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IFMA Newsletter 2004-2005 BOARD MEMBERS
Take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with
your new board members. These hard working members provide you with a wide
range of services throughout the year.
COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
JULY ON-SITE TOUR - STATE FARM INSURANCE
They also have a desk manual for situations such as: Disaster recovery, incident response, power outage, tornados, hail, and violence. Another function is to set up hot site offices to serve policyholders after a major catastrophe. They are committed to have the hot site office up and running within 48 hours of an event, including negotiating the lease, completing any build-out, move-in furniture, setting up phones and installing the computer systems - a monumental feat in itself! Marc is responsible for 40 buildings and had 45 contracts just for the building on Parmer. Contract requirements include a three-page qualification form including strict insurance requirements. In 2000 they began cleaning during the day - the first crew works from 0600 to 1000 hours and the second crew works until 1900 hours. On Saturday the vacuuming and dusting is done. Individual trash is done three days per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and each person has a recycling bin. Chairs are cleaned annually. How long has it been since you had your chairs cleaned? Their carpets are wet extracted twice a year, no shampoo allowed. Following the above actions and using Kleentech saves them $50,000 per year. State Farm also reduced their landscape scope one year ago to save approximately $70,000 per year on the landscaping contract. They recycle toner cartridges, printer cartridges, computers (to United recycling), aluminum cans, lamps, batteries, and cardboard. They have 210 recycling bins. They shred 90% of their paper, and they recycled 3.7 tons in December. That's about 63 good sized trees! To conserve irrigation water, they have ground moisture sensors controlled by a Maxicom system. It monitors the water pressure and can sense a break. They also took advantage of the City of Austin program to do irrigation audits. State Farm checks their entire irrigation system every four weeks in the summer and every two months during the off season. For winter hazards, they have two pallets of sand and two pallets of chemical de-ice mater. Overall, they have a well-controlled, efficient, facility operation that is prepared for the worst. Well done! by J. R. Howard MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Charles recently sent out an e-mail asking for our members to take a few minutes to read the note below and would like for you to reply with your thoughts. A new year is upon the Austin Chapter of IFMA and I, as President, am excited. The 2003-2004 year was one of the best the Austin Chapter has had since I have joined. We had a wildly successful and enjoyable Golf Tournament; World Workplace was in Dallas so many of our members could attend, we had many great programs and tours and the chapter's camaraderie is at an all-time high. I do not want to see this momentum lost!. While the chapter was strong compared to our counterparts, we lost more members than we attracted last year. With the economy ramping up, we want to bring in many more members; especially ones with a lot to offer IFMA and its members. My goals for the coming year are: § Keep the strong programs without the sales
pitches. We want our meetings to be informative and fun. IFMA Austin has some important upcoming events that I would like to draw your attention to: § July 27th Board Planning Session - This will be the last planning session for the 2004-2005 year. We will try to iron out the program and opportunities we want to pursue. Anyone is welcome to attend so contact me for information. § August 6th World Workplace Early Bird Deadline - You can save $100 off the cost of World Workplace Registration by registering by 8/6. Remember, if you change your mind, you have until 8/27 to receive a 100% refund. With the airfare wars, you could probably pull off WWP for less than $1000. § August 12th Monthly Meeting - Is it a Seminar or is it a Luncheon? It is both. We are keeping the luncheon format with our guest speaker, Dr. Dean Kashiwagi from Arizona State University. After lunch, Dr. Kashiwagi will expound on his presentation, detailing topics and presenting case studies. The luncheon is still $20 but the full seminar is $50 for member and $75 for non-members. We will not be offering the afternoon seminar only as attendees will be lost without the first part. See the website for complete details. § August 32nd - Okay there is no August 32nd but, if you are still reading, you care. The chapter needs more volunteers. Each of our committees can use some help. I am also looking for a chairperson for our Education Committee and our Sponsorship Committee. Even if you have only a little time, we will have a need. Finally, I want to hear back from members on anything you deem important such as: § Something you would like to see changed E-mail me at ccarpenter@firstam.com Meeting Policies The executive board realizes that last minute issues come up that would prevent someone from attending our monthly luncheon once they sent in their RSVP. Based on the number of people who RSVP for our monthly luncheons, we reserve space and order meals; moreover, the Austin Chapter is financially responsible for the cost of these meals, regardless of the meeting's headcount. We hope everyone will agree that paying for no-shows is not the way to spend the chapter dollars. No-Show Policy The IFMA monthly luncheons are generally held on the second Thursday of every month. The deadline for RSVP is Noon of the Monday preceding the meeting. RSVP's should be sent to rsvpifma@yahoo.com. You will receive a confirming e-mail to let you know that we have received your message. If you don't receive a confirming message by the Tuesday before the meeting, you need to contact me directly at Glenda.Stubbs@Trilogy.com. Anyone who confirms and fails to attend a monthly meeting will be sent an invoice for the cost of their meal plus an administration fee of $4.00 per invoice. Cancellations will be accepted through the RSVP deadline, which is Noon of the Monday preceding the meeting. If you need to cancel between Monday afternoon and the meeting, we will attempt to replace your spot with a last-minute RSVP. If we can not find a replacement for you, you will be invoiced for the cost of your meal. Non-RSVP Policy Persons who do not RSVP for the monthly luncheon cannot be guaranteed a spot at the meeting. According to the number of reservations that we provide, Embassy Suites places us in a room that meets fire code and prepares only that number of meals. If someone misses the RSVP deadline, they are asked to send a late RSVP to rsvpifma@yahoo.com so steps can be taken to provide enough meals and meeting space so everyone can enjoy the meeting. If someone frequently attends meetings without the courtesy of an RSVP, they will not be seated until we confirm that space is available. Guest Policy: We've had numerous questions from members on bringing guests. The guidelines we are using is that a member can bring guests as long as they RSVP and their lunch is paid for either by the member or the guest. The chapter will be happy to purchase our new member's lunch on their first visit. If you have any questions regarding these policies, feel free to contact any of our board members.
