Announcing new complimentary seminars for the Facilities Management Summit in Orlando

1. “LED Lights That Transmit Data? Who Are You trying To Kid?“ 

To be presented by  David Lawrence Dunn , CFM, Division Manager, Fleet & Facilities Management Division, City of Orlando.

Overview: How many times have you gotten that call to “please give some time to this vendor” and you have immediately thought “well here’s another hour of my time I will never get back”. This was how the City of Orlando Fleet & Facilities Management Division Manager and Energy Project Manager were introduced to this product.

In February 2013 the Division Manager and Energy Project Manager spent an hour with the vendor personnel only to discover that what they described in LED and Visible Light Communication sounded too futuristic and fantastic to be true.

The City invited the vendor to prove their described technology and they did it!

The wild ride since then has challenged the vendor to refine their technology and deploy it into a fully functioning system in one of the City’s training rooms.August 12, 2013 the vendor exceeded the City’s expectations with their delivery!

This produced the first technology installation of this magnitude; in the world!The vendor is moving their Corporate Headquarters to Orlando and opening a manufacturing operation to support the first order of the technology that is expected to be a one million fixture order.The Tech is not like anything seen to date and is not even available on the market yet. The City of Orlando is working with the vendor as their test bed of Tech to facilitate these products further R & D.The Orlando Chapter of IFMA has been introduced to the vendor through a Vendor Showcase opportunity facilitated by the presenter the interest in this very new tech is growing. Airports and High Security locations, including the Kennedy Space Center are anxiously awaiting this products debut on the market!

Presentation Outline

The presenter shall describe a case study of how a vendor meeting in February of 2013 developed into a collaborative effort between a vendor with a brand new and previously unheard of technology through a very rapid research and development curve to a completely installed and operational solution by August of 2013.Details about the growing pains, the technology challenges and the means and methods to overcome the internal TM, Permitting, Code and Sr. Management stumbling blocks and absolute roadblocks will be presented. The vendor’s challenges in supporting the R & D in Orlando from their Laboratory base in Minnesota and the schedule requirements of Orlando will be outlined with each solution hammered out in this collaborative effort. The specifics of how the audience of members can take these lessons learned and their new understanding of this emerging technology back to their base for consideration will be shared.

2. Utility Lighting Rebates and Incentives:  Making them work for you!

To be presented by Carlos Alonso-Niemeyer, Director of Utility Incentives, Specialty Lighting Group Energy Services

Overview: Statistically, commercial buildings consume approximately 25% of all the electricity produced in the USA with 35% of that specifically consumed by lighting.  As a direct result, over the last five years, most states and utilities have dramatically increased their efforts to capture energy savings within this market segment by offering extremely aggressive Energy Efficiency Incentive programs. These programs target all the aspects of your business where potential energy savings can be realized:  Lighting, HVAC, Water, Refrigeration, and Gas to name a few.  Lighting is the simplest of these in which to implement a efficiency program.

Why not take advantage of the utility financial incentives to improve the efficiency of your lighting system when they can only help drive an acceptable ROI (Return on Investment)?  By doing so you will dramatically reduce your operational and maintenance costs, while also helping the environment.

Note, that with the continuing advancement of technology within the lighting industry, funding for these programs will only increase during the next 4 years.  At the same time, however, the older technologies will begin to drop from the list of available targets for these incentives.  Now is the time to take action.

Meet with Specialty Lighting Group Energy Services to learn how these programs work nationwide:

–          Access to funding available per state and utility area

–          Overview of different types of Lighting Rebate and Incentive from utilities

–          Application process at a corporate level

–          Assessment and estimates for potential savings on corporate portfolios

–          ROI analysis and additional benefits from energy efficiency projects

3. Leveraging the Power of Story for Meaningful Change: Storytelling for Influence

To be presented by: James Scott Brew, FCSI, AIA, LEED AP is a Director & Chief Building Scientist at Ebert & Baumann, a firm inspired by German quality—American Innovation.

Overview: If you have ever struggled to convince your clients to achieve a greater level of sustainability, this session is for you.  Facility managers, architects, engineers, and product manufacturer’s often attempt to “make the case” for more aggressive sustainability or energy performance. However, while there is great opportunity for better buildings, it is often difficult to convince your audience to make the necessary commitment.

