Head
Office
2008 GWC Food Bank Challenge
This
holiday season, in lieu of sending out paper Christmas cards, we will be sending
out electronic cards and putting the funds we save towards charity. Our card
money will be divided between the six GWC locations’ local food banks:
Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank
Edmonton’s
Food Bank
Winnipeg
Harvest
Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society
Regina &
District Food Bank
Salvation
Army in Lloydminster
We have
also challenged GWC employees to contribute food items. On December 22nd,
one GWC city will be declared the ‘Great City of Generosity’. The
competition will be measured by the most food items donated per person in each
city. So far, the Food Bank Challenge is off to a strong start with over two
hundred items collected!
Other
local GWC charitable endeavors have also been taking place. The staff at our
Delta division raised nearly $2000.00 towards The Empty Stocking Fund
during their summer golf tournament. Our Winnipeg division is volunteering at
the Siloam Mission, a local soup kitchen, on December 13th.
Stayed
tuned to our newsletter as GWC looks forward to participating in more charitable
projects throughout the New Year.
Happy
Holidays!
When good people go shopping!
Ken and Norma Chisholm welcomed several folks including
GWC President and CEO Nils Bodtker, Delta customer Dave Laskie and his wife
Marnie (Innovative) and Guy Nygren (Rhino Containers) to their home in Phoenix
for a few of days of sun, fun, golf and great company on November 18th
and 19th.
The weather was great and the company was fantastic! When
supplies were needed Ken and Guy volunteered for the journey to the local
Safeway. Here is what happens when you send Ken and Guy to get the groceries.
It all started so innocent with a couple of guys picking up
some goodies for the barbecue. Guy apparently was tired from the golf game that
afternoon. He had to swing the clubs a few more times than the rest of us.
Security looked at us puzzled but probably thought they should leave us alone.
He then decided to upgrade his mode of transportation for
the trip out to the car.
What would you do today if you were brave?
By Ken Chisholm
I came across a great article form a Phoenix area newspaper
that addressed the very difficult economic climate prevailing in that area.
Phoenix is one of the hardest hit areas in regards to home foreclosures and job
loss in the USA. Watching the news down there is very depressing so I was
pleasantly surprised to see someone attempt a positive spin on a very difficult
situation. Here is that article:
Phoenix Business Journal - by Susan Brooks Phoenix Business Journal
Friday, November 14, 2008
Confront
your fears and listen to your heart to find solutions
What would you do today if you were brave? These sure are challenging days we
are living in. Fear follows us wherever we go. It paralyzes us. It kills our
dreams. Others sense it. So, as with any demon we’ve given our power to,
confronting fear head-on is the only way to make it go away.
Take a brief intermission from your never-ending dialogue
with fear, and change the channel to a higher frequency. Ask yourself and be
willing to listen to the answer: What would you do today if you were brave?
I believe in my heart that if you are truly honest with
yourself in this exercise, you will discover ideas and solutions to the
challenges you are facing today.
Because we all are standing on sand right now, we get to
make new decisions, new choices. Layoffs, financial insecurity and uncertainties
are forcing us all to wake up, revisit our history and live each day “at
attention.”
A Realtor friend, out of work for months now, confessed
that back in her high school days, she loved writing humorous stories, even
fantasized about being a stand-up comic. I know what she would do today if she
were brave.
Then there is GateWay Community College, which hosts a work
force transition program to help baby boomers find purpose and priority in the
second half of their lives. After all, it was the boomers who, back in the day,
questioned authority and the institutional status quos of marriage, religion and
politics, as well as the role of women and men in relationships and in the
workplace. So, it makes perfect sense that this same generation will redefine
aging and the whole concept of retirement.
The hard part is confronting the fear that keeps us stuck,
instead of exploring what we would do if we were really brave. While boomers
focused on “getting a job,” their real dreams were being minimized in their own
minds.
A man in his 60s hung his head. Although he was an
information technology professional with a large company that is no more, he
confessed to going on three interviews with no job offer in sight. Meanwhile,
because of his technology skills, he has been creating a Web site that connects
social philanthropy with nonprofit agencies.
Bravery was what he really needed, not a job.
Make no mistake: Being able to pay for food, shelter, gas
and our children’s education are real matters of consequence. But maybe, just
maybe, identifying those ideas that get your juices flowing, those dreams that
make you want to reach higher, might just be the ones you need to pursue right
now.
Federico Fellini, movie maker extraordinaire, said: “The
only true realist is the visionary.”
So, what would it take to give yourself permission to
explore the possibilities out there in this new day?
Change is happening now. It takes courage and vision and
commitment to moving forward. Waiting for things to get back to normal just
isn’t going to work.
How much do you believe in yourself? How tough are you? How
much do you want out of your one and only life? This is your chance to dream
again, risk again and begin again.
“Courage” comes from the French word “coeur,” which means
“heart.” We’re not talking about the brain here, but the heart, the gut, that
part of us that is brave and true.
Courage is an emotional commitment based on the core values
that are important in our life, the principles we define as right and wrong.
Committed action based on these principles is where bravery shines through.
