead.

I wonder if she went along with the switch. Cleaning an OTB has to be one step above cleaning a monkey cage.

[GaryG]

I was somewhat surprised how clueless he was of the pay scale and hardships of employees and independent contractors (trainers) plying their trade at his racetracks. Christsakes, that female custodian is practically paying to work at Arlington-$8.oo per hour and driving each day from Chicago to Arlington and back-she's nuts. Also, his mispronunciation of the word "valet" surprised me.

Rather than someone gaining an understanding/appreciation of the love and dedication of those trying to earn a living at the track,I think the show better pointed out the woeful ignorance those in charge possess.I was surprised that he knew as much as he did (which is not much). I hear stories about the totally clueless CDI suits from a friend of mine at BRIS. Seems like a nice guy though.

[Robert Goren]

The thing I noticed the most is that he never spent any time with anyone who dealt directly with the customers. No sellers, no waitresses, not the guy who sells the form, not even a parking lot attendant. This guy was clueless and he is still clueless. JMO

[Horseplayersbet.com]

The thing I noticed the most is that he never spent any time with anyone who dealt directly with the customers. No sellers, no waitresses, not the guy who sells the form, not even a parking lot attendant. This guy was clueless and he is still clueless. JMO
His knowledge of bettors if shown on TV would have been more embarrassing that his bugling.

[TommyCh]

It was a classic example of corporate disconnect with a guy who really didn't even know the business of his company. The gestures at the end of the show were condescending and insulting. Except for naming the race for the daughter, and you know that wasn't his idea. If that's what the show is every week, it's pretty sick.

[Leonard]

If I am not mistaken he only made one very small policy change. The cleaning folks leaving in the middle of the night can ask security to escort them through the dark parking lots to their cars.

That was it.

Named a race after the guy's daughter. Gave a small trainer a few extra stalls. Gave the press room girl a promotion to the marketing dept. Gave the cleaning lady a raise (how she lived on 8 bucks an hour to begin with is beyond me), made her a fulltime employee and gave her the option to work at an OTB closer to home -- none of those things address the problems he encountered.

I guess it is nice to help out a few individuals but nothing was done to really identify and address any systemic problems that affect all the other employees who were in the same boat as those selected few (not to mention all the other employees/positions that went unnoticed).

The COO is still clueless about the company he runs and its people, especially if that is all he knows about it.

[46zilzal]

It was a classic example of corporate disconnect with a guy who really didn't even know the business of his company. The gestures at the end of the show were condescending and insulting. Except for naming the race for the daughter, and you know that wasn't his idea. If that's what the show is every week, it's pretty sick.
It was a superficial as I imagined NEVER addressing the patron who comes in everyday to support the game.

[Robert Goren]

He is one of the "GE whiz kids". In the past that has never been a good thing when one of them is put in charge. Just ask Home Depot. JMO

[rwwupl]

http://www.cbs.com/

watch and enjoy

Igeteven(Lester),

Thank you for a fine contribution. I watched the show and thought it was very good, and it was a great move by the boss to see what was going on.

:) :ThmbUp:

rwwupl

P.S ..The title "Undercover Boss" sort of indicates it is about the employees, not the customers.

[johnhannibalsmith]

...
P.S ..The title "Undercover Boss" sort of indicates it is about the employees, not the customers.

I'll admit, I fully expected a completely different response on the matter from you Rwwupl. :)

Perhaps the most insightful comment yet - thank you.

[BillW]

The part that got left on the cutting room floor ...

http://blog.horseplayersassociation.org/2010/03/undercover-bettor.html#links

[Fingal]

The thing I noticed the most is that he never spent any time with anyone who dealt directly with the customers. No sellers, no waitresses, not the guy who sells the form, not even a parking lot attendant. This guy was clueless and he is still clueless. JMO

That got me too. When a patron comes into a ANY business ( here CHDN ) they're the first ones someone comes in contact with. And that sets the impression for the day & decides if they'll return. It's like where I used to work- there was a sign in the lunchroom- " It's easier to keep a customer than create a new one. "

How true............

I've seen some good episodes, I've seen some eh.........This was an EH........
I enjoyed the bit with Scotty ? the pony horse more. I realize this is a TV show & the idea is to create individual stories one can feel involved in & those resulting changes are nice, but there's something called the big picture & I didn't see anything done here or even touched on.

[johnhannibalsmith]

The part that got left on the cutting room floor ...

http://blog.horseplayersassociation.org/2010/03/undercover-bettor.html#links

Anyone that has yet to follow this link and read the entry, I highly recommend you take a moment and do so.

