IFMA-Austin Association
Are You Playing… "In the Zone?"
By Jayne Mortensen
It is not news that new telecommunications technology has given rise to higher speed cabling, new ways to connect cabling, and higher speed switching. "Playing in the Zone" means that these new technologies and improved levels of performance have created a need for a new cabling approach, "Zone Cabling."
Zone cabling provides for better security, space utilization, simplified management, higher cable capacity, while reducing costs and the varied tasks of facility management. Consolidating termination points and mapping distribution are some functions that every FM would love to get to...as well as have a multi-user outlet capability. With smart space planning, zone cabling allows FM’s to take advantage of this immediately. Modularity and flexibility are the name of this game, no more abandoned spaghetti above ceiling.
In most sports, the advantage clearly goes to whoever is "in the zone", now facility management can capitalize on the same advantage by looking at technology and finding smart facility solutions to accommodate it.
Just a few benefits of being in the Zone:
Contact your Telecommunications, Systems Furniture and Electrical providers and ask them to get together a game plan that gets you in the zone.
"The cost of the time lost while 60 million PC users boot their computers each day may be close to $25 billion a year."
Wall Street Journal
The members of the Community Involvement Committee, Peggy Wingert, Cindy Stewart and myself have been meeting regularly to plan and inform the IFMA-Austin membership about our support of Habitat for Humanity. On July 14th, the committee visited the site and observed several dwellings in various stage of construction.
The build will start on/about August 14th, however the first day that we will need volunteers on hand will be August 21st, which is a Saturday. Most Saturday’s through the end of the project (but some weekdays) will be when volunteers are needed. Reports will be forthcoming about the building schedule and the skills we need, and when we need them.
If there is any member(s) that would like to sponsor and prepare a BIG sign (about 4x8), we would like to place it in front of the home we are building. Sponsors names will be listed on the sign.
We need volunteers to start signing up, NOW. Go to Habitat, and please make your commitment and contribution to this project. Start thinking about your contributions and people you can bring into the project, under IFMA sponsorship. This is a worthy cause and one our chapter has deemed important. The committee is looking forward to your support and suggestions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 443-4929 or Peggy Wingert at 908-4611.
Remember...I SPY?
by Jayne Mortensen
Remember the childhood game "
I Spy?" You know the one, where you
are squished in-between your brothers and sisters in the backseat of a station
wagon and your parents will invent anything to keep you from killing one another
or more importantly to keep themselves from killing one of you!
"I spy something yellow.
" "A school bus," someone screams
out! "I spy something octagonal." "A stop sign!" How easy
you think to yourself, however you did not shout it out first. This can go on
for hours and hopefully for hundreds of miles. Whether miles or time run out
first, the fighting always commences and your parents pull over the car… and
you know the rest.
Suppose this game had a whole new meaning.
Next time you sit across the
conference table from a gang of department heads that want more space and have
the space right now...would be good. Try spying them. Forget their bad hair day,
smacking of gum or indignant tone...and spy. Spy hard for something nice to
think or say. Only positive things, for this new game of I Spy doesn’t allow
any negative thoughts. So you are warned...Mother-In-Laws or next.
When you turn over the box top of
this new I Spy game, in bold print it
reads...Object of the game: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at
all. The most famous of all childhood idioms is: Do what I say not what I do, so
you might encourage others to spy you. In this society where we are concerned
about the disappearance of childhood, the occasional disappearance of adulthood
could teach us a thing or two. In the world of facilities...praise is difficult,
criticism is easy.
Oh.. Oh.. Oh.. I spy the high road.
By Margery Guest
Day Planners do more than keep you
organized. They prove you exist. So
welcome to the world of Day Planners. Big ones. Heavy suckers. Bound in
Corinthian leather and as cumbersome to cart around as a hardbound copy of War
and Peace. With hundreds of pages, colorful tabs, alarms even, and "project
tracking ability" for up to 44 different projects. Huh? If you’ve got 44
different projects going, you not organized honey, you’re overworked.
The name of this game is productivity.
If you can’t prove your productive,
you have no right to be here on Earth breathing air, taking up space, and just
generally making a nuisance of yourself. There is no room for down time or just
plain goofing around. No talk at the water cooler, not checking out those cute
pictures in your neighbors cubicle, no wasteful "How was your weekend?
" stuff. These days we’re taking aim at 100% productivity with both
barrels. Our aim is true and we’re taking no prisoners. We can thank the
planner people for much of the emphasis on achieving this maximum productivity
in our lives.
Today, everyone has a planner.
And everything goes in the planner. There are
monthly summary sheets, daily task prioritizers, action item lists, even
"role" reminders, that keep us apprised of the different roles we play
in life. (Great for actors.) There are seminars to make us more productive and
help us lick inertia. (If it dares rear its ugly head, beat it back with
"task controls" and "procrastination blockers.") There are
special places for Christmas lists, wish lists, favorite quotes. I have a friend
who even designed here own "venting and demon-wrestling section" where
she spouts off about who is bugging her. (Even today’s most productive office
still contains people who bug you.)
