The Mystery of yale true Solved
This little gizmo came in the mail last month to some of our more active Classmates. The main reaction was puzzlement. What was it? About 3″ x 2″, with a peel-off backer that exposed some adhesive, it caused a stir.
The
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lit up: Macon Cowles started with the basic question: “OK, dear classmates … what is the little blue 3” pouch that arrived with a thank you note for being an annual donor to Yale? I can’t figure out what it is to be used for. It is meant to stick to something, as the reverse side has a peel-off smooth paper on it.”
Steve Bemis reassured Macon that he wasn’t alone. “Macon, I had the same question. It is an inscrutable little piece of plastic. I left a question on the voicemail of one of the YAF Vice Presidents last week, and I’m waiting as fast as I can for a response, which I will share when/if an answer emerges.” (Author’s note: neither Steve nor I got a response from YAF.)
Howard Newman surfaced the first plausible answer. “My millennial employees tell me it is a business card holder to be attached to the back of your smartphone. Nobody over the age of 60 that I have talked to has had a clue.”
That seemed like it might be right, but Robb High suggested an alternative in a sidebar conversation: “It’s a condom dispenser,” he suggested. He got several upvotes for that being the better explanation … but no one would wager on that being the full story.
Evidently, this was a “marketing promotional product” (aka a tchotchke) that was mailed out to “annual donors” to the Yale Alumni Fund. It’s not clear if this recognition goes to people who gave in the 7/2017 – 6/2018 Yale fiscal year or based on some other criterion. Jamie Woolery reported that he didn’t get one, despite being a donor … although that may have been a mail-delivery-timing issue. (Jamie, add a comment if ultimately you got one, please.)
I decided to do two quick things to satisfy some curiosity: a) find out what YAF was thinking in sending this, and b) test how it would actually work as a business card dispenser.
In testing this gizmo, I stuck it onto the back of my phone and added some business cards. It only holds about 3 or 4 at a time, and the friction from the rubbery material it’s made of makes putting cards in or pulling them out fairly difficult. I even mangled a couple cards perfecting my technique!
Bottom line: I’m not going to use this as a way to handle my business cards.
BTW, do people still use business cards? I have some, and I plan to take them to a conference in a couple weeks in case I need any. But mostly, when I meet people, we’ve exchanged emails already and getting contact information electronically is easy. I can’t remember the last time I kept a business card or added one to my contact/address book.
LATER: Not For Business Cards
After talking with Jennifer Julier, (JE, ’77), the AYA representative working with our Reunion Committee, I learned that this gizmo is NOT intended for business cards. “In fact, very few millennials – except perhaps for the ones who work for corporations and law firms – carry business cards. And they probably wouldn’t carry them in an iPhone holder if they are constantly slipping their phones in and out of their back pockets or purses. The cards wouldn’t stay in shape for long!”
It turns out that the holders are meant for carrying around an ID card for building/garage access and/or a credit/debit card. That makes a TON more sense.
For what it’s worth, here are my unanswered questions for the Alumni Fund.
- why send any gift at all?
- what were selection criteria?
- what was the process used to select this gift? who was involved?
- what other gifts were considered and why was this one chosen?
- are we the only ones confused? any pushback from other classes?
- of all the donors this was sent to, how many are likely to use this for the intended purpose?
- what was the total cost?