Brilliant and entertaining... If I had the loot, I'd pay to produce this for television. :)

[ldiatone]

I was somewhat surprised how clueless he was of the pay scale and hardships of employees and independent contractors (trainers) plying their trade at his racetracks. Christsakes, that female custodian is practically paying to work at Arlington-$8.oo per hour and driving each day from Chicago to Arlington and back-she's nuts. Also, his mispronunciation of the word "valet" surprised me.

Rather than someone gaining an understanding/appreciation of the love and dedication of those trying to earn a living at the track,I think the show better pointed out the woeful ignorance those in charge possess.
i thought the pronunciation was wrong also

[Igeteven]

Anyone that has yet to follow this link and read the entry, I highly recommend you take a moment and do so.

Brilliant and entertaining... If I had the loot, I'd pay to produce this for television. :)


:) :) :) :) :)

[46zilzal]

i thought the pronunciation was wrong also
go to Versailles Kentucky to see where that comes from then.

or Texans saying San JA cinta for San HA-CENT- toe (SAN JACINTO)

[Deepsix]

Wouldn't it be San-ya-cento ??

'J' is pronounced as if a 'y' ??

[Tom]

The part that got left on the cutting room floor ...

http://blog.horseplayersassociation.org/2010/03/undercover-bettor.html#links

No that's funny!

[rastajenk]

Did he call them val-lets or val-lays?

[illinoisbred]

Did he call them val-lets or val-lays?
Val-lets

[Leonard]

go to Versailles Kentucky to see where that comes from then.

or Texans saying San JA cinta for San HA-CENT- toe (SAN JACINTO)

And it is, of course, pronouced Ver-SALES instead of that Frenchy sounding Ver-SI. I have never heard Kentuckians pronounce valet (val-ay) as val-et though.

[FenceBored]

And it is, of course, pronouced Ver-SALES instead of that Frenchy sounding Ver-SI. I have never heard Kentuckians pronounce valet (val-ay) as val-et though.

Yeah, but the guy he was working under said "vah-let" constantly. If the COO said "va-lay" under the circumstances, it would have come across as snooty. I came away thinking a "va-lay" at AP would park Inez's car while the "vah-let" gets the silks for her. :cool:

[rastajenk]

Right or wrong, the guys that help jockeys have always been val-lets as long as I can remember. So if that's what he called them, then he's more tied on than he's getting credit for. ;)

:cool:

[GameTheory]

Right or wrong, the guys that help jockeys have always been val-lets as long as I can remember. So if that's what he called them, then he's more tied on than he's getting credit for. ;)
:cool:British people in old movies always say val-let when speaking of their personal assistant-type person. I only hear val-lay for people that park cars in America.

[GaryG]

The jocks asistant has always ben a VAL-et. Anybody that used the word val-lay inthe jock's room would be laughed out of town.

[Grits]

What I found the most troublesome--and what I'd consider the most embarrassing for CDI was the disconnect between upper management and employees was so great it overshadowed any previous episode of the show. And the disconnect remained, if not more obvious, when Carstarjen returned to CDI to speak with his peeps, who all sat around their lush mahogany boardroom table looking, and sounding, as they could've given a tinker's damn in their perfunctory comments.

I've never been to Arlington Park. And this was the first time I have ever seen its interior. And from the footage, it truly is everything, and more, that Miesque has described in the past. Beautiful . . . it looks like a Five Star Resort Hotel. I hope, at some point in time, to go there.

Still, what bothered me the most as far as each worker featured--was watching a young woman clean--by herself each night, an entire floor, or was it two floors, of suites, which are possibly reserved rooms for heavy players/whales? I'm not sure.

Anyway, she travels 40 miles round trip each night to her job And after she is done at 11:30 pm, she has to walk to her car, alone, with no security present, across an empty, unlit, parking lot to drive the 20 miles home.

ALL of this for minimum wage. It made me sick knowing how wealthy MrD is, and what the suits at CDI are paid.

At the end of the episode, I believe she was told she'd be given a raise, and that security would be available to her if she needed it.