The Mother of all Day Planners is the
Franklin. The Franklin Life Management
System promises nothing less than fulfillment and satisfaction. We learn to
recognize what is "vital" and what is merely Well, whether Ben would have used a
planner or not, I understand the
ostensible purpose of them. You don’t miss appointments. You’re not late to
meetings. You don’t neglect to call clients. The real purpose of such an
oversized, overbearing, over the top example of productivity overkill is to keep
the plannee from ,looking at some pretty scary fundamental stuff. If we can
manage to keep ourselves busy enough with appointments, listing what there is to
accomplish, figuring out our values and recording them in proper space in our
planners, it keeps our minds off what lies ahead for all of us...large or small,
productive or unproductive., CEO or entry level. How could my life be
meaningless? My planner is full. How can I die? I’m due at a conference on
Thursday.
Margery Guest balances unavoidable
existential dread and desire to live
productively as a writer in Michigan.
"urgent," and even assign numerical values to the aspects of our lives
(children = 8; wife = 7 ; new Saab = 9). They ask us to declare our long range
goals, our intermediate goals, and our values. Gentlemen: I knew Ben Franklin,
and you’re no Ben Franklin. Ben was the guy who grinned maniacally while
leaning into a crashing thunderstorm, clad in patent leather boots that did not
allow him to bend his knees and daring lightning to come to him. He was a raging
revolutionary with a photography memory. Our Ben needed a day planner?
Evening Program In August
By
Bob Payne
|
What: Systems Furniture & Inventory Management. When: Thursday August 12, 1999 Time: 5:00 Registration
Where:SAS Institute Cost: $15.00 Members $20.00 Non-Members (Cash or Check Only..Please) Call Bob Payne at 258-5171 for directions |
Ask yourself these (3) questions:
(1) Do you know the location of your furniture assets? (2) Do you know what it is worth? (3) Do you know how much furniture you own? If you answered NO to any of these questions, you need to attend the August Program. Learn how to get your arms around your furniture assets & inventory. Jayne Mortensen, Vice President of Facility Services for Herman Miller will show you how today’s technology can keep you from ever being intimidated by the parts and pieces nightmare of planning with systems furniture again. Asset & Inventory Management is the first step to Furniture Cost Avoidance! |
Registration Deadline
IFMA-Austin member,
Marla Bommarito-Crouch, was honored recently by Austin Business Journal, in their 5th annual "Profiles in Power" section. Marla is president of The Bommarito Group and principal of interior architecture at Austin’s largest architectural firm Grabber Simmons and Cowan. Marla was one of 20 women honored as Austin leaders. A conference, reception and awards luncheon was held in July. In May, Marla was elected into International Interior Design Association’s (IIDA) College of Fellows, one of the design world’s most prestigious honors. Congratulations Marla, thank you for sharing your talents with Austin and specifically IFMA-Austin.Welcome New Member!
Carol Whitehead
The Blood & Tissue Center of Central Texas
"Trust is essential in business, because controlling people is very expensive."
The Fifth Discipline – Peter Senge
"Trust can only
truly arise where people have deep,
intense interest in each other.
If you are truly interested in something or someone, you don’t
just look at the nice and pleasant aspects of that entity.
You look for all you can see, until the person or thing becomes a part of
your life, necessary to your makeup."
Watch This Space!
IFMA-Austin’s
Best Practices
Seminar…
Is planned for Thursday afternoon,
November 11, 1999
at the Austin Hilton. Our monthly luncheon will precede the
seminar with a round table discussion of numerous "Best Practices"
topics, many of which will be of great interest to YOU!
YES! There will be sponsorship opportunities! Due to the large
number of sponsorships, costs will be kept fairly low….so, VENDORS, take note!
Everyone will want to participate in this excellent
educational and networking event.
Details to follow soon!
Are you interested?…
Call Amy
Bowman @ 453-7391 or Patty May @ 380-0444
Fun Fact: More than 30% of boys and 40% of girls are choosing
their mothers career path.
Family – July 1999
This story can fit 100-150 words.
The subject matter that appears in newsletters is virtually endless. You can
include stories that focus on current technologies or innovations in your field.
You may also want to note business or economic trends, or make predictions
for your customers or clients.
If the newsletter is distributed internally, you might comment upon new
procedures or improvements to the business. Sales figures or earnings will show
how your business is growing.
Some newsletters include a column that is updated every issue, for instance,
an advice column, a book review, a letter from the president, or an editorial.
You can also profile new employees or top customers or vendors.
This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your newsletter as a promotional tool is that you can
reuse content from other marketing materials, such as press releases, market
studies, and reports.
While your main goal of distributing a newsletter might be to sell your
product or service, the key to a successful newsletter is making it useful to
your readers.
A great way to add useful content to your newsletter is to develop and write
your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer
that promotes a new product.
You can also research articles or find "filler" articles by
accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to
keep your articles short.
Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web
site. Microsoft Publisher offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a
Web publication. So, when you’re finished writing your newsletter, convert it
to a Web site and post it.
This story can fit 75-125 words.
Selecting pictures or graphics is an important part of adding content to your
newsletter.
Think about your article and ask yourself if the picture supports or enhances
the message you’re trying to convey. Avoid selecting images that appear to be
out of context.
Microsoft Publisher includes thousands of clip art images from which you can
choose and import into your newsletter. There are also several tools you can use
to draw shapes and symbols.
Once you have chosen an image, place it close to the article. Be sure to
place the caption of the image near the image.
"Changing power and telecommunication cables can cost an
average of $400 per workstation."