Well, it's the end of another year. I'm sure that each of us looks back on 2010 differently. For some it was the 'best of times'. For many others, you can't wait for the damn thing to be over with.
So for now, as we look forward to a brand new year - 2011? Weren't we supposed to have flying cars by now? - I'll make no more wise cracks, smart-aleck comments, or witty put downs. I'll just leave you with this:
Here's a warm remembrance of those loved ones we have lost this year, and a wish that you and your families have a healthy and prosperous 2011.
Until next time .... Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year ...
Boy, the year has really flown by, hasn’t it? The holiday season has been in full swing for a few weeks now. And who doesn’t love the holidays? A time for family, food, reflection, joy, preparation, resolutions, and for many of us - some much needed down time. Of course, the holidays also come with their own unique brand of stress. You know, things like ‘Do you think we have enough food for the party?' or ‘What the heck are we going to get for your Aunt Dolly this year? The old coot is impossible to buy for!’ And of course, the old standard ‘How the heck are we paying for all this?’
Well, for those of us who work in a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year service industry like Select Express, stress during the holiday season has its own unique meaning. Traditionally, the days and weeks leading up to and through the holidays themselves are some of the busiest of the year. Just look what’s happened to the day after Thanksgiving Day – once one of the quietest business days of the year. It has morphed into an annual event known as “Black Friday”. Have you been to one of these? I haven't seen so many grungy people in sleeping blankets on the street at 3:00am since I waited to buy Led Zeppelin tickets in back 1974! but for a same-day delivery company like ours, 'Black Friday' has become the Super Bowl of delivery days.
For our operations managers, holiday time means a different type of preparation – including making sure that there is sufficient staff in our offices and delivery couriers on the road to service our customer’s needs. And worrying about that gift for Aunt Dolly is nothing compared to working longer hours, dealing with higher volumes, and trying to juggle their own personal holiday preparation in and around work time (thank you Al Gore, for inventing internet shopping!).
So remember, while you’re spinning the Dreidel, waiting for that jolly old fellow to make his way down the chimney, or watching the ball drop in Times Square, the staff at Select Express is on the job, making sure your delivery – whether scheduled or a dire emergency – goes off without a hitch.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Well, for those of us who work in a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year service industry like Select Express, stress during the holiday season has its own unique meaning. Traditionally, the days and weeks leading up to and through the holidays themselves are some of the busiest of the year. Just look what’s happened to the day after Thanksgiving Day – once one of the quietest business days of the year. It has morphed into an annual event known as “Black Friday”. Have you been to one of these? I haven't seen so many grungy people in sleeping blankets on the street at 3:00am since I waited to buy Led Zeppelin tickets in back 1974! but for a same-day delivery company like ours, 'Black Friday' has become the Super Bowl of delivery days.
For our operations managers, holiday time means a different type of preparation – including making sure that there is sufficient staff in our offices and delivery couriers on the road to service our customer’s needs. And worrying about that gift for Aunt Dolly is nothing compared to working longer hours, dealing with higher volumes, and trying to juggle their own personal holiday preparation in and around work time (thank you Al Gore, for inventing internet shopping!).
So remember, while you’re spinning the Dreidel, waiting for that jolly old fellow to make his way down the chimney, or watching the ball drop in Times Square, the staff at Select Express is on the job, making sure your delivery – whether scheduled or a dire emergency – goes off without a hitch.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Social Networking Dilemma
I hate to admit it, but I have been somewhat reluctant to join the global social networking revolution that is occurring every day. Oh, who am I kidding - let me just say it - I have deliberately REFUSED to become a part of it. And no, it isn’t because I’m techno-phobic. I’m pretty proficient with computers, email, texting, blackberries, digital cameras and the like. Hey, I even converted to playing a completely electronic drum kit. But when the discussion moves to Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and the like, I admit that my concentration and focus levels waver like a five-year-old in Toys R Us. I do often feel like an outcast - as if I were the only person in the developed world not on Facebook. And unless you count that noise after a third quesadilla at lunch, I don’t ‘tweet’ either.
It's just that at this stage in my life, I find myself wanting to withdraw rather than 'connect'. I mean, who has the time? I read a hundred or so emails a day at work, and a bunch more at home just trying to keep up with family and mal-adjusted friends. Isn’t email bad enough - what with being subjected to awful jokes, and 'poignant' requests to save a baby seal? Do I really need to ratchet things up by connecting with someone I barely spoke to in High School, who has hunted me down like a war criminal because they are compelled to involve me in their hideous daily life? Or getting tweets from some narcissistic soul compelled to advise me of a difficult bowel movement? Shoot me. Please. You see, I’m perfectly happy to be in the social networking version of the witness protection program.
Now, I completely get why Select Express is incorporating new technologies to expand and grow our business. We’ve even benefited from the expertise of people like Mardy Sitzer and the folks at Bumblee Design and Marketing to navigate the new technological waters. Hey, you either get with the program, and keep ahead of your competitors, or die.
I suppose that should apply to me as well - and that ultimately, it is my destiny to be dragged into social networking like a reluctant groom in an arranged marriage. When it finally does happen, you’ll all be among the first to know. Maybe I'll 'tweet' you all ... "Flossed this morning. gums bled a little..." Scintillating, eh?
Till next time ...
Nick Galotti
It's just that at this stage in my life, I find myself wanting to withdraw rather than 'connect'. I mean, who has the time? I read a hundred or so emails a day at work, and a bunch more at home just trying to keep up with family and mal-adjusted friends. Isn’t email bad enough - what with being subjected to awful jokes, and 'poignant' requests to save a baby seal? Do I really need to ratchet things up by connecting with someone I barely spoke to in High School, who has hunted me down like a war criminal because they are compelled to involve me in their hideous daily life? Or getting tweets from some narcissistic soul compelled to advise me of a difficult bowel movement? Shoot me. Please. You see, I’m perfectly happy to be in the social networking version of the witness protection program.
Now, I completely get why Select Express is incorporating new technologies to expand and grow our business. We’ve even benefited from the expertise of people like Mardy Sitzer and the folks at Bumblee Design and Marketing to navigate the new technological waters. Hey, you either get with the program, and keep ahead of your competitors, or die.
I suppose that should apply to me as well - and that ultimately, it is my destiny to be dragged into social networking like a reluctant groom in an arranged marriage. When it finally does happen, you’ll all be among the first to know. Maybe I'll 'tweet' you all ... "Flossed this morning. gums bled a little..." Scintillating, eh?
Till next time ...
Nick Galotti
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