The other young lady bathing horses on the backside in the am, then changing clothes to work frontside in the pressbox in the pm was offered a position at Churchill in the Marketing Department up to, and through the Derby. Good luck, sweetheart, Monday morning, after its running.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

P2GLDb1frTI


val·et
   /væˈleɪ, ˈvælɪt, ˈvæleɪ/ Show Spelled [va-ley, val-it, val-ey] Show IPA noun, verb,-et·ed, -et·ing.
–noun
1.
a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his employer, as by taking care of clothing or the like; manservant.
2.
a man who is employed for cleaning and pressing, laundering, and similar services for patrons of a hotel, passengers on a ship, etc.
3.
an attendant who parks cars for patrons at a hotel, restaurant, etc.
4.
a stand or rack for holding coats, hats, etc.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
5.
to serve as a valet.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/valet

According to dictionary.com it is pronounced Va Lay

[joanied]

It is the only segment of this show I've seen...and probably won't see any others...
I thought it was pretty good...and a very humble experience for this guy...
those of you that are saying he didn't do anything around the customer theme...this show is for employees...so you really can't get mad he didn't address the customers...although, rather than trying to play the call to post, it would have been better if they'd put him behind the betting windows...
Grits, I think the 'heads' at the big mahogony desk were too aware of the camera crew and just didn't know how to 'act' ;) ...
I also was horrified at the pay scale of the cleaning gal...glad she got that raise...he did do good for the folks that were in the show...and even my husband got a little choked up when they named the race for the valets daughter.

Anyway...I did like the show.

[CryingForTheHorses]

It was a classic example of corporate disconnect with a guy who really didn't even know the business of his company. The gestures at the end of the show were condescending and insulting. Except for naming the race for the daughter, and you know that wasn't his idea. If that's what the show is every week, it's pretty sick.


What makes you think naming a race for the guys daughter wasnt his idea?? I dont think his gestures were insulting at all...Please tell me what was so sick ?The guy didnt have to give anything to any of them.He should make all of his stiff shirt employees do the same thing that he did so they also can see and learn about whats going on.Glad he understood how a small trainer struggles to keep his stalls from the big outfits.Amazing how dedicated that cleaning lady was.All the people on the show last night shows just how good the American people are..I think he did a great job

[Horseplayersbet.com]

The part that got left on the cutting room floor ...

http://blog.horseplayersassociation.org/2010/03/undercover-bettor.html#links
Nothing about the different saddle cloth colors between thoroughbreds and harness?

[sandpit]

What I found the most troublesome--and what I'd consider the most embarrassing for CDI was the disconnect between upper management and employees was so great it overshadowed any previous episode of the show. And the disconnect remained, if not more obvious, when Carstarjen returned to CDI to speak with his peeps, who all sat around their lush mahogany boardroom table looking, and sounding, as they could've given a tinker's damn in their perfunctory comments.

I've never been to Arlington Park. And this was the first time I have ever seen its interior. And from the footage, it truly is everything, and more, that Miesque has described in the past. Beautiful . . . it looks like a Five Star Resort Hotel. I hope, at some point in time, to go there.

Still, what bothered me the most as far as each worker featured--was watching a young woman clean--by herself each night, an entire floor, or was it two floors, of suites, which are possibly reserved rooms for heavy players/whales? I'm not sure.

Anyway, she travels 40 miles round trip each night to her job And after she is done at 11:30 pm, she has to walk to her car, alone, with no security present, across an empty, unlit, parking lot to drive the 20 miles home.

ALL of this for minimum wage. It made me sick knowing how wealthy MrD is, and what the suits at CDI are paid.

At the end of the episode, I believe she was told she'd be given a raise, and that security would be available to her if she needed it.

The other young lady bathing horses on the backside in the am, then changing clothes to work frontside in the pressbox in the pm was offered a position at Churchill in the Marketing Department up to, and through the Derby. Good luck, sweetheart, Monday morning, after its running.

Grits, you bring up some good points. Since I've already said that I worked for many of those "peeps" in the past, I can give a little insight. In fairness to the people sitting around the mahogany table, most of them have never been in front of the camera, so that's why they looked uncomfortable. Other than Bob Evans, who has all the personality of a sheet of plywood.

You're spot on about Arlington, the prettiest facility in racing. Too bad its product is second rate.

You're right about the cleaning lady's dedication too. Where she works, in the suites, is reserved for people that either have annual leases on them, or groups that rent them out for the day. Not the type of people you would see wandering the grandstand.

At CD, they used to have a very dedicated cleaning crew that took care of all the offices, both racetrack and corporate. They were truly great people that loved their jobs and where they worked, even though they got paid about like the lady in the show. Well, some bean counter got the idea that they were costing the company too much money because they had benefits, being full-time employees. So they fired them all. It was horribly sad, they came around and said goodbye to everybody. The replacement crew was some contract service that had no clue, and then things started disappearing from offices. This type of thing is one reason why moral absolutely sucked at a place where it should be very good.

