Want me to tell Bob anything?

[jbarb]

Once upon a time before I was dismissed from FTD ( I still laugh about that) I was invited to a meeting with Big Bob and some other Florists. I could not believe the arrogance of this man. However, the scary one is Soenan. He sat their at dinner and told me that "the florists needed to stop being such whinney cry babies and just do what they were told. That he was sick of listening to them and they needed to just be quiet and deliver flowers. "

I kid you not!

Now of course he is running the show.

Sad state of affairs if you ask me.

Jim

 

[stormy]

True Friend

i, like Mark got to be close to Bob and Pam. Great friends, would do anything for me and my family. hell, people who work for me may think the same thing about me. just my experience with a true friend. my family and I sometimes look at videos we made and wish they lived closer to us....loved to bull@@@@ with him and yes he is/was a very candid man.

just though i would add my 2 cents worth.. Hey Mark you gotta admit we have some good times, you, me, Sal, Italo, Hero, Charles, Debbie and
Debbie # 2 and they whole gang...

 

[Tom Carlson]

After all that has been said

Well, now what are you going to tell/say to Big Bob?

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Well, now what are you going to tell/say to Big Bob?

BOB...we miss you!!

 

[TOTO]

Actually, it was the BLACK HATS!

I'm pretty sure the perspective depends on if folks were in the inner circle of the screwer or they were the screwees.

At the risk of re-igniting disagreements from long, long ago, IMO local florists screwed up the industry.

It was our failure to support the companies that DID NOT compete against us at the time - forcing the sale of FTD when the equity owed members fell below the value of the company.

Wooed by rebates, the order volume moved to companies that did no national marketing and were in bed big time with 1-800.

And then the old FTDA - our team - crafted a sale agreement that was later thrown out by the DOJ for being anti-competitive. That wasn't Perry's or Bob's fault - it was ours.

Bob did what he was hired to do. Soenen's doing what he's hired to do. Both are fiercely competitive, ruthless when necessary, and know what perqs work where (even temporarily) to gain key allegiances.

It's just business.

TOTO was one of the majority of members who voted YES to the sale. That decision, while not the best decision (in retrospect) was based on the damage which the BLACK HATS had done to their very own MEMBER OWNED and OPERATED ASSOCIATION.

And your observation is 100% correct!

It was our (the black hats) failure to support the companies that DID NOT compete against us at the time - forcing the sale of FTD when the equity owed members fell below the value of the company.

Just to rehash, here's a repost.
Re: HOG WASH!

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikey the Flower Guy
Bad Bobby was NOT the evil sorcerer here, BUT, he sure SAW and ADOPTED a great opportunity in making a ton of money from the floral industry, he DID IT, and moved on!!...something that the MAJORITY OF FLORISTS cannot grasp, or even remotely understand.

little dick, the wall street banker with small bob as his last minute lackey with their buy it up to chop it up and sell it all again MO, took only nine years to DESTROY what REAL FLORISTS spent 84 years to build, THE BRAND. In fact, small bob made a ton of money OFF THE BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS of DA FLORISTS, not the floral industry!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikey the Flower Guy
FTD WAS NOT THE CULPRIT HERE...!!!! Toto or NO TOTO!!The FTD FLORISTS in 1994 chose to sell their association "assets", at a very turbulent time in the economic cycle PERIOD!!

We sold it because the BLACK HATS on the old board had SOLD THEIR SOULS to the 800 DEVIL and effectively, sold us down the River! It was little dick, as the highest of those UNSOLICITED BIDS, who promised us a LONG TERM PROFITABLE PARTNERSHIP and then, sold us down the River AGAIN, only nine years later.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikey the Flower Guy
Bob Norton came later.....with a very clear understanding of his "responsibilities", and COULD NOT CONVINCE member florists that this stupid "us against them" mental block that many florist STILL RETAIN to this very day, was gonna KILL US, and he was SOOOOOOO very right, and STILL florists want to vent their dislike for his attempts.
HE KNEW, after a time, that this was impossible, and some of us KNEW along with him, that the ONLY RESOLVE, was to get out...and he did!!

