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# Re: Un-setting for election

- To: "Ken Clark" <ken@gesn.com>, <support@gesn.com>
- Subject: Re: Un-setting for election
- From: "Juan A. Rivera" <VideoViper@email.msn.com>
- Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 15:58:28 -0400
- Cc: <rtglobal@earthlink.net>
- Organization: Microsoft Corporation
- References: <NCBBIGGNCKBDKCCGPEOAIEHBCPAA.ken@gesn.com>

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ken Clark
> To: support@gesn.com
> Cc: rtglobal@earthlink.net ; Juan A. Rivera
> Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 12:27 PM
> Subject: RE: Un-setting for election

> > If we what to sell them our product we must conform to their requirements.

> Our first priority is to generate correct election results. That is an absolute. This is not a customer prerogative.
> This was not the issue.The issue is operational features and functionality. This is what will set us apart from other companies that their fist and only priority is to generate correct elections results. What is also an issue is that each individual state, and county, or the customer as I call them, are the ones that determine what is the correct results and how these should be reported.

> > Or we just tell them that our system is not flexible and that if he (the customer) does not change to our idea of how an election must run, then we can not help him. We need to make our system flexible to the fact that we the regular workers and the customers are not perfect.

> If our customers, or anyone else, has suggestions on how to make our products more flexible without compromising the integrity of the election, the RCR list is at your disposal. I welcome (even enjoy) suggestions that make GEMS easier to use.
> That is what the the support group does every time they submit an RCR.
> Elections, however, are event driven. Ballots need to be printed by a certain deadline, and memory cards need to be burnt by a certain deadline. In short, elections are not flexible. That is the nature of our business. Get used to it.
> We are talking about DRE's in an early voting environment and not election day or paper system like Accuvote. We should not let Accuvote procedure necessarily dictate the future operations of the DRE unit except for its ease of use for the poll worker and voter. I am not dealing with Accuvote if I was then I would have no choice but to deal with its limitations.But this too can be improved. Just because we have done the same procedure a million times that does not mean that it could not be improved upon.

> > Your job as I see it is to fix the problems that we and the customers encounter as we run the elections.

> My job is to write election software. On occasion as an added service I also explain how set-for-election works, even though the feature has been in VTS since the day Global Election Systems was formed. Apparently doing the latter was a mistake. I guess I'll stick to my job description; I am better at coding than support anyway.
> Your job as well as mine is to do whatever the company requires us to do to produce income for the same. Your main objective is to write code but if the need requires us to help in support, then that is our job. If we need to help load trucks to meet shipping dead lines than that is our job.
> But really, I am in too good a mood today to get into a job description debate with you, Juan. I don't think you want that.

> > One of the main reason that many customers look at our electronic system for early voting is due to the fact that the should be able to change their election down to the wire without re burning memory cards and reprinting ballots.

> Again, if you can suggest a way to design a electronic DRE system that does not have removable media as its primary storage, I will be the first person to champion it.
> Well, our suggestion is to permit the setting of Early voting portion of the election to be set prior to the election day machines. And secondly to allow GEMS to be able to increases the number of machines in any given precinct at any time with out affecting the election. Both of these were sent to development as fixes to GEMS for this election due to customer requirements.

> > If this is not the case then we should not sell this product for early voting.

> You'll need to talk to sales about that suggestion. I just write the stuff.
> I need to talk to the software development Group to follow support and sales input and direction as to what our customer wants, needs, and is willing to pay for.
> And this group's ability to follow directions to that effect.
> Ken, in general I do not have any problem with you or your work, I do feel though that you sometimes do not understand or are not sensitive to the predicament of sales and of support staff when in the field in front of our customers trying to explain why something does not work. Remember we do not have a cast of thousands working in the support dept and my job is that of Product Manager not support.
> Because of extreme trust and great relationships that sales and support staff develops with our customers, it is about the only thing that keeps us in business with that customer. But we can only go to the well so often until it runs dry.
> I know that you are good at what you do but so are we. Please realize that we are all trying to make Global a bigger and stronger company so that we can grow both financially and professionally. Let us work towards this goal with out trying to place blame because we all suffer the consequence no matter who is to blame.
> Juan
> Ken

- References:
  - RE: Un-setting for election
    - From: "Ken Clark" <ken@gesn.com>

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