CHUCKLES Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers and prospered. Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who lived far away in another city.
The other brothers were impressed. After the holidays Mom sent out her Thank You notes. She wrote: "Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway. "Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home, I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks. "Michael, you gave me an expensive theater with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same. "Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift.
NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON APPLIED EARTHQUAKE RISK MANAGEMENT EFFORTS The 2004 National Earthquake Conference (www.earthquakeconference.org) will be held in St. Louis, Mo., on September 26-30, 2004, with the theme of Strengthening America: Preparing for Earthquakes and More. The Conference is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Geological Survey. Forty out of 50 states have moderate to very high earthquake hazards. FEMA estimates annualized earthquake losses in the US alone amount to $4.4 billion. While earthquakes don't happen every year, when they do the costs are enormous. Business connectivity has increased productivity but made us more vulnerable to shocks through out our demand and supply chains. The economic disruption to the rest of the country caused by events in New York on 9/11 is a contemporary example of this effect. "9/11 has created a renewed sense of urgency among organizations to discover and learn the nature of the risk to us, what others are doing, what tools are available and what we can practically do to reduce our vulnerability for our employees and customers," commented Ed Fratto, Executive Director, Northeast States Emergency Consortium, and Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee. The Conference will provide a forum for engineering and design professionals, geoscientists, natural hazard experts, and emergency responders to meet and dialog with business leaders, continuity planners, and risk management professionals. The Conference is organized and led by experts from all regions of the country. "We can use performance-based seismic design techniques and our understanding of how structures respond to overload conditions to design or retrofit structures simultaneously for blast and earthquakes," says Chris Poland, CEO and President of Degenkolb Engineers. "If the structure is put together with multi-hazards in mind, the structural elements can be proportioned to do double and triple duty, for little additional cost at the time of construction." Conference speakers include key geoscientists, engineers, and design professionals from the US Geological Survey, state geological surveys, and state transportation departments who are leading applied earthquake risk management efforts nationwide. One important outcome of the Conference will be to strengthen common ground and bridge gaps between the various professional communities in earthquake and natural hazards management. The Conference will also debut the video "Living with Risk," which will be bundled with the video "Business Survival Kit" for the first 400 registrants. See you next month! ?And, please visit our
website regularly for updated information www.ifma-austin.org |
Once each quarter and in lieu of our regular
monthly luncheon, IFMA-Austin organizes a site tour. Charles Carpenter
welcomed all who attended the tour and introduced Kelly
Burris, Architect
who in turn introduced her associates: 
At State Farm, Kelly indicated that their
group supports their business partners just as State Farm assists their
policyholders in managing the risks of everyday life - recovering from the
unexpected events. Kelly is part of the Administrative Services (AS)
Department. She said that AS is similar to a small town with many small
businesses that support the community. For example, AS is made up of the
Mail Services-the local post office, Transportation- the local car
dealership, Telecommunications- the local phone company, Construction and
Contract Administration - the local construction company and landlord,
Maintenance, and Technical Services - the local computer service company.
This building opened 10 years ago on the July 4th weekend. The three
story, 470,000 square foot site sits on 70 acres and supports about 1200
employees.
To manage expenses, schedule moves and reduce the number of
unnecessary moves, they have a move committee to check for feasibility,
alternatives, and a schedule. Most move costs are charged back to each
department. With an 80% churn rate this year they are trying to increase
efficiencies including box moves, moving during regular work hours, and
the use of in-house resources to lessen the cost. Each department is
charged $1.97 per sq.ft. per year for their space.
The first said "I had a big house built for
Mama."
The second said "I had a hundred thousand
dollar theater built in the house ."
The third said "I had my Mercedes dealer
deliver an SL600 to her."
The fourth said "You know how Mama loved
reading the Bible and you know she can't read anymore because she can't
see very well. I met this preacher who told me about a parrot that can
recite the entire Bible. It took twenty preachers 12 years to teach him. I
had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years to the
church, but it was worth it. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse
and the parrot will recite it."
The chicken was delicious. Thank you!