The Business Praise Thread

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Okay, so I'm sure you're all aware we like to bash the stupid things that businesses do.  Well, I just brought my girlfriend to work this morning, and I was musing over some of the positive things businesses do. While poeticmind0189 certainly hates some of the things Wally World does, she still enjoys her job.  That's not just because of the paycheck, either.  They legitimately have a lot of things to make the associate's day better.  There's snack machines, pop machines, and a two water filling stations in the break room.  Wal-Mart buys extra copies of the newspaper to read in the break room.  They have hand sanitizer sitting on the tables in big bottles for employees to freely use.  The lockers are IN the break room for easy access.  Employees can even look up their hours online!

So we love to hate on corporations or business, but in doing so I think we lose sight of the GOOD things they do.  This thread is a way to counter the negativity.  Here you can talk about the good things businesses do.  The size of the company and industry do not matter.  Hell, the MOTIVES are irrelevant, in my book.  Whether it's a positive way they impact a community, their customers, the environment or even just their workers, you can post it here.  Hell, I don't even care about the size of the impact the act has.  It can be a small gesture that improves morale or something that has a major impact!  As long as it's positive, it is welcome here.

I know my thread "In Defense of Corporations" was locked.  I'm fairly certain that was because it kind of derailed/devolved.  PLEASE do not let that happen to this one.  This thread is only for POSITIVE things, guys.  I'll be pretty pissed if it goes off the rails and gets locked.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

I think poetic might post here, but I wanted to mention something we were discussing.  Wal-Mart participates in the Children's Miracle Network and McDonalds has a Ronald McDonald house charity.

Speaking of McDonalds, we ate there and redeemed a "free dessert."  We got gooey, fresh, straight-out-of-the-oven cookies. <3

[ironbite]

McDonald's, for all the shit people say about it's food, really is trying to make a difference for sick kids.  The workers are treated a bit more fairly and they tend to reward hard work.  Walmart...can go suck a dick.

Ironbite-and I say that as a former Walmart worker drone.

[Alehksunos]

Here's some kind things I can about the greediest, dickiest of corporations, like Electronic Arts, Viacom, Bank of America, and many more...

That they aren't those cunts who reject people based on something as trivial as their sexual orientation.

That's it, pretty much...

[FirsthandTuna]

Here's some kind things I can about the greediest, dickiest of corporations, like Electronic Arts, Viacom, Bank of America, and many more...

That they aren't those cunts who reject people based on something as trivial as their sexual orientation.

That's it, pretty much...

Unfortunately, EA Games tends to only vocalize their support for the LGBT community when they've royally fucked up.

[Witchyjoshy]

Valve.  They seem to understand that the better way to make money isn't to treat your customers like criminals, but to instead cut really good deals for them.

Also, making their most popular game F2P, thus making it even more popular, and making the pay to play aspect entirely optional (which means most players will still pay out of convenience) was a smart move, too.

[Flying Mint Bunny!]

Not sure if this counts as they are more of a trade association than a business, but the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers organises trips to Disneyland Paris for disabled kids every year.

One of London's most unique charity events takes place each year when a convoy of licensed London taxis take over 200 children, suffering from a range of chronic debilitating illnesses and life limiting conditions, on a three-day trip of a lifetime to Disneyland Resort Paris. This Magical Taxi Tour has bought moments of great joy and happiness to sick children. You can read about Danielle who was one of them on this website.
 
This amazing convoy, can be over three miles long when running and consists of 90 plus taxis, City of London Police escorts, Gendarmerie Nationale, London Ambulance NHS Trust vehicles and AA breakdown trucks
 
Organised annually, by the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, this event is only possible with the help of our sponsors who generously give toward the £1,250 per taxi necessary to meet the expenses of hotel, fuel, food, admission charges etc. The taxi drivers naturally give freely of their time and use of their vehicles.

From the website here: http://www.magicaltaxitour.com/da/90306

My brother is autistic and got to go once, so I am very grateful to them for this.

[chitoryu12]

Valve.  They seem to understand that the better way to make money isn't to treat your customers like criminals, but to instead cut really good deals for them.

