As a long-term worker in the IT industry, I’ve got a pretty good eye for loot – or l00t, even – the sort of freebies which get given away at internal conferences; Sun used to be particularly generous with t-shirts and there was/is an unofficial rule that Sun-branded clothing counts as formal office attire… or at least it doesn’t get counted against you in the same way that a “Lawnmower Deth” t-shirt in exec review meeting might; but my powers must be fading as this episode only-just pegged my lootmeter before I googled it…

For a couple of years I’ve been looking for a bicycle messenger bag – not to do the Fakenger thing but because my life does actually include modest amounts of cycle-commuting with a Brompton, a bunch of rectangular objects, and enough clothes to last a couple of days – if you’re really gonna do the Fakenger/pose thing you need a fixie and I am not yet inclined – however the prices of Ortleibs are astronomical, the availability slight, and I want something that doubles between a backpack and a shoulderbag, the latter so it can be used out and about in town.

Raiding the charity shops of Chelsea at the weekend – guided by Adriana’s encyclopaedic experience of the same – I found a heavily used but really good bag – there’s not a thing wrong with it except age, all the padded parts are still well padded, the rubberised bottom still appears waterproof, the straps are all good and there’s no sign of fraying anywhere.

And it was mine for a tenner. Cool! The only odd thing was the logo, which I’d never heard of in cycle bag manufacture:

My colleague Brad is probably snorting coffee out of his nose right now, but godswear I didn’t know that logo since I was used to a different one, but as many in my firm will argue it must have been a fantastic place for (some) folk to work, as FastCompany.com told us back in 2000: (my emphasis)

Andersen employs roughly 65,000 people in 48 countries. Many consultants flock to this Big Five firm because it serves several very visible clients, and because it a commands a large price for its high-quality work. Andersen’s national recruiters must fill 4,000 to 6,000 consulting slots each year in the United States. Roughly 65% of these are entry-level positions; the rest are in senior management. These staggering numbers demonstrate the recruiting and retention challenges faced by Bill Ziegler.

“Andersen CEO Joe Forehand broadcast the explicit message that we must win the talent war in order to grow successfully,” Ziegler says. “The firm has committed itself to employee satisfaction and retention, as well as to aggressive recruitment strategies. People, partners, and leadership will be held accountable for employee satisfaction and retention as part of this commitment.” Recently, Andersen rolled out an additional compensation program designed to compete with the stock options offered by startups to Andersen employees during the dotcom fever. This program, called “eUnits,” survived the April crash and continues to expand.

The company has invested $200 million in pre-IPO investments on behalf of its employees, who receive eUnits according to their loyalty and to their performance beginning on their three-year anniversary with Andersen. To win back former employees, Andersen has expanded the eUnits program to alumni who previously worked at the company for at least three years. In the wake of the dotcom meltdown, Andersen has noticed a swelling tide of boomerang employees: Over 100 consultants returned to Andersen’s U.S. offices in the first month of the eUnits alumni program, from September 2000 to October 2000.

Overall, the Andersen culture emphasizes high standards, high profiles, high expectations, and tangible rewards. Insiders describe it as an entrepreneurial meritocracy where performance determines success, and success buys you the freedom to shape your career.

…irrespective of the fact that it was totally bent.

[ I will just pause here a moment for my other former-PS colleagues to draw breath ]

So now I have got my very own little bit of Enron history; the bag is built *really* well since it must be at least 7 years old, and likely closer to a decade; it will be put to good use – but as corporate loot goes, that’s actually pretty impressive; Sun freebie bags tend to die after a year or two, whereas this is pukka kit.

Maybe that’s where all the money went?