Throwback to the Snapchat filter Bwog generously designed for the Spec offices!

It’s a well-known fact that Bwog and the Columbia Daily Spectator have complex feelings for each other. In an effort to understand  what all the fuss is about, a Staff Writer sacrificed part of his Sunday afternoon to attend Spectator’s Business and Innovations Open House. If you’re thinking about joining the self-purported “largest student business on campus,” here is his review of the event (and a glimpse inside the secretive Spectator office).

After somehow slogging through the snow and ice covering the sidewalks between campus and 112th Street, I caught sight of the slightly rusted and bent sign marking the entrance to Spectator’s office on Broadway (conveniently located just a few doors down from The Heights). I opened the door to the building as a few stragglers from the previous open house came down the stairs, smiling and chatting animatedly. Maybe I’d be proven wrong about Spectator after all.

Three flights of stairs and a few turns brought me to a table where a few “Speccies” were taking names on a computer sign-in station. After briefly debating whether or not I should use fake personal information, I typed in my name and email and was directed around another corner into the office suite of the Columbia Daily Spectator.

I arrived a bit early for the open house on purpose, and I would advise any potential Speccies to do the same, for a number of reasons. First, it’s worthwhile to spend a few minutes talking to other students and different people on the Spec staff to get a feel for the crowd. The staff at the open house last Sunday were incredibly welcoming and informed, and I was surprised by how many people I recognized in the office who I didn’t know worked for Spec. Secondly, I’d advise interested applicants to take a good look around the office. As much as I wanted to, I refrained from taking pictures in the office, but there are some truly remarkable things floating around Spec’s Headquarters (see if you can spot a Ron Burgundy cut-out and the Stella Artois glasses by the mini-fridge).

Jokes aside, the Spectator’s offices are impressive. Each division of Spec has its own area, clearly marked by colorful painted letters on walls and over doorways. The walls are decorated with old issues of the Spectator that covered notable moments in Columbia’s history, and I spent a few enjoyable minutes reading about Eisenhower’s inauguration as Columbia’s 13th president before continuing my little self-guided tour of the main office. Another wall is covered with more recent pieces and articles that the Spectator has deemed especially “Good Work.” Since most of the articles were from Spec’s print issues, it looks like backdating won’t win you any points when it comes to quality.

One of the more interesting displays that I came across, however, was the wall that was titled “How to Talk Like a Speccie,” covered in quotes from (presumably) current or former individuals on Spec. I have compiled a few of my personal favorites. While I’ll redact that names of those quoted (for their dignity), I highly encourage you to take a look for yourself.

“If I were to do porn, it would be a Bad Blood parody”
“This is a sexual experience the way whiteboarding a story at 4 AM on a Wednesday is a sexual experience”
“You know what’s better than sleep AND sex? Spec.”
“Man, I sleep with my mouth wide open. I’m terrified. How many balls have been in my mouth??”
“I could probably figure out how to fashion anal beads to the top of this door.”

It was at this point that Editor-in-Chief Caroline Chiu and Publisher Rachit Mohan started quieting everyone in preparation for their presentation. I was excited. Would they convince me that I was all wrong about Spec, that I should drop Bwog, that I should reevaluate my entire worldview?

Spoiler: they didn’t. But the presentation was definitely not without merit.

Chiu opened the meeting by stating that the business side of Spectator is most definitely not an econ-society, that “this is real business and real innovation.” According to Chiu, innovation is at the center of everything that Spec does. It was the first college newspaper in the Ivy League to drop daily print, which was a groundbreaking move at the time, and Chiu stressed that Spectator’s goal is always better content as they move forward. Smiling, she stated confidently that “you are joining [Spectator] at the best time” because while the work is undeniably hard, “Spec creates a good community.”

Since this was the business open house, a majority of the presentation was spent detailing the different roles in business and technology within Spectator. True to Chiu’s word, Spec is pursuing that ideal of a “real business” model with “real innovation”; skills in sales, business analysis, data and trend tracking, app development, and product design all seem to be in high demand at Spec. Figuring out how to maximize their readership also seemed of pressing concern to both Chiu and Publisher Rachit Mohan. As Mohan put it, “if nobody reads the article, if nobody responds to what we write, the articles are basically meaningless.” Other highlights of the presentation included a few slides about the large alumni network, the work-study opportunity that Spectator has recently opened up due to increased revenue, and a few inspirational quips citing the Wolf of Wall Street and Don Draper of “Mad Men.”

At the end of the day, the Columbia Daily Spectator is good at what it knows best: writing articles and publishing op-eds about broad topics on campus, and generating business for itself. As evident by the six-figure revenue that the Spectator manages to bring in, the company is definitely good at the latter. As for the former, you can judge quality content for yourself. With all the effort that Spectator puts into being the “largest student business on campus,” it may be that Spec is only that: a business.

Spectator’s next round of open houses is this weekend.
(Bwog’s next open meeting is this Sunday evening at 7 PM in Lerner 505. We’re not saying you should go to that instead, but we’re totally implying it.)

The Snapchat Geofilter That Lives Only In Our Hearts (and on Bwog) created by Maddie Stearn