2019Q1_newseltter

QUARTER 1 - 2019 | ISSUE 139
2 Skyline Drive • Hawthorne, NY 10532
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Jacqueline Johnson
Welcome to Allstar Products Group
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QUARTER 1 - 2019
Brand
Teresa Sinapi
What Would You Do?
Ed Katz
Hi All, Teresa here! I think the last time I wrote was over 10
years ago when I joined Allstar but I think now is a perfect
time to write again! As you may have heard, Brand has
officially made the transition over to Marketing… not only
departmentally but physically as well. And with that, I am
excited to announce that Alisa has joined the Brand team!
We are so happy to have her!
What does this mean? Brand will now have the upfront and
inside information from the very start of each program
allowing us to create the best commercial and Brand
messaging as we possibly can.
In some other exciting news…. CHLOE IS ENGAGED! We
kicked off the new year with happy news of the newly
engaged couple. John proposed when they were in the
Adirondacks for New Years Eve. We were all waiting for it but
it came as a complete SURPRISE! Congrats to the happy
couple!
Chloe is Engaged!!
More to come from the “Brand Girls” and please stop by and
visit us in the corner any time!
…IF YOU KNOW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?
Fear of failure causes people to “get stuck” and can be paralyzing to
some. In a 2015 survey, “fear of failure” tops a list of various phobias…one
in three people admitting that they have a fear of failure .
Fear of failure ranked as a higher fear than a fear of public speaking
or even a fear of spiders. Also marked from these survey results,
nearly half of all adults (49 percent) admitted that fear of failure “was
the biggest roadblock to either not achieving their goals at all, or
discouraged them from revisiting past goals.”
So what makes us fearful? When making a decision or a choice,
there is rarely the thought that starts with ..”Uh oh, what’s going to
happen when this works?”. I don’t recall many “fear of success”
conversations”
The easiest analogy most people can identify about failure is
sports…one team wins/the other team loses (fails). Someone is the
goat and someone is the G.O.A.T.
Brett Favre, Hall of Fame Quarterback, holds 140 NFL records, one
being the most infamous. Brett Favre has the most interceptions in
the history of the NFL (336 interceptions). The closest active NFL
quarterbacks to breaking Favre’s “record” is Eli Manning and Drew
Brees and they are each approximately 100 interceptions away…and
some would say that both of them may also one day be Hall of
Famers themselves. What would any of their careers be like today if
any one of them worried about failing by throwing an interception?
So again, why fear failure? AllStar is undergoing changes company-wide
not because of any fear of failure, but because WE believe
that the changes being made will build a stronger company. Everyone
at AllStar has an opportunity to directly impact how the changes
are implemented and how successfully they are implemented.
When someone or something fails, everyone has a choice…Give up
or get back up and take another swing. My recommendation is to
“Always take the swing!”.
To prove my point, take a look at some people below (you may have
heard of them) and think about “What if these people let a failure or
fear of another failure hold them back”?
Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time
(sorry LeBron) was cut from his high school basketball team.
Walt Disney was not only fired from his job at a newspaper early in
his career because they said he lacked imagination, his first company
went bankrupt. He then moved to Hollywood and approximately
five years later finally became successful. Had to do with a rat, a
mouse or something like that.
Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times….including
USC (Fight On!)
John Grisham's first book, "A Time to Kill", was rejected
twenty-eight times. (and on top of that, the movie is terrible
too…#NotaFan)
Jerry Seinfeld was booed off stage in his first stand-up comedy
appearance….(Hello Newman!)
And finally…Sir James Dyson suffered through 5,126 failed prototypes
before he landed on the first working Dyson vacuum….there
is no bigger example of believing in yourself!
Until next time…KEEP SWINGING!
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QUARTER 1 - 2019
Guest Writers
What Is A Huddle?
