Emergency Response Plan: Threats and Threatening Phone Calls

The Emergency Response Plans are designed to protect all employees during emergencies. It is important to thoroughly understand proper precautions and procedures to avoid conflict and any additional hazards. 

For your reference, the Genera safety team and their extensions are listed on the right-hand side of this blog.

How to handle threatening phone calls, bomb threats, and/or any other type of harmful threat:

1.) Ensure that employees who answer the phone keep a Bomb Threat Checklist near their phone.

2.) Record what the call said as quickly as possible using the Bomb Threat Checklist.

3.) Dial 9-1-1 or signal someone near you to call if you specifically are unable to do so.

4.) Make an effort to hear the entire message and remember exact wording used.

5.) Be alert for any background noises or sounds and attempt to identify caller. 

6.) Communicate all pertinent details and circumstances to Liz (Office Manager), the police and Building Services. 

7.) Be prepared to evacuate the building upon direction from proper authorities. 

For more safety and crime information, please visit the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department website here. 

Interesting Facts About Magazines

Magazines have been around for over 100 years. The industry has evolved and changed significantly over time; especially since the dawn of the "digital media" age. If you think you know all there is about this every-changing industry, you may surprised.

• Cosmopolitan began with a mission to celebrate the single woman.
• Women’s magazines played a key role in getting women to join the work force.
• About 50% of all magazine copies are sold on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The lowest selling day of the week is Wednesday, with only about 11.5% of the total sold on an average week.
• November is the weakest month for magazines sales, even though the day before Thanksgiving is among the best magazine sales days each year.
• Average monthly sales in June, July and August are 7% higher than the rest of the year, helped by a spike in teen and children magazine title sales.
• Although Saturday is generally the best magazine sales day of the week, in July, Sunday sales outpace Saturday sales by almost 8%.
• In the fall, celebrity title sales usually dip, while titles in the Food, Health and Automotive categories spike during the 4th quarter.
• The computer category has the highest overall cover price of copies sold. The average cover price peaked at about $10.70 in Dec 2012. That is a 20% increase over 2010 prices.
• Supercenters show strong seasonal magazine sales increases in the summer, experiencing up to a 50% average surge in sales in the first three weeks of July.
• How important to the industry are celebrity titles? Celebrity magazines sell more copies than the total sales of titles in the Food, Games, Health, Automotive, Home, Lifestyle and Teen categories combined.
• Since Facebook was founded, magazines gained more than one million young adult readers.
• Magazines deliver more ad impressions than TV or Web in a half-hour period.

*Sources: here and here.

Emergency Response Plan: Severe and Dangerous Weather

The Emergency Response Plans are designed to protect all employees during emergencies. It is important to thoroughly understand proper precautions and procedures to avoid conflict and any additional hazards. 

For your reference, the Genera safety team and their extensions are listed on the right-hand side of this blog.

What to do during severe and dangerous weather:

• When notified of a hurricane, tornado, high winds, severe storms, or lightning, the Fire Warden should:
• Notify all individuals of the warning via email. (Liz will do this as well)
• Circulate through the office/floor to verify everyone has been notified
• Advise individuals to move away from windows to places of maximum protection (e.g. interior room, break room, centrally located conference room, or stairwell). 
• Lower and close all blinds.
• Have assigned assistants help special needs personnel in moving to protected locations and move to stairwell landing if necessary. 
• During snow, ice, or any other hazardous weather that can be dangerous for driving on the roads, please use extra caution and never put yourself at risk for an accident. During chances of this type of weather happening, please call the Genera weather hotline before coming to work. 

Emergency Response Plan: Medical Emergency

The Emergency Response Plans are designed to protect all employees during emergencies. It is important to thoroughly understand proper precautions and procedures to avoid conflict and any additional hazards. 

For your reference, the Genera safety team and their extensions are listed on the right-hand side of this blog.

What to do during a medical emergency:

• Call 9-1-1 for medical assistance.
• Do only what is necessary to stabilize the individual.
• Contact Building Services to report the incident.
• Appoint someone to stand outside and direct the ambulance, fire, and/or other emergency responders to the correct location. 
• Keep area clear of unnecessary bystanders and observers. 

It is important to remember safety and preventing hazards within our Genera office as well. All of our office doors remain locked with authorized personnel having an assigned fob for entrance. If you are approached by someone requesting entrance who is not an employee of Genera, contact Liz so she can ensure it is a scheduled guest and assist.

Employee Spotlight

Each month we will feature two employees at Genera Solutions to get to know them better. Our two employees for August are our President, John and Erin in Accounting.

