11/05/2009

THIS MONTH’S MEMO

I know we are all still adjusting to the shock of Karen Holt passing away. Although she had been on the job less than a year, she had become an integral part of my weekly and often daily schedule. She was someone I could kid with and she gave back as good as she got. I will miss her smile, laugh and upbeat attitude. We don’t have enough of those qualities in the workplace and Karen did her share to correct that deficiency. Thanks Karen.

Update on New Initiatives and Programs:

Open Houses – We completed all of the open houses and overall they were successful. We had some interference from the weather, but all in all they were reasonably well attended. Thanks for your efforts.

Recruitments – Everything is going at full speed to fill the 3 positions we have advertised. We have made an offer to someone for the Training Consultant Position and should be able to make an announcement soon. We getting very close to closure on the Management Consultant and the Legal Consultant positions. Stimulus money is being used to fill these positions.

Website – Again I would encourage you to visit our website. If there are items that should be on the website, please contact Frances with your suggestions. Encourage cities to use the website. To assist in that effort, we are developing a short info piece that your cities can use to inform their employees about the website. It will be shipped to you in the second week of November.

Newsletter – The latest edition of the MTAS Municipal E-Newsletter went out last week. Just a reminder to be on the lookout for innovations and report them to Frances. It may be a small item or something huge, in either case it can be very beneficial to other cities, but they have to know about it and that is our job. As always, as you interact with your customers, ask them if they are getting the newsletter and if so are they reading it. If they are not getting it, let us know and we will add them to the list. If they are not reading it, encourage them to do so.

Events Calendar - Remember to check the Events Calendar and post upcoming events, if they are not posted. If you need assistance, please check with Lisa, Justin, Frances or Becky.

Teamwork:

Examples of teamwork. If I missed an example you think should be noted, please let me know.


Mark Your Calendars:


Staff Birthdays for October:

October 1 – Brett Ward
October 25 – Tess Davis
October 29 – Sid Hemsley NOTICE THE CORRECTION FROM LAST MONTH. I ERRONEOUSLY ENTERED SID’S BIRTHDAY AS OCTOBER 28.

Staff Birthdays for November:

November 1 – Bonnie Curran
November 1 – Elaine Morrisey
November 16 – Gail Cook
November 16 – Kay Stegall
November 2- - Sarah Holley



Kudos:

- To Gary Jaeckel and Kurt Frederick for pitching in to help with the LGLP Alumni event this week.

- For you generosity in helping MTAS meet and exceed its Campus Chest goals for 2009 - Pledged Goal Percent

$8,566.10 $8,057 106%

- Thanks to all of your efforts on the MTAS 60th anniversary open houses and special thanks to Melanie Purcell, Margaret Norris, Armintha Loveday, Frances Adams-O’brien, Leigh Lawson and Brenda Moss.

Please email me Kudos suggestions and I will make an effort to include them in future staff updates.

As always, thanks for all you do for MTAS and Tennessee cities.

Mike