Terri Gentile (and Google)
Brian Arendt - Systems Engineer
Hello Everyone! My name is Brian Arendt and I work down in the IT
department as a Systems Engineer. I first joined the Allstar team in
July 2017 as a contractor from Corstar Communications. I became
an official employee of the Allstar team in July 2018. Before my
time at Allstar, I was a student at the State University at Oswego
where I majored in Information Science and minored in Business
Administration. During my time at Oswego I became a founder of
the Ski/Snowboard club and planned trips to local mountains.
After graduation at Oswego I interned at Rockland BOCES providing
basic IT support and creation of LAN/WAN networks. I gained
valuable experience from this internship and learned new skills
that helped me succeed on this career path. After my internship I
worked as an Assistant Project Manager for a small construction
company for 3 Months where I managed and organized data and
assisted in the creation of Bids for new possible projects.
Skiing has always been a passion on mine. I started skiing when I
was 8 and fell in love with it immediately. During my time at
Oswego I acted as an instructor for anyone interested in learning
how to ski, while a good friend of mine tutored student on how to
snowboard. Our club had 42 member and I instructed 8 students on
how to ski. I love to push myself when skiing to see what I can do,
but frequently hurt myself. Hopefully I will be injury free this year.
Brian Gallaway - Graphic Designer
Hello everyone! My name is Brian Gallaway and I joined Allstar in
July of 2018 as the Graphic Designer in the marketing department.
Prior to my time at Allstar I was a graphic designer on the Topps
e-commerce team designing baseball cards, driving email marketing
initiative and much more. Over the last few weeks I have been
working very heavily with Nick Calcagni and Josh Amoss in our
product testing lab which has been extremely fun and rewarding.
I am excited to see how my role continues to evolve and transform
over, what I hope to be, many great years with Allstar.
On a personal note, I am a fairly new resident to Westchester
County. I was born and raised in Middletown, NY and moved down
to Ossining, NY in the fall of 2016. In September of 2018, I got
engaged to the love of my life and we are currently planning our
2020 wedding. In our free time we love to be outdoors whether its
hiking or just a walk around a local park. I also play on first base
and second base on the Allstar softball team and can’t wait for the
spring season to get underway. I am a huge sports fan, as most
people know, the Clemson Tigers, New York Yankees, New York
Giants and New York Knicks are my teams.
I couldn’t be happier to be at Allstar, especially at such an exciting
time and can’t wait to see what my future holds here.
By now I’m sure most if not everyone has heard the buzz about “daily
huddles” around the office. Below is a brief explanation of the
ins/outs of them. If you haven’t already seen this concept in action, I’d
like to invite anyone who is interested to sit in on one of the 9:30a
huddles (at the sales round table) and then give it a try on your own.
Many of the various departments recently implemented this structure
within their own teams or groups and have found it to be a very
beneficial exercise.
What is a huddle:
A huddle within a team, or teams is chance for members to share
information with each other and deliver project or progress status
checks. If executed correctly and consistently it can be one of the
most important meetings held within an organization. It is a great
way to discuss the various elements of the day and how the team may
be impacted.
In general, there are usually a few rules and/or guidelines
associated with huddles:
• Huddles are typically held in a standing vs sitting fashion
• Huddles should be for a duration of 15-30 minutes, no more
• Huddles start and end promptly, no waiting for straggler attendees!
• Huddles are a means for communicating brief, essential
pieces of information
• Huddles are not meant for strategizing or problem solving
Here are examples of information that is typically shared
during a huddle:
• What did you accomplish yesterday/last week?
• Top 3 priorities for the day/week
• Review your company’s or your team’s top 3 metrics
• Roadblocks that you need help with or info that is required from
another member or dept.
• Recognizing team member accomplishments
• Project wins or customer updates
Here are some other tips for conducting successful huddles:
• Huddles have the most impact when they are a regularly scheduled
part of the day; whether that is daily, every other day, etc.
• The huddle should be interactive where every team member is
responsible to share with the rest of the team.
• Different team members should be encouraged to have an
opportunity to lead the huddle.