This interactive presentation will cover the powerful storytelling tools for sustainable design and present a practice case study for effectively using stories on green building projects. Key components of story structuring and order of magnitude estimates will be highlighted.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the most common story structure and recognize it in practice.
2. Know the basic elements of constructing a story and be able to write a storyline for any project.
3. Be able to think through the process of crafting, refining and delivering a story.

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The Facilities Management Summit

December 3rd and 4th 

Orlando, FL 

How to Choose an Emergency Notification System.

Like any investment, doing some homework before going out to market will save you time and potentially costly mistakes when procuring an emergency notification system. To ensure that you choose the right system, it’s essential to ask the right questions and determine your exact needs.

Having a set of initial requirements driven by business needs is crucial. Without a clear understanding of business needs, you may make a purchasing decision that doesn’t really solve those needs. All too often, purchasing decisions are made with only a small amount of thought given to how the system needs to be used. Determining those needs doesn’t have to be a drawn-out process and can easily be work-shopped to speed the process. Fortunately, there is a new white paper that guides you through the process of establishing your requirements and choosing a vendor.

Before you begin to actually choose and review vendors, it is often worth informally reviewing some applications to see whether there are features that you hadn’t thought about that could be worthwhile. Bear in mind, though, that these features should be tested against a real business requirement. It is easy to be dazzled by a wonderful array of features and lose sight of the core business drivers. There is a simple test to apply: will you definitely use the feature? If you won’t, will it get in the way of the configuration or use of the notification tool?

As you evaluate vendors, your understanding of your business needs will become crucial. Not deciding up-front what is truly important and what is unnecessary could detract from a timely and cost effective deployment.  Also, think carefully about the non-functional requirements such as customer service, support and agility. Like any marketplace, the most visible companies don’t always provide these critical aspects as well as they could. Since this system will be most often used for emergencies, choosing for these non-functional requirements becomes even more important.

Also, consider whether you might be best served by a notification system that includes incident management capabilities. Notification gets the word out; incident management software helps you do something about the situation. Incident management features can include an incident log, task management, team status monitor, documents library, and more.

To learn more, download the 11-page white paper “How to Choose an Emergency Notification System”. It’s an expert guide that helps you think through the process of defining your requirements and selecting a system. Don’t go through the evaluation process unarmed; download the guide today.

The white paper is sponsored by MissionMode, creators of smarter emergency notification software, streamlined incident management and interactive mobile communication applications.

MissionMode will be participating in the The Resilience Summit                               on December 3-4 2013

We are Pleased to Announce a New Seminar for the Facilities Management Summit: “LED Lights That Transmit Data? Who Are You trying To Kid?“

Join David Lawrence Dunn at the Facilities Management Summit on December 3rd&4th in Orlando, FL.

 

David Dunn , CFM, Division Manager, Fleet & Facilities Management Division, City of Orlando

“LED Lights That Transmit Data? Who Are You trying To Kid?“ 

How many times have you gotten that call to “please give some time to this vendor” and you have immediately thought “well here’s another hour of my time I will never get back”. This was how the City of Orlando Fleet & Facilities Management Division Manager and Energy Project Manager were introduced to this product.

In February 2013 the Division Manager and Energy Project Manager spent an hour with the vendor personnel only to discover that what they described in LED and Visible Light Communication sounded too futuristic and fantastic to be true.

The City invited the vendor to prove their described technology and they did it!

The wild ride since then has challenged the vendor to refine their technology and deploy it into a fully functioning system in one of the City’s training rooms.August 12, 2013 the vendor exceeded the City’s expectations with their delivery!

This produced the first technology installation of this magnitude; in the world!The vendor is moving their Corporate Headquarters to Orlando and opening a manufacturing operation to support the first order of the technology that is expected to be a one million fixture order.The Tech is not like anything seen to date and is not even available on the market yet. The City of Orlando is working with the vendor as their test bed of Tech to facilitate these products further R & D.The Orlando Chapter of IFMA has been introduced to the vendor through a Vendor Showcase opportunity facilitated by the presenter the interest in this very new tech is growing. Airports and High Security locations, including the Kennedy Space Center are anxiously awaiting this products debut on the market!

