Quantum Newsprint hosted by Bill Sjoblom

Have You Heard of Change.org?

I was recently reading Time Magazine's The Top 100 Most Influential People in the World and found an article about Ben Rattray who started Change.org.  Change.org is a site that "empowers you to create real change in your community, city or country".

We believe that building momentum for social change globally means empowering citizen activists locally. That's why anyone, anywhere — from Chicago to Cape Town – can start their own grassroots campaign for change using our organizing platform.

Your campaign can be about anything. From supporting curbside recycling programs to fighting wrongful deportation to protecting against anti-gay bullying, Change.org members start campaigns around thousands of different issues. 

Our mission is to build an international network of people empowered to fight for what's right locally, nationally, and globally. We hope you'll join us.

Check out the site and let me know what you think.  If anyone has used the site or signed a petition, I would be interested in that too!

Mushrooms! You Just Never Know What People Want to Talk About...

In writing this blog for almost three years now, I am still often surprised by what subjects engage people.  I recently wrote about mushroom hunting and got several comments:

Wesley from Tampa:

Well I had never been mushroom hunting until this past weekend. When I went to visit my Dad in St. Louis MO for Easter he offered to take me out to the woods to find one of the tastiest mushrooms. They are called morel mushrooms. They only grow during a certain times in spring. They have a sponge like texture. I was looking up prices and found about 8oz of dried morel mushrooms sells for $99. Should have picked more while I was in the woods. Maybe next year...

Darlene from Daytona Beach:

I used to go mushroom hunting with my dad when I was a little girl. I could never pick out which mushroom was the good from the poisonous ones though. Somehow my dad always could.

Chris from Seattle:

I guess I better find out more about these mushrooms. I have some kind of mushroom growing in my yard. Maybe I will get lucky.

Kimberly from Pittsburgh:

Mushroom hunting is a tradition with my better half and me. Every spring we drive a 90 minutes away to the deep woods and spend the day hiking the mountains looking for Morel mushrooms. There maybe one here and there or if you are lucky you will run into a patch of them. While I myself hate mushrooms the adventure of just walking through the woods and looking for a needle in the haystack is fun. My boyfriend loves them. To purchase the mushrooms they cost about $35.00 lb. We definetly wish they came up more times in the year than just early spring. This year due to the unusual weather they came up a little over a month early. If you enjoy the outdoors I recommend trying hunting for mushrooms!

And finally Mark from the office sent me some pictures:

Every now and then one of your blogs hits home...I like taking pics of mushrooms when I hike.

Are You a Mushroom Hunter?

Ok, so I must admit up front that I have never gone hunting for mushrooms.  But the idea is kind of intriguing to me. Did you know that the Matsutake mushroom sells for as much as $600 a pound?  Unfortunately it is found only in the Pacific Northwest and even there it is rare.

If you are a mushroom hunter or know someone who is...tell us about it! 

For the rest of us walking in the woods -- here is a picture of Matsutake mushrooms.  Ya never know, right?  Then again, it looks like a lot like other mushrooms.

What's New In Your Stores?

Last week I visited a Byrne Dairy location in Syracuse, New York and I was surprised by all the new and interesting products I found.

Did you know you can still buy milk in glass jugs?  And it is 10 cents cheaper than plastic!  I also found some wine ice cream - check it out at Dizzy Scoop Wine Ice Cream.  Byrne Dairy also believes in flavored coffee.  They had 18 carafes of coffee featuring the following flavors in addition to regular and decaf: Blueberry, Dubliner Creme, Chocolate Raspberry, Sweet Treat, French Vanilla, Hazelnut Decaf and Regular, French Roast, and Colombian!

You can also pick up a half gallon of pickled eggs or pickled sausage for $12.99.  But my favorite of all was the 5 pound gummy bear (see picture below).  For those of you watching your calories, that's 51 servings @ 120 calories per serving = 6,120 calories!

I am curious.  What interesting products have you found in your stores recently? 

A Subway gift card to the best three products!

Khan Academy on 60 Minutes

Did you catch the piece on Khan Academy on 60 minutes a couple of weeks ago?  If so, you can catch it here.  Fascinating.  If you are not familiar with Khan Academy, their mission statement is "A free world-class education for everyone everywhere."

In 2004 the founder, Salman Khan (with three degrees from MIT) started tutoring his cousin Nadia in math.  When other friends and relatives sought his help, he decided it would be better to post his work on You Tube.  Soon he strangers found his tutorials and were so appreciative he decided to quit his job as a hedge fund manager in 2009.  Bill Gates was so impressed he have a significant grant.

There are now more than 3,000 short tutorials at Khan Academy and they are literally trying to change the way education is delivered in the US.  One of my favorite quotes from the 60 Minutes piece was that industries are usually revolutionized by someone outside the industry.  Sal Khan fits this description.

Has anyone used Khan Academy?  What did you think?  If not, check it out and write back to me!