• Huddles are usually most effective when they are scheduled first
thing in the morning.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY: Huddles do not have to be organized by
team leaders or upper management. If a specific group works
together and has a need to meet regularly for quick status updates,
I’d encourage anyone to take the lead and schedule your own
huddle time!
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QUARTER 1 - 2019
Human Resources
Fran Gaul
Brrrr, it’s cold out there! I hope everyone is staying warm! We
had a busy 4th Quarter and I hope everyone is looking forward
to an exciting 2019! Below is a recap of what has been happening
in the HR world and some upcoming events:
• 401(k) – We had a great turnout at the Employee Education
Meeting and with the 1 on 1 meetings. For those of you interested
in learning more, reviewing your current 401(k) portfolio or
to start contributing, please let me know and I will put you in
contact with our 401(k) Advisor, Geoff Suval.
• Training and Development – We are continuing to make this
a priority and will be setting up some sessions throughout the
year. More information on this is coming soon but in the meantime,
if anyone is interested in any specific training, please reach
out to Jackie or I and we will be happy to assist you in setting
something up. In March, we will be resuming our monthly lunch
and learns!
• One on One’s – Chris and I are almost finished with all our One
on One’s. Thank you all for taking the time to meet with us. We
learned a lot and look forward to continuing this throughout
the year.
• Allstars in Action – We had a successful first round of Allstars
in Action! Thank you for everyone who submitted nominations
and congratulations to all the nominees on their well deserved
recognition!
• Promotions – We announced 5 promotions so far in 2019!
Congratulations to Mike D, Nick, Shannon, Kara and Kelly on
your well-deserved promotions!
I am always interested in hearing your comments and suggestions
so please feel free to email me or stop by. My door is always
open if you have any questions, comments or just want to say hi!
Have an idea for an article or want to write for
the newsletter?
Contact Jacqueline Johnson or Ed Katz if you have an
idea for a newsletter article or would like to write for the
newsletter. This newsletter is 100% for you, so we thank
all our writers and contributors who keep this newsletter
fresh and new!
Merchandising
Corinne Ruggieri
Hello Everyone from Merchandising!
Hope everyone had a nice, relaxing holiday & a happy new year! The
Merchandising department has had an extremely busy year. One of
the changes in Merchandising is we got a new member to join the
team this past December. Her name is Jenna Van Bemmel, she will
be working remotely from Florida but will be flying into the office
once a month. She has been nothing but a team player with a
positive attitude since she started working with Allstar.
We have a lot of upcoming things for the Merchandise Team in the
months to come & one of them are shows! This March I will be
attending my first Housewares show in Chicago, and I am very
excited to make my way out there. Housewares is the biggest trade
show for Allstar & I have always heard exciting products/opportunities
come from it. I will be meeting with our current contacts, as well
as walking around the show to create/build new relationships. I’ll
make sure to “wear comfortable shoes,” as I heard there will be a lot
of walking! I look forward to taking on this new adventure with the
Allstar team.
Allstar has also been taking products and testing on a digital
platform. This is exciting news for Allstar, now that everyone is
attached to their phones & social media. This implements another
great way to reach our consumers! This new digital process will be
great & exciting for Allstar in the months & years to come. We are
looking forward to taking on this new year strong & cranking out
new, exciting products!
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QUARTER 1 - 2019
Allstars In Action
Fran Gaul
Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
NOMINEES:
Kara Buzzeo – Kara has taken it upon herself to be more
proactive as we set up our programs in Fosdick. She coordinates
internally to make sure all program codes, offers and
other required information for setup is accurate. Kara creates
opportunity by engaging with our agencies to make sure they
have all the required data and information, on time and
accurate, so they can have our websites up and running well in
advance of media go-live dates. Great job Kara!
Tara Ferdico – I want to nominate Tara for opening Dillards
which has the potential to be a multi million dollar account
and whose opening order will be for close to $1 million. This
has created a big opportunity here with a lot of room to maximize
its potential.
Natasha Rivera – Natasha is consistently creating opportunities
for saving money and for driving the business.