Also, making their most popular game F2P, thus making it even more popular, and making the pay to play aspect entirely optional (which means most players will still pay out of convenience) was a smart move, too.

And allowing Black Mesa to not only be put up on Steam for download, but letting it stay free. Despite continuing to sell the original Half-Life.

Valve in general is a really, really good company. Even beyond the level of the stuff they make (they don't make nearly as many games as some companies simply because of the amount of effort put into each one), they actually appreciate their customers and are willing to go the extra mile to make something good. There was a thread about EA's Origin platform on another site, and I mentioned how Steam has that apparent monopoly on digital distribution not because of nasty business practices or getting an early start, but because they genuinely do a good job with digital distribution and make tons of games accessible to people, including obscure foreign stuff that would normally remain under the radar outside of the former USSR. Whereas Origin is a really poor attempt to wrest profit away from them that fails miserably and puts malware on your computer.

Speaking of good businesses, I have to hand it to the Candlewood Suites at 339 West 39th Street in Manhattan. Their rooms are available at a much lower price than the competition, despite being right near Times Square and thus in very expensive real estate and a prime spot to rip off tourists. Even at Christmas and New Year's, notoriously the busiest tourist season, three people can spend a week staying there for under $1000. They also provide scrupulously clean rooms that include a kitchenette, free DVD loans at the front desk, ridiculously friendly staff at all levels from management to maids, a basement gym and laundry facility, and free cookies in the lobby during Christmas. AND the management reads over every single review of their hotel on TripAdvisor and makes a personalized reply to all of them.

Again, this is despite being a major hotel for a large national chain located in one of the most expensive areas to rent in the United States and loaded with gullible tourists. The only places that come to their level of awesome are the Walt Disney World resorts, which are a whole 'nother class.

[Delirium]

- Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics is doing a fundraiser for one of their employees' gender surgery. They worked with her to make a special lip tar shade that you can buy from their NYC store or her Indiegogo, and all of the proceeds go to her surgery.
- I can't say enough good things about Sugarpill. They include a free sample and a sticker with every order, their eyeshadows are amazing, and the woman who runs it (Amy Doan) seems like a really awesome person.

[chitoryu12]

Forgot to mention in the above post about Candlewood, to give a comparison of the prices: there was a hotel (now closed) that offered a room for the exact same price as listed, but smaller and without the kitchenette. And no free cookies or DVD loans for anybody, while being several streets farther from the subway entrances.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

So a local coffee shop of mine is having its 8th anniversary.  They're offering special deals for customers.

[ironbite]

- Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics is doing a fundraiser for one of their employees' gender surgery. They worked with her to make a special lip tar shade that you can buy from their NYC store or her Indiegogo, and all of the proceeds go to her surgery.
- I can't say enough good things about Sugarpill. They include a free sample and a sticker with every order, their eyeshadows are amazing, and the woman who runs it (Amy Doan) seems like a really awesome person.

....WAIT DELIRIUM'S BACK!?

[chitoryu12]

Going back to the stuff on Valve, I was reading about Erik Wolpaw of Old Man Murray (the guy who wrote the dialogue for Portal and co-wrote all of Portal 2) and how he got ulcerative colitis in 2004. He was expecting to be laid off, so he went to Gabe Newell to talk about it. Gabe N gave him extended leave with pay and told him that his job description was now "Get better."

How do you get so not-evil in such a huge company?

[ironbite]

Of all the gaming companies I've seen, Valve knows how to treat it's folks.

[chitoryu12]

An acquaintance of mine (who built most of Mechwarrior 2; lives in Salt Lake City now) had applied to Valve last I heard of him a few months ago. He was badly laid up by a series of various medical problems, starting with a degenerative brain disease that left him unable to speak or remember who he was for a time in the hospital (and resulted in him being put on SSDI checks after about a year of him and his friends and family constantly trying to convince the Social Security folks that yes, this is debilitating) and then something with platelets or bone marrow or whatnot that ate away at one of his legs and threatened to have it amputated. So he hasn't done work in a while.