Presentation Outline

The presenter shall describe a case study of how a vendor meeting in February of 2013 developed into a collaborative effort between a vendor with a brand new and previously unheard of technology through a very rapid research and development curve to a completely installed and operational solution by August of 2013.Details about the growing pains, the technology challenges and the means and methods to overcome the internal TM, Permitting, Code and Sr. Management stumbling blocks and absolute roadblocks will be presented. The vendor’s challenges in supporting the R & D in Orlando from their Laboratory base in Minnesota and the schedule requirements of Orlando will be outlined with each solution hammered out in this collaborative effort. The specifics of how the audience of members can take these lessons learned and their new understanding of this emerging technology back to their base for consideration will be shared.

Bio

David Dunn is a US Navy Veteran with an Associate of Science degree in BusinessAdministration, a Bachelor of Divinity degree in Ministry, an International Facility ManagementAssociation Certified Facility Manager, an Adjunct Professor at Valencia College, an AdjunctChaplain for the State of Florida, and a Pastor & Advocate for people diagnosed with mental illness.

In 2006 David left the Space Shuttle Program after twenty-three years to join the City of Orlando Facilities Management Division. The City of Orlando combined the Fleet & Facilities Management Divisions in 2011 and promoted David to manage the newly combined Fleet & Facilities Management Division.

 

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Affordable Care Act – Proactive Action Plan for Employers

Financially and operationally speaking, The Affordable Care Act is one  the  most massive and complex HR compliance challenge for employers in U.S. history. It comes as no surprise then, that the recently conducted  ADP Research Institute survey indicates very mixed levels of awareness of and preparedness for specific upcoming ACA requirements. While human resources and employee benefits decision makers in four out of ten large companies express a high level of confidence that they understand employer obligations under the ACA, only half as many small and midsized employers feel this way.

As many ACA provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, there is still some time to learn how take a proactive approach in this endeavor, make the transition effective, and keep the cost low.  As the ACA clock is ticking, here are the steps, as listed by Jackson Lewis LLP in the article Six Steps to Prepare for the Affordable Care Act,   that employers should take while formulating  their action plans:

1. Recognize that many of the ACA’s requirements become effective on Jan. 1, 2014.

2. Identify workers who are misclassified as independent contractors.

3. Investigate the application of the controlled and affiliated service group rules.

4. Examine temporary and leased employee agreements.

5. Avoid “messing” with your insurance contract renewal dates.

6. Take the time to model the impact of the ACA’s mandates and penalties.

Read the full article here 

The Facilities Management Summit Partners with IFMA Orlando

We are thrilled to announce Greater Orlando Chapter
of IFMA as the official trade partner of The Facilities Management Summit in Orlando, Fl on December 3rd and 4th.

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,500 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 15 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management degree and certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition.

New Seminar Confirmed for the New York HR and Employee Benefits Summit

January 27, 2014                                                                                         Andaz Wall Street                                                                                         New York, NY 

Lowering Healthcare Costs and increasing productivity through effective Wellness Programs.

This comprehensive session covers a complete analysis of healthcare cost reduction through wellness efforts, illuminating the most effective wellness program elements and taking participants through the science of the top 5 most common health saboteurs, illustrating exactly what employers can do to contribute to prevention and the ROI that can be expected.  Lisa will review the results of the recent multi-year Harvard Research study “Workplace Wellness and healthcare savings” conducted among large businesses in all industries and share her own experience with Wellness Program implementation to clearly identify best practices of wellness programs that work and highlighting the spending that does not yield lasting results. Lisa’s mission is to provide leaders with tangible organizational changes that can be made to impact prevention of diet related disease, workplace stress, depression, simultaneously decreasing healthcare costs and increasing performance and collaboration…without touching the budget.

 The Summit will offer up to 5 educational seminars for attendees to choose to add to their customized itinerary. As of October 16, 2013, only 13 complimentary places remain. Reserve your place today at http://www.forumevents.com/events/HR-and-Employee-Benefits-Summit/New-York-City-NY or contact Cherissa Irvin, Event Coordinator, today at 941-925-7585 ext.107 or Cherissa.Irvin@forumevents.com

The HR & Employee Benefits Summit has partnered with the USSA and IMA for all of 2014!