So, let’s get some committed action going. Make your list
of 10 things you would do today if you were brave — if you listened to your
heart, your gut. Then, slowly, read over each one on your list. Is there
anything, anything at all, that you can do right here, right now, to take action
on one thing on your list — just one thing?
Choose it, and do it. Make that phone call, research that
concept, make that appointment. Move it forward, one step at a time. Do it now,
knowing that as each one of us takes that first step and moves forward, we
really will create the power to turn this moment into a legendary time.
Susan Brooks is the founder of
Tempe-based Cookies from Home and a Service Enthusiasm speaker, trainer and
author.
Weather related stories:
We had a snow day on Sunday, December 7th,
2008. It was Calgary’s first “big” one of the year. It was a wet Vancouver
type of snow that we don’t see here too often so we were all a little sore form
the multiple shovels during the course of the day. Here is a picture of the
Calgary office two days later in a balmy -8 Celsius.
For the record, it was 20 degrees Celsius and sunny in
Phoenix on Sunday, December 7th.
Big
moves at Head Office!
After 2 ½ years of freezing in her office, Alanna has
finally convinced Ken to give up his office and control of the thermostat.
Ken, who is suffering the mid life hot flashes that so many before have enjoyed
is looking forward to a temperature less sweat provoking.
Alanna on the other hand who is enjoying a week in Costa
Rica as this goes to press is looking forward to work days without a parka and a
toasty cup of hot water to keep her hands warm.
The move will
commence while Alanna is away so she is sure to return to an interesting looking
new office upon her return. Tradition has it that offices must be messed with
when someone leaves for a week in the sun while the rest of us suffer. Since
Alanna introduced this “tradition” we are only too happy to comply!
GEEK SPEAK
Smart Phones
Intro
This holiday season seems like “smart”
phones are all the rage in the mobility market. These devices differ from
regular “text and talk” cell phones because they keep us connected to the
Internet as well. This new layer of accessibility will enable you to keep up on
your email, browse the Internet and download applications and data.
This article will elaborate on what
makes these devices so “smart” and if they are so smart why doesn’t everyone
have them? What does the future hold for these smart phones?
What makes them so smart?
First of all, there really are no
standard definitions between manufacturers as to what a smart phone has to be.
As mentioned above, the common theme is that they can connect to the Internet
for some kind of data (email, browsing, Facebook, messaging, etc.).
Another feature of a smart phone is the
more visible operating system (OS). Many articles on this topic specify that a
smart phone needs an operating system, which is correct, but regular cell phones
do too. Cell phones just have very limited and pre-programmed OS’. Smart phone
OS’ can do more to juggle the many more features and can also accept new
downloaded applications. These applications in turn add even more features to
your device.
An important feature that should be
considered when choosing a smart phone is the interface. Since you’ll be
interacting with the device more, a QWERTY keyboard might be useful for more
text based communication. Some have touch screens or a scroller ball to help
with web browsing and general navigation.
And of course they include all the
features that we are familiar with on cell phones: music player, camera,
texting, address books, calculators, alarms etc. They are becoming an
all-in-one device for communication, entertainment and productivity.
Why doesn’t everyone have one yet?
There are a couple of reasons why not
everyone is on a smart phone yet: contracts and costs.
Most people in Canada are still locked
into their current cell phone plans ranging from one to three years. Committing
to a plan is what makes the devices affordable, or free.
The costs of a data plan right now seem
high for many users. If you buy a smart phone and want to take advantage of the
data features, your plan could cost about $15.00 to $60.00 or more. This cost
is on top of your voice plan.
Canada has notoriously high voice and
data plan rates and keeping track of where your data overages may occur can be
tricky. Before you choose a data plan, try this
link from Vodafone (a wireless company not available in Canada) that
provides a calculator for estimating how much data you might use and what kind
of Internet data could be the largest drain on your plan.
Where’s the growth?
Smart phone developers are predicting
data usage to be the driving force for improvement. With faster connectivity on
3G wireless technologies, the downloading of music, videos and applications is
faster and more convenient.
Smart phones are moving out of the
office environment and being used for entertainment and social networking.
Better resolution screens, smaller
devices and better interfaces are also helping to make smart phones more
appealing for non-work related uses like watching videos.
Conclusion
Smart phones, then, are really cell
phones with more advanced data features added to them, making the devices a
portable PC that can organize your data and connect you to the Internet for
either work or play.
An appropriate data plan will help to
reduce the cost of using one if you find yourself embracing the data side of
your phone.
Smart phones are also “fun” phones as
more people are using them beyond work emails and phone calls. The
user-friendly interfaces make them fairly accessible to anyone already used to a
cell phone. Its ability to download applications will help users customize
their smart phones.
For more information on the web about
smart phones, please see some of the links below.
That concludes this edition of Geek
Speak. Happy holidays and happy computing!
Carthy, I.T. Guru
Websites used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone
http://www.rim.com/products/handhelds/index.shtml
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/article.jsp?content=20060116_73778_73778
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=26eeb76f-1199-464e-ba09-001abaada259&p=2
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;769766412;fp;2;fpid;3
http://www.pcworld.com/article/1542708/meet_the_next_wave_of_awesome_cell_phones.html
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