Meet Our General Manager

Today we have a special guest blogger: Bob Barr, General Manager of Blockbuster Online. He’ll be writing regularly for the blog. Give him a warm internet welcome!

Finally!!! Or so I overheard my staff say (I haven’t yet told them I have 0-0 hearing — the equivalent of 0-0 vision, which is even better than the 20-20 we all know is considered perfect) when I wrote this, my first of many blog entries to come. I am relatively new to Blockbuster, and you don’t yet know who am I, where I came from, what do I intend to do, yada yada. So I thought I’d start by introducing myself not simply as the new guy in charge, but as the movie consumer that I am. My:

• All time favorite movie: Dr. Zhivago
• Most recently rented and watched movie: The Day the Earth Stood Still (the recent remake)
• Movie in my briefcase to watch on this trip (currently sitting on a plane): Australia (it’s a long flight, need a long movie)
• Last movie purchase: The Secret Life of Bees (got a lot of points for that one with my wife)
• Next up in my Queue: The Honeymooners: “Classic 39” Episodes 1955 (before I was born and a long story for another blog as to why)
• Number of movies I own: I stopped counting some time ago (think a roomful — I love those 4 for $20 specials we offer online and in our stores)
• Number of movies/TV shows presently in my Queue: 72
• First movie I remember watching in the theater: Goldfinger (it was a Cub Scout field trip while I was living in Europe; my father is retired military)
• Active DVD players in my home: Five

Now, as the new guy in charge, I'll move on with the business of where this post (and others I hope to write pretty regularly) is/are going. You're probably anticipating the standard "under-new-management/can-you-forgive-and-forget-any-poor-experiences-you-might-have-had-in-the-past/let-me-tell-you-about-all-the-things-that-we’re-going-to-do-here-at-blockbuster.com-to-make-your-experiences-wonderful-going-forward" posts. Are you still reading? Phew. Well honestly (you will always get that from me), it is and it isn’t.

I'm not going to say we don't have challenges with our website and online services — I read some (not all) of the email that comes into our Customer Service Department. But we are always working to improve, and I know many of you have been quite satisfied with your service, even writing in to tell us that or offering suggestions for an even better online experience. Thank you to all of you. We will continue to get better, a little every day.

Marathons are run one step and one mile at a time, and start with that very first step. We’ve taken that step, and will run negative splits (for you non-runners, that means we’ll get faster and better as the race goes on). Thanks for being a customer. We do have some great ideas unfolding. And you’ll find out in advance here and on our Twitter page as we launch many new services (like game rental online) in the coming months.

I hope this is a good start to a long relationship. I expect to target most of my blog entries to movies, games and all things digital entertainment that circle in and around my world. In no uncertain terms, I love movies. I watch one, sometimes two movies a night, often rewatching from my growing collection. I’m also re-entering the gaming space — I was a heavier gamer when I was younger. Also, as I checked around, I was told that it might be interesting for me to tell you a little about running this business. Really? Ok. I'll do that as well from time to time. Running this business can be entertaining, too. Talk again soon.

Happy Day…

Bob Barr