The HR & Employee Benefits Summit is pleased to announce the Untied States Staffing Association (U.S.S.A.)  and the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) as its official sponsors for all of 2014.  Thank you again for your continued support!

U.S.S.A. is a National Association that provides the latest information on metrics within the industry, opportunities for cost-effective, cutting-edge training, opportunities to partner to enhance capabilities and compete with national firms, discounted pricing on needed services, and a sounding board on issues affecting our industry.

U.S.S.A. is working in partnership with Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine to launch the U.S.S.A.
Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine has been a fresh voice and resource to the Staffing Industry for over 5 years. The principals have worked for and within the Staffing Industry for over 18 years.

Business improves when employees and customers are recognized, rewarded, and engaged through effectively structured programs with defined goals and proven returns.

The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) is comprised of the companies who are leaders in the incentive industry.  IMA  provides education, resources and research to promote the use of incentive programs to the business community and is the umbrella organization for the Global Incentive Council (GIC), the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), the Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), the Incentive Travel Council, the Performance Improvement Council, the Recognition Council,  IMA-Canada Council and IMA-Europe Council.

 

 

 

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Practical Advice for Virtualizing Your Business Applications

As companies continue to rely on software to run their businesses, virtualization is gaining traction as a way to control costs, increase efficiencies, and drive better long-term planning. Virtualization, the practice of using a software layer to let one physical computing server run multiple applications on virtual machines, enables companies to maximize their return on hardware investments. With companies implementing more and more software applications across their operations, virtualization is typically a smart move—provided you make the right technology choices up front.

In an “always-on” environment where profit margins are tight, IT resources are limited and continuous availability is critical, it’s important that you evaluate your options carefully before virtualizing applications. Why? While many virtualization approaches offer high availability, few deliver continuous availability. In addition, some can actually increase cost and complexity, cancelling out many of the benefits you hoped to achieve from virtualization in the first place. But with insight into the different virtualization approaches, you can realize the benefits while avoiding the risks.

When it comes to virtualizing your critical business applications, there are a number of approaches you can take. Failover solutions like VMware HA and Microsoft HyperV running on commodity servers are a popular choice. While these tools have been proven to deliver high application availability, they cannot fully protect the host server or hypervisor against unplanned downtime or data loss. If hardware problems occur, these solutions perform a restart or failover, which can take several minutes or longer depending on the size of the system. What’s more, any data uncommitted to disk at the time of the crash is lost and cannot be recovered.

An alternative approach is to consolidate your virtual machines running on a high availability solution or fault-tolerant platform from Stratus Technologies.  Stratus is the leading provider of infrastructure based solutions that keep applications running in today’s always-on world. Our solutions can be rapidly deployed without any changes to your applications. Our software and servers — combined with our people — enable us to identify problems that others miss and prevent downtime before it occurs.

 

 

For more information, visit STRATUS                  

Standing up to Moisture Intrusion in the Peak of Hurricane Season.

Although facility managers should always be on the lookout for potential sources of mold growth, rainy fall weather and peak hurricane season makes moisture control and mold prevention a top priority in building management.

It is essential that facility executives address  moisture and water damage a promptly manner. These problems will not go away by themselves and are strong indicators that a building is prime for indoor mold growth. Left unchecked, indoor mold growth can cause serious damage to building materials and furnishings and may cause people to get sick. In addition, it is far less disruptive and expensive to clean up mold as soon as a problem is found than later when the infestation may be more extensive. It is also important to remember, that any cleaning efforts will be futile if the underlying moisture problem is not identified and eliminated.

(more about examining mold risk here ) There are several ways to prevent indoor mold from taking over your building, here are the most essential, as listed  in two great articles on mold prevention by  www. FMlink.com and www.buildings.com

Fix Leaks. Facility managers should check for leaky roofs, foundations, faucets, and pipes on a regular basis, making sure they aren’t allowing extra moisture to accumulate in these areas. Leaks should be fixed as soon as they are found.

Assess current drainage and slope directions. As much as possible, drainage and slope should head away from the foundation of your building. If your building is located at the bottom of a hill, make sure internal and external drainage systems are adequate, clean, and functioning properly.