Yes, small bob coming from JoAnn Fabrics, already had an interesting past, paid the FEDS a fine, and walked away from them too! Regarding US against HIM, well, he set the stage for that play, time and again! He even screwed our GATEKEEPER along with our 99 year mutual support agreement by creating VNS, (Value Network Services), that GENERIC Wire Service within OUR WIRE SERVICE, remember? Can't remember how many times he pulled the Association into court when they tried to provide A SERVICE for their FAMILY MEMBERS, one which small bob's INC couldn't make a profit off of. His plan for ULTIMATE VICTORY over WEE FLORISTS was to SUCK THE BLOOD from the association, try and make it die (or just go away), after which, he could have CARTE BLANCHE to doo what he wanted TOO DOO to DA FLORISTS, WHICH HE DID!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikey the Flower Guy
I LIKED BOB NORTON...I liked him a lot....we spoke of this a few times, and each time, he would personify his exaspiration with florists!!
I SAY....MARK, and those few here that "GET IT"....FORGETABOUTIT!!
FIGHT your OWN fights,and forget about "other" florists, except those that clearly have identified the industry changes, and are succeeding, where those that REFUSE to change, are gonna die, and real soon!!

Yeah, TOTO started out that way too and as far back as Hawaii with his GENERAL PATON PRODUCTION saying that: " I'd like to see DOT.CON go to 80% and perhaps even 85% or 90% at some time in our future!"

After which, and with the first DOT.CON IPO, he reneged on that promise and reverted us back to net 71% after FTO. They even tried to screw us on that stock deal too, when they launched their next INC IPO. expecting us to trade in 3.74 shares of DOT.CON for 1 share of INC, effectively causing us to loose $8.00 on each new share of INC until the class action suit won the day and wee (duped) investors got our rightful money back!

After that, it was just one unfulfilled promise after the other with him talking out of both sides of his mouth, telling the florists one thing while DOO-ING THEM with the other! DOT.CON had all the GREAT GIFTS! small bob gave us THE LINE OF JUNK, courtesy of Tamara Zygmund! Doesn't anyone remember those facts, or do you play it like Hillary, when she said; "I can't recall!" after she had fired the entire staff in the White House Travel Office, much like small bob's MO back then too!

little dick and small bob were not "THE" KILLERS of the INDEPENDENT FLORISTS! In fact, they were just two of many BLOOD SUCKERS who managed to find an open vein.

Sad part is that, had they TREATED THEIR PARTNERS like PARTNERS, rather than, STICKING IT TO THEM, the long range profitability picture for THE INCLUSIVE FAMILY would've allowed for the so called WIND FALL PROFITS fore the ENTIRE FAMILY!

So now, it's up to us to IDENTIFY, IRRADIATE, ERADICATE, and ELIMINATE our ENEMIES wherever we find them by educating the consumer in the art of NOT FALLING for their BAIT and SWITCH TACTICS nor their MIDDLEMAN SKIMMER SCAMS!

As they say; FOOL MEE ONCE!, Shame on you! FOOL MEE TWICE!, Shame on MEE!

Lastly, my UMBLE OPINIONS are only expressed from a HISTORICAL point of view, citing the FACTS wherever and whenever, it's possible! Don't always mean that, some folks will accept them though!

Anyway, I hold BOSS on a plateau with the utmost of respect and consider him to be a BOARDIE GURU and a MENSCH! Although, sometimes, I think he speaks from his heart on what he thinks it all could've been like, versus my head, which tells mee HOW IT ALL TURNED OUT TO REALLY BEE!

And YES, fo-getta-boud-it, 'cause the Fat Lady Already Sung, and she's off again selling hogs to mo pigs, and she ain't lookin back on any of her ROAD KILL!

__________________
TOTO

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Last edited by TOTO : 30th May 2006 at 04:49 PM.

Footnote to Mikey: This wasn't meant to be one of those I TOLD YOU SOs. It was only the matter of my answers to some of those old statements regarding small bob.