Nick Calcagni – Nick has been great providing assets, working
together and trying to understand the Amazon business to
improve our processes.
Terri Gentile – Terri has shown continued leadership, leading
by example, evolving with the times and seemingly taking on
all challenges without a hint of pomp and circumstance.
with results (performance metrics, order data…etc.). He could
have easily moved forward with a proposal to build and
manage a data warehouse but instead he worked with an
existing data management partner to design a solution that
serves the same purpose at a fraction of the cost. We will have
a usable solution in a matter of 1-2 months as opposed to
18-24 months.
WINNER:
Alisa Santangelo:
• Not only is she creating new opportunities for herself and for
Marketing, she is proactively creating more opportunities for
the entire company (i.e.- developing a shared calendar for the
various departments). Her positive attitude and willingness to
step up for the team is huge right now!
• She created an opportunity through the new process for tv
shooting calendar district. Because of that, an immediate
opportunity to shoot a long form on one of our new products
for international markets was realized. This will allow us to go
to market faster with wider distribution and reduced extra
costs had we decided to do this after the initial shoot.
Our next value is Care:
• We respect one another, our partners and our community,
with integrity at the center of every conversation,
debate and decision.
Ed Katz – Ed continues to create opportunity for Allstar and
employees. Ed mentors, coaches and listens to employees. He
sets up employees for success (both in and outside of his
department) and gives them the tools and confidence to
create opportunity for their career here at Allstar.
Teresa Sinapi – Despite all the changes going on, she is always
keeping top of mind how to continue to create opportunities
for others to continue to grow in their positions and within the
company.
Tom Gentile – Tom is great to brainstorm with and looks at
tasks with a different approach, creating opportunity to
expand and maximize on many things but specifically our
products!
Shannon Devine – Last year Shannon took over responsibility
for “phones” at Allstar, managing process with our IVR and live
operator vendors. Her frustration with “managing phones”
turned into a drive to create the future of telemarketing operations
at Allstar. Her passion has resulted in progress and she
now measures product campaigns and reviews results on a
regular basis with our agencies, calling out inconsistences
based on her growing expertise. Job well done!
Congratulations to all the nominees!
Michael Weller – In addition to his core IT responsibilities to
ensure the best user experiences, Michael is also leading a
major initiative to create a consolidated data warehouse and
reporting tool that links all media spend with our agencies
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QUARTER 1 - 2019
Birthdays
Jacqueline Johnson
Allstar Gives Back
Jacqueline Johnson
Happy Birthday
February
Kelly - 2/3
Reagan - 2/14
March
Jennie - 3/19
Michael D. - 3/28
April
George - 4/2
Tom G. - 4/12
Shannon - 4/20
Rita - 4/28
First Annual Allstar Dip Off
Jacqueline Johnson
First Annual Allstar Dip Off!
Thank you all for attending the first ever Allstar chip and dip off!
Congratulations to the below winners. Thank you for everyone who
participated it was definitely a fun event we are going to do every
year. As it pains me to write, I guess congratulations to the Patriots for
winning this years Superbowl. As you can tell by the decorations you
know who I was rooting for.
1st Place Kara Cannoli dip
2nd Place Natasha Taco Dip
3rd Place April Crack Dip
Happy New Year! I wanted to start by recapping the last event that we
had. During the holidays we sponsored a family and provided with
gifts for the entire family! Big shout out to Ed and Fran for helping us
coordinate this event so fast. Also thanks to all the employees who
came out to help wrap over 50 gifts for the family. This event was a
huge success! Below is a letter thanking everyone for their hard work.
I want to thank you for all that you and your company did to
make this year's holiday gift drive a success.
Because of you we were able to help 37 families.
Your efforts were particularly appreciated as you needed to
step in at the last minute and do so much so quickly.
Thank you!
Below are some fun pictures of us wrapping the gifts.
Stay tuned for an e-mail to join the Volunteer Committee
and a survey for new event ideas this year!
Thank you all for attending the first
ever Allstar chip and dip off!
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