Keep humidity under control. The ideal humidity for a building is between 30% and 50%. Relative humidity can be measured with an inexpensive moisture or humidity meter.

Remove wet materials as soon as possible. If a building has experienced flooding or other water damage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends removing all porous items, such as carpet, upholstery, drywall, and ceiling tiles within 48 hours. If an area larger than 10 square feet has been affected, the EPA recommends hiring a qualified mold remediation specialist to help with removal.

Perform HVAC systems inspections and routine maintenance. Properly inspected and maintained HVAC systems affect your building operations on many levels, including positive IAQ—a key factor in moisture control. Humidification and dehumidification systems must be kept clean to prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria and fungi. Poor or no water treatment in cooling towers can result in the growth of hazardous organisms that will then filter into the HVAC supply ducts. An accumulation of water anywhere in the system can result in harmful biological growth that can be rapidly distributed throughout the entire building. Drip pans for equipment must always be clean and unobstructed in order to ensure proper water flow.

Perform unscheduled maintenance. If you have recently experienced flooding, water leakage, or heavy rains, don’t wait for your scheduled inspections to look for mold growth. Remember, mold can begin to grow in as little as 24 hours, so don’t delay. The extra effort you put forth immediately can save you from major building damage, significant money output to clean up mold, and the headaches and stress involved in a full-blown mold remediation process.

Watch for ground water. Checking the exterior of buildings regularly will help avoid the accumulation of ground water, which can cause mold. If found, route water away using downspouts and re-grade to slope water away from the building.

Ensure proper housekeeping. Dirt on surfaces supplies mold with the nutrients it needs to grow. Cleaning and disinfecting with nonpolluting cleaners and antimicrobial agents can provide protection against mold growth.

More on mold:

There’s a Fungus among Us!

How to Prevent Mold in Your Building

The Five Funniest Engineer Jokes

Glass

To an optimist, the glass is half full.

To a pessimist, the glass is half empty.

To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

To a creative engineer, the glass is half full of liquid and half full

of air.

Real Engineers

Real Engineers consider themselves well dressed if their socks match.
Real Engineers buy their spouses a set of matched screwdrivers for their birthday.
Real engineers have a non-technical vocabulary of 800 words.
Real Engineers repair their own cameras, telephones, televisions, watches, and automatic transmissions.
Real Engineers say “It’s 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 25 degrees Celsius, and 298 Kelvin” and all you say is “Isn’t it a nice day?”
Real Engineers wear badges so they don’t forget who they are. Sometimes a note is attached saying “Don’t offer me a ride today. I drove my own car”.
Real Engineers’ politics run towards acquiring a parking space with their name on it and an office with a window.
Real Engineers know the “ABC’s of Infrared” from A to B.
Real Engineers know how to take the cover off of their computer, and are not afraid to do it.
Real Engineers’ briefcases contain a Phillips screwdriver, a copy of “Quantum Physics,” and a half of a peanut butter sandwich.
Real Engineers don’t find the above at all funny.

Engineer and a salesperson 

The difference between an engineer and a salesperson;
The great salesperson starts out knowing a little about a lot. Then goes about learning less and less about more and more, until they know absolutely nothing about everything.
An engineer, conversely, starts out knowing a lot about a little. Then goes about learning more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about nothing.

The Engineer and the Red Rubber Ball

A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer were all given a red rubber ball and told to find the volume.

The mathematician carefully measured the diameter and evaluated a triple integral.

The physicist filled a beaker with water, put the ball in the water, and measured the total displacement.

The engineer looked up the model and serial numbers in his red-rubber-ball table.

Top 10 Things Engineering School Didn’t Teach You
1. There are at least 10 types of capacitors.
2. Theory tells you how a circuit works, not why it does not work.
3. Not everything works according to the specs in the databook.
4. Anything practical you learn will be obsolete before you use it, except the complex math, which you will never use.
5. Engineering is like having an 8 a.m. class and a late afternoon lab every day for the rest of your life.
6. Overtime pay? What overtime pay?
7. Managers, not engineers, rule the world.
8. Always try to fix the hardware with software.
9. If you like junk food, caffeine, and all-nighters, go into software.
10. Dilbert is not a comic strip, it’s a documentary.

Courtesy of the Funny Junk Site.