It's a Cell Phone World

Yep, like 'em or hate 'em cell phones have impacted almost every facet of our lives.  They are arguably one of the greatest inventions of our times or a curse!  The reality is that cell phones are like any other tool - they can be used to make our lives better or can be a constant distraction and even a safety issue. 

I want to take a minute to review our cell phone guidelines.

• Your cell phone should be on mute while you are working.  Unless you are expecting an emergency call, you should not answer phone calls or texts while on the job.  It is unprofessional and a distraction.  This includes meetings in your division and the corporate office.
• Don't use your cell phone to make calls or text  or access the internet while you are driving.  Research indicates that you are four times more likely to be involved in an accident if you are using a mobile phone.  Police in some areas are now checking cell phone records when investigating fatal and serious crashes.  If you need to make a call or answer a call while driving, pull off the road to a safe area.
• Avoid unprofessional unavailable messages.  You represent QS and you never know when a client or a QS staff member may need to call you.
• We are not allowed to take pictures in our client's stores without permission of the client.

Just a reminder as we start the new year! 

Can We Talk?

I have an early New Years resolution...I would like to interact more with you!  As you know, in November I spent about 20 minutes talking with five different people who were in Columbus for ASDG.  I really enjoyed getting to know each person and QS has benefited from the feedback that they gave me. 

This past week about twenty more of you were contacted by a QS staff member.  The purpose of their call was simply to get to know you a bit better and to become better listeners.  We plan to continue this program of "interviewing" QS people and sharing this with you so that you can get to know a little more about the interesting and talented people that work for QS! 

So if you get a call "out of the blue" from a QS staff member - don't worry, you're not in trouble, we just want to get to know you better. 

Finally, I would like to recruit some of you to participate in a conversation with me about various current topics at QS.  We will communicate mostly by email (although I am hopeful we may talk by phone from time to time too) and I will be asking for your feedback on specific things going on at QS.  For example, I am looking for some feedback on our Healthy Ways program as it rolls out.  Every couple of weeks I will send out some questions about some current program and would just like your input.

Can we talk?

If so, just reply to this blog post and I will put you on the email list.  I thank you in advance for your willingness to help me stay connected and to keep me more grounded and in touch with you. 

This is Clean Up Your Car Week

QS people drive more than three million miles a year!  That's the equivalent of more than eight hours a week for every person. 

That's a lot of time to spend in a dirty car.

Part of being a professional is projecting a good image - both to our clients and to our people.  If your car is dirty or littered - this is the week to get it cleaned up!  Apply the mom test here, would you take your mom to dinner in your car right now?  

When you get the car washed and smelling great inside - send me a picture - bsjoblom@quantum-services.com.  

SAFE Awards $42,362 to QS Employees!

Do you know about the Support and Assistance For Employees (SAFE) program? It was started in February of 2005 and since that time the program has awarded $42,362 to QS employees that have experienced some type of unforecasted hardship or emergency.

Do you remember why we started SAFE? It was in response to an unprecedented hurricane season in 2004 in which the state of Florida was hit with four hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) and one tropical storm (Bonnie). Many of our people in Florida suffered damage to their homes and all of them lost work days as stores were cancelled. We got a lot of calls and emails fromQS employees in the rest of the company asking "How can we help the QS people in Florida?"

So we started SAFE which provides an opportunity for every QS employee to contribute a few dollars each payperiod toward a fund that is used to help other employees in a time of hardship. It is totally voluntary but right now we have 41 people contributing $126 each pay period. In 20010 we awarded $4325 and this year we have already paid out $5745.

If you would like to participate in SAFE, you will find more information and a sign-up form on QNet. Just click on "reports and forms" and look for "SAFE Pledge and Application." There is also a form to apply for SAFE funds if you have experienced an unforeseen hardship. We have found that people in need at times are reluctant to ask for help so you can even submit a request for someone in your division that is in need. Awards are currently limited to $500 per employee per year. You do not have to contribute to be eligible for an award.

This is a great way to help your friends and peers at QS...I strongly urge you to sign up for a small contribution to SAFE.

If any of you have benefited from SAFE, it would be great to hear your story.

NACS Show in Chicago is...Overwhelming?

This past week I flew to Chicago for a day to visit the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) annual convention. It's been a few years since I attended and it's easy to forget how big these convention and trade show is. Here are some interesting facts:

• More than 22,000 people attended from 50 different countries
• The exhibit space covered 375,000 square feet...that is the size of almost 8 football fields!
• There were 1300 companies exhibiting including a record 5 inventory services
• There was a huge continent of convenience store operators from Brazil - had to be several hundred. Most of them were wearing AM/PM shirts
• The exhibits were open 6 hours a day on Sunday and Monday and 4 1/2 hours on Tuesday for a total of 16 1/2 hours.

It's easy to get overwhelmed in such a large convention! QS had a 10x10 booth - 100 square feet! We were able to talk with quite a few clients and prospects but it is a crazy environment! I tried to walk most of the exhibition floor but gave up after three hours or so...I don't think I saw even half of the vendors.

I want to thank Barrett, Randy and Pat who worked the show for QS. It is really grueling work.