Ditto on the gal that runs the Arlington Press Box. CD hires plenty of people pre-derby and then cans them afterwards. That gal will be filling media credentials and making copies like an intern for the next couple of months.

[rrpic6]

Did they show any names for the people in the Board Room? I missed the beginning of the show. I thought I knew one of the guys, John Marshall. He used to be with Ladbroke's/Meadows in Pittsburgh. Now he's the GM at Calder, I think..
RR

[kingfin66]

What makes you think naming a race for the guys daughter wasnt his idea?? I dont think his gestures were insulting at all...Please tell me what was so sick ?The guy didnt have to give anything to any of them.He should make all of his stiff shirt employees do the same thing that he did so they also can see and learn about whats going on.Glad he understood how a small trainer struggles to keep his stalls from the big outfits.Amazing how dedicated that cleaning lady was.All the people on the show last night shows just how good the American people are..I think he did a great job

I was actually thinking of you when he gave more stalls to the trainer. Wouldn't it be nice if more of you could be allotted additional stalls? The part of the show where he tried to be the track bugler was useless, the balance was pretty good. It was interesting when he discussed how horse racing is steeped in tradition, but that the tradition often gets in the way of business.

[PaceAdvantage]

The jocks asistant has always ben a VAL-et. Anybody that used the word val-lay inthe jock's room would be laughed out of town.Yup, GaryG and the Churchill COO has it right. It's VAL-et here in NY too...

[Igeteven]

Yup, GaryG and the Churchill COO has it right. It's VAL-et here in NY too...

Out here in the West, there are many names, I can't say some, but Assistant is one.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

In Canada it is Va Lay

[illinoisbred]

In Canada it is Va Lay
That's why I thought the COO was incorrect. Va Lay is how I've always heard it strangely enough, at Arlington.

[DeanT]

French words, depending where you are, are bastardized oft times.

My personal fave are some surnames like harness driver Mike Lachance. His name is la-shance, but on TV anywhere south of Quebec it is La- Chance, like having a chance to win. I also met a fella last-named "Benoit" from the south once and called him by his French name until he corrected me.

If Ballet's were not popular in France and some English country took over the word, I would bet we would be calling it like the COO of Churchill and the boys do.

Then again, I am not one for the ballet, so who cares. :)

[Igeteven]

French words, depending where you are, are bastardized oft times.

My personal fave are some surnames like harness driver Mike Lachance. His name is la-shance, but on TV anywhere south of Quebec it is La- Chance, like having a chance to win. I also met a fella last-named "Benoit" from the south once and called him by his French name until he corrected me.

If Ballet's were not popular in France and some English country took over the word, I would bet we would be calling it like the COO of Churchill and the boys do.

Then again, I am not one for the ballet, so who cares. :)


we are talking about how to say a job, how about CEO VS COO

what's the difference?

[Fingal]

Simply put, the CEO ( Chief Executive Officer ) is the captain of the ship. He's the manager of all the other managers. Hiring them is his responsibility.

The COO ( Chief Operating Officer ) is responsible for managing the day to day operations of a company. In other words, he's the suit that's the head bean counter.

[Igeteven]

Simply put, the CEO ( Chief Executive Officer ) is the captain of the ship. He's the manager of all the other managers. Hiring them is his responsibility.

The COO ( Chief Operating Officer ) is responsible for managing the day to day operations of a company. In other words, he's the suit that's the head bean counter.

Thanks, will use for the future.

[Igeteven]

See what a hundred million looks like

http://www.calderracecourse.com/casino/casino-photos

[JustRalph]

cross posted form the other thread

I just watched this show with the Churchill Downs prez

On demand on my new cable was nice.

This show was a joke. Clichéd crap. Just like the other episodes I have seen. He finds a couple of people to hang out with for a few days and they get rewarded for being on TV. The Waste Management guy was OK on his episode, but the producers are obviously selling "heart warming stories" about employees and nothing else. This Churchill guy is a friggin Lawyer who didn't even know how the trainers get paid? Right............?

If he mentioned spreadsheets and Power point presentations one more time I was going to jump out a window. The bullshit meeting with the board acting all concerned about him was stupid and childish.

Funny how they always seem to find some employee with a missing kidney or a daughter who just died to pair him with. It's crap..........and more Crap !!!

[PaceAdvantage]

Watch the White Castle episode and how they dance around the fact that the BOSS + another worker featured during the show has had some serious weight/health issues...

Not a good advertisement for White Castle, but then again, nobody goes there because it's healthy...:lol: