Director of First Impressions? Oh, really?

Earlier this week, I had a meeting with a dear business colleague. It was my first visit to his office.

Upon my arrival, I was impressed by the unique, elegant design of this office space. It's one of those building that you pass by a thousand times but never enter. Seriously, I was "Wow'd."

Making my way to the rather impressive reception desk (i.e., hexagonal control center), I noticed an impossible-to-miss brass desk placard, emblazoned with the following title:

"DIRECTOR OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS."

Whoa, I thought. This outfit has it together. I was fully expecting to be blown away with a first-class greeting.

Instead, the middle-age lady seated within the impressive-yet-imposing reception hexagon had her head down. Her brain was buried in a spreadsheet. This lady never turned to greet me; her body was turned at a right angle to me. She was busy...too busy, in fact, to make eye contact with me. After an extended period of awkwardness, she said plainly, "May I help you?"

When I informed her whom I was there to see, without turning her head she buzzed my acquaintance on the intercom and shot me a sideways glance. Then, she informed me that "he would be with me in a few minutes."

Director of first impression? Sheesh! What a lame first impression.

Marketing geniuses know that if you are going to have a bold title like that one, emblazoned for all to see, you have to live up to its billing.

My take: the placard would have read, more aptly, "DIRECTOR OF LAME FIRST IMPRESSIONS."