Many, many moons ago when I was in college living what now seems to have been a glorious carefree life, I had the great pleasure of taking part in a spring festival we called “Muckawanna.” When the days started getting warm again and the specter of finals was still many weeks away, there would be a day of ridiculously childish behavior that was absolutely cathartic.
We would make huge vats of “jungle juice,” turn the long, sloping front yard into a big muddy slip and slide, sing and dance, and last but not least “sacrifice” appliances and electronics that had been annoying us all winter from the third-story rooftop of the fraternity house.
I was able to channel that feeling of liberation this past weekend thanks to ProCopy Office Solutions of Phoenix, Arizona.
Every year, ProCopy asks the local community to write in and share why they own the worst copier in Arizona. The most compelling story receives a new Canon digital copier from ProCopy as well as a trip for two to travel with the ASU football team to a Sun Devils road game. Best of all, the offending copier is ceremoniously dropped from a 107-foot crane at the ProCopy customer appreciation tailgate party while being broadcast live on local NBC Sports Radio 1060.
The winning entry this year came from Liz Johnson at the Norman S. Wright Company who wrote in her essay that her copier was “Pure evil, born of the devil himself, and carries the model number Satan D-666.”
“Liz’s entry was one of the first we received and was by far the best” said Mike McGuirk, President of ProCopy. “She totally captured the spirit of what we were looking for. Norman S. Wright Co. has never been a ProCopy client so we are ready to show them what great local service is all about and showcase what makes us special.”
The tailgate party did not disappoint, gathering a large group of customers, employees and friends this weekend for the big celebration with plenty of food and drink before the main event. In my pre-drop interview with Johnson, she was as entertaining as in her winning entry, telling me her copier is “the worst copier in the world; it makes the darkest copies – they come out looking like creatures of the underworld.”
“My copier is the worst copier in the world; copies come out looking like creatures of the underworld.”
That’s quite a buildup, and the copier met a fitting end, dropped from that 107 foot crane with fanfare and toasted with much more sophisticated cocktails than in my youth. Kudos to the wonderful bartender and fancy garnishes! ProCopy was a fabulous host.
ASU went on to win their homecoming match in style on a beautiful fall day, perhaps given a boost by the earlier “sacrifice” at the tailgate party. I won’t tell you which brand the copier was, but I will show you in this exclusive video. Sayonara evil copier, sayonara.
Patricia Ames is president and senior analyst for BPO Media, which publishes The Imaging Channel and Workflow magazines. As a market analyst and industry consultant, Ames has worked for prominent consulting firms including KPMG and has more than 15 years experience in the imaging industry covering technology and business sectors. Ames has lived and worked in the United States, Southeast Asia and Europe and enjoys being a part of a global industry and community.
