ugh.

Lloyd called me at seven a.m. this morning.  Ow.

Now that’s being proactive!

For when Hurricane Rita hits…

T-MOBILE NETWORK EFFORTS

• In the event of widespread power outages throughout the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, T-Mobile has more than 10,000 gallons of fuel accessible and ready to roll into the affected areas to power cell site generators, company repair/transport vehicles and for other emergency circumstances. T-Mobile also has on-demand access to thousands more gallons of additional fuel from suppliers.
• More than 100 generators are ready.
• To help protect our network, T-Mobile has fortified the network switch operations serving the greater Houston market, and we continue to reinforce the switch in New Orleans, which remained operable through Hurricane Katrina.
• Microwave equipment has been trucked into the region to facilitate communication from the cell sites to the network switches as backup in the event of T1 fixed line service failures.
• T-Mobile has dozens of generators and several Cell-On-Wheels (COWs) on standby to support communications soon after the storm hits.
• The company has established and staffed multiple command centers within close proximity of the areas expected to be hit hardest, enabling teams of technicians to mobilize into the impacted areas as soon as conditions permit.
• The company also is coordinating recovery efforts with Local and State officials, as well as with U.S. Homeland Security and the FCC.

OUR EMPLOYEES IN THE PATH OF THE STORM

• Employees in the areas of the projected path are encouraged to evacuate until it is safe to return.
• There are 450 employees who work in the impact area (Houston, So. TX, New Orleans).
• Employees are evacuating and lodging has been secured for disaster recovery teams.
• New Orleans employees are caravanning to Meridian, MS.
• EAP information has been distributed to all employees.
• Employees in affected areas have been instructed to call in daily to their management or HR.

RETAIL STORE CLOSURES

• 4 stores in Lousiana have been boarded – Clearview, Veterans & Papworth, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
• 52 retail stores have been closed in Texas and at least 20 have already been boarded up.

twenty mil!

T-Mobile USA Announces 20-Million Customer Milestone
High Customer Satisfaction and T-Mobile’s Get More® Promise Credited for Reaching Landmark

T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced today that it now has surpassed 20 million wireless customers, having doubled its customer base during the past 10 quarters.

“I personally thank our 20 million customers for their continued loyalty to T-Mobile, and for recommending T-Mobile to family and friends,� said Robert Dotson, President and Chief Executive Officer, T-Mobile USA.

The company credits this achievement in-part to the success it has had in delivering on its Get More® promise to its customers. T-Mobile’s commitment to offer more minutes, features and service has resonated with consumers.

“Customer-centric service, value leadership, and services innovation is the foundation for our customer growth,� Dotson said. “T-Mobile will continue to grow by meeting the needs of its customers, rapidly expanding network coverage, and offering widely accessible and meaningful devices, features and services.�

T-Mobile USA reached the 10-million customer mark during the first quarter of 2003.

Earlier this month, T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced that it had earned the highest rankings in all six regions surveyed in the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Wireless Regional Customer Satisfaction Index StudySM for the second consecutive year.

Let the madness begin…

Planning has officially started for TromaDance 2006. I opened up the website for the general populus yesterday as well as the call for entries and the volunteer pool. While we were at dragon*con, I had a long talk with Lloyd about how TD would go down this year … and we agreed that it would be best if I took the proverbial reigns. While the peeps in the NYC office will obviously have to support the logistics and planning of everything, the majority of the planning, coercing and general tomfoolery will be on yours truly.

After 2003 and 2004, where I assisted Jonathan (who, in my opinion, has pulled off the best festival since we’ve been doing them) and basically running things for Rob this year, this ship will finally be running under the duckie flag.

Arr, matey!  Set course for Park City, 2006!

Yay, job security!

From Wireless Week:

T-Mobile USA is touting a milestone: 20 million customers. The fourth-largest U.S. carrier added 10 million customers over the last 2.5 years.

The carrier believes its growth can be attributed to its Get It More offering. “Customer-centric service, value leadership and services innovation is the foundation for our customer growth,” T-Mobile USA President and CEO Robert Dotson said in a prepared statement.

T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom put to rest last week speculation that the operator may look to sell the American unit. “There is no reason for a sale,” DT CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitun. “We have a chance in the United States to develop our business further in one of the most attractive markets in the world.”

T-Mobile USA attracted 10 million new customers over the last 10 quarters. It announced it reached its first 10 million subscribers back in the first quarter of 2003.

Hello world!

News On Parade Corporation Presents…
News On Parade
Corporation
NEWS!

You know, there’s nothing like a good Simpsons reference to usher in a new journal-ish website. But anywho, with that, I (and the fine people at WordPress.com) give you duckie.wordpress. This site is meant to be a companion to my main Retrospecticus site, but as Retro is mostly a freeform writing site with very little humorous content, this space will serve to be a bit more … well, fun. So celebrate good times, come on. It’s time to get quacking!