We see our co-workers on a daily basis, but may not always get the chance to engage or get to know them like we want. Our employee spotlights allow us to get to know each other on a deeper basis!

What are your favorite hobbies?  

Reading, gardening, fishing, hiking and lately raising chickens.

What is one quote that you live by? 

“The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough.” 

― From a great book by Colum McCann, “Let the Great World Spin” 

“Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days

you're the statue!”

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Eagle – free to go anywhere

Who is your favorite sports team?

Panthers

What is your favorite restaurant in Charlotte and what do you like the order there?

Carpe Diem-- Seared Sea Bass

What are your favorite hobbies?

I like to run and workout. I am also a Young Life Leader.  

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

I would be a panda, I’m obsessed with them!

What is your favorite movie?

Wizard of Oz

What is your favorite restaurant in Charlotte and what do you like the order there?

Mac’s Speed Shop: I order the Lil Pig BBQ sandwich with mac’n cheese 

Who is your favorite sports team?
St. Louis Cardinals 

August Annoucements

Colleen: August 2nd
Marilyn: August 9th
Sealy: August 16th
Alok: August 19th
Eric: August 21st
Sharon: August 21st
Susan: August 24th

Amy August 7th (18 years!)
James: August 13th (14 years!)
Kris: August 23rd (4 years!)

Genera Solutions will be celebrating "Celebrate Us" and the quarterly town hall meeting together on Friday, September 5th! More details will be provided soon.

CMS’s first day of school is Monday, August 25th!

A moment of silence will be dedicated to parents having to get their children up and ready.

Ballantyne Blood Drive: Donate blood with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, August 13. Located in the blood mobile at the Brixham Tent from 9:00am to 1:30pm

John and Eric will be in Anchorage, Alaska for the Divisional Meeting the week of August 17th. This location was chosen to commemorate the retirement of Mike; the manager of TNG (Alaska). 

In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, please opt to use the available ceramic coffee mugs instead of paper. Please also do not forget to wash your cup once you are finished.

"The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake." -Alan Greenspan

Carlyne: She always has a smile on her face is very helpful to others.

Marilyn: She had to train me recently on a month-end procedure and she was very detailed and thorough in her explanations of the process. This was a big help.

Susan: She has been training me recently and she is very patient and answered all my questions thoroughly. She does not even mind if I have to ask more questions so I can be sure I understand the process. She is very pleasant to work with.

Mike I, Sr: Prompt and accurate answers to my questions regarding our June remit.

Alok: If I ever have a question, issue or problem with Lotus Notes, Alok is always quick to respond and get the problem solved, usually in the same day... even when he has a day off!   He is ever cheerful and positive!

Matt M: I recently started working with Matt on both Go-Gens and Harvest.  Prior I did not really know him that well.  Matt is a solid employee with good ideas and great attitude.

Anne: I would like to thank Anne Hill for helping prepare my remittances when I was out of the office.

Susan: I would like to thank Susan Simmons for helping prepare my remittances when I was out of the office.

Teresa M: I would like to thank Teresa Miller for helping prepare my remittances when I was out of the office .

Chris L: Chris has been a huge team player on the CRM project. Chris leverages his extensive knowledge of our business processes with his skills in CRM development to keep the project moving forward as efficiently as possible. Chris always takes time to share information, communicate with the team, and to offer help to teammates.  

Alicia: Month in and Month out, Alicia provides me with timely reports and wire transfers! She is always there to handle questions and provides prompt responses. She is a huge asset on which I have come to rely!

Chris E: There was an issue with my Laptop this morning. A problem we thought would take until tomorrow was resolved in about two hours. Even though a loaner laptop was set up for me to use in the mean time, he recognized the urgency of having my laptop back and running as soon as possible and hustled to resolve the issue. Thanks Chris!

Karen: Karen has been very helpful to me by assisting with excel formulas and formatting. She is always willing to take a few minutes of her time to help me when I need it.

Sara: She jumped in and assisted behind the scenes in Oracle AAM in order to deliver client-requested reports revisions at the last minute. Thanks for your time, Sara! Couldn't have happened without you. 

Carlyne: Two smooth and uninterrupted AP month close by Carlyne Montes.  I really appreciate her commitment and enthusiasm in learning new functionalities.

Tony: Since I started working for CMG, and now at Genera, Tony has consistently made himself available to help me whenever I need it. He has been an invaluable source of knowledge and assistance since day 1. I really appreciate everything Tony has done for me, especially in my new position.

Susan: She always comes through (for lack of a better word) for my team and I.  No Matter what the issue is, Susan goes above and beyond to help me solve the problem.