Re: 911:: National Telecommunicators Week-Its our TIME!

[Guest guest]

I just dropped of a card of thanks and a bag of livesavers for each shift to

our county dispatchers. I just left them at the front but before I could get

away from the parking lot they came on the air and thanked me so I know they

got them. Maybe soon I'll be working with them.

Tammy

[Guest guest]

--- E911gal136@... wrote:

> I don't have anything profound to say or anything

> deep. I just wanted to

> take this opportunity to wish all dispatchers

> everywhere a Wonderful National

> Telecommunicator Week!

> We all deserve this week for pats on the back from

> others, but lets not

> forget to pat ourselves on the back for another year

> of dispatching!

> Consider this YOUR pat on the back from ME down in

> Georgia!

> Hope you all have a GREAT WEEK and maybe some

> surprises will come your way!!

>

> Enjoy!

>

> Toni Wyman

> Gwinnett County PD, GA

>

>

sad to say but nothin's happenin' here in our neck of

the woods

Susie in Sanford, ME

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Well!!!! My agency gave everyone a very nice certificate of thanks signed by

the Chief, our division Captain and our manager. Its not a cheesy one -- its

on the really sturdy mat type paper and nicely done.

And..... we all got one of the Starbucks coffee cards -- you know the kind

you get a certain amount on and can reload?

My manager told me that they hadn't done anything in the past but when I gave

her a copy of the Congressional proclamation she took the time (she's pretty

busy) and did this for us!

[Guest guest]

> sad to say but nothin's happenin' here in our neck of

> the woods

>

> Susie in Sanford, ME

********************************************************************

Same here. Never is.

Iowa State Patrol Communications, Cedar Rapids

Werling NØXZY

scott@...

http://www.ia.net/~anachamb/pumpkin.html

http://www.jonescountytourism.com

http://www.earthsat.com/wx/dotwx/winter_roads.html

http://www.PictureTrail.com/ridgeroader (Olympics pics)

[Guest guest]

I've a standing order with some of our officers that if they're ever at the

s in town, to bring me a biggie iced tea and I'll pay them for it.

Today the animal control officer came in with one, and when I went to pay her

she said it's free. How so? I asked. My way of saying thanks since it's

dispatcher week, she said. I thought that was really nice. And I really

needed it at the time because I was having a very busy period as I worked

solo.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Check out the second story on this link:

http://www.zwire.com/news/newslist.cfm?brd=1197

And isn't the third story listed rather ironic...

Take care,

nna

Training Supervisor/Master Instructor

Santa Cruz Consolidated

<A HREF= " http://www.sccecc.org/ " >911 Consolidated Dispatch - SCCECC</A>

[Guest guest]

Our administration used to be the same way. For years I would be

the one to pass the dates onto the mayor's office and we would

get a mayoral proclamation. No news stuff, nothing else. This

year I decided to take the bull by the horns when I saw an APCO

pin in a catalogue I copied and forwarded it to the deputy chief

and our supervisor and ASKED them to think about getting one for

each of the 11 dispatchers here.

What we got was not only the pins, but each of us got a

handwritten note of thanks from the Deputy Chief and a memorandum

that went out to the entire department from the chief. Granted,

it is not much, but it is much better than in the past few years.

Perhaps next year they will remember on their own....

@ Burlington, VT, Police/Fire Dispatch

[Guest guest]

More coverage for Santa Cruz Consolidated 9-1-1 !!

<A

HREF= " http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/April/17/local/stories/11loc\

al.htm " >news story</A>

This has been a wonderful week -- so far -- for our dispatchers. Lots of

recognition and gratitude!!

Sullivan

Santa Cruz 9-1-1

www.sccecc.org

[Guest guest]

,

I also took the bull by the horns for the past few years. All that I

did this year was to write the dates on the calendar. Guess what I have

heard at work this week about this week. Absolute nothing. Oh Well. I do

hope everyone is having a nice Telecommunicators Week, thanks for the job

you all do.

Shirley

Valley P.D.

>

>Reply-To: 911console

>To: 911console

>Subject: Re: 911:: National Telecommunicators Week-Its our TIME!

>Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 15:25:14 -0400 (EDT)

>

>

>Granted,

>it is not much, but it is much better than in the past few years.

>Perhaps next year they will remember on their own....

>

> @ Burlington, VT, Police/Fire Dispatch

>

_________________________________________________________________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

[Guest guest]

--- Shirley wrote:

> ,

>

> I also took the bull by the horns for the past

> few years. All that I

> did this year was to write the dates on the

> calendar. Guess what I have

> heard at work this week about this week. Absolute

> nothing. Oh Well. I do

> hope everyone is having a nice Telecommunicators

> Week, thanks for the job

> you all do.

>

> Shirley

> Valley P.D.

I purposely did not say a single word about NTW to see

if anything would be said or done - well I wasn't

disappointed. NOTHING SAID, NOTHING DONE - but any

way -

A heartfelt thank you for all of you and all you do

and all the time you spend and all the effort and the

care you all put into your job. Thank you for the time

taken from your families and lives to be a part of the

helping force of the world - thank you for the level

heads, the quick thinking, the intuition, the

compassion, and the understanding that it takes to do

our jobs. May you all attain your personal and

professional goals you have for the next year. Keep

praying and Bring Them All in Safely!!!

Susie in Sanford Maine

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

FOR ALL SUPERVISORS OUT THERE:

YES, YOU JOB IS DIFFICULT TOO. FOR YOU SUPERVISORS, THERE IS A NATIONAL

BOSS'S DAY. LOOK IT UP ON THE CALENDAR OR JUST WATCH THE HALLMARK CARD

STANDS - THEY ALWAYS CARRY CARDS FOR THAT DAY. HOWEVER PREMATURE THIS MAY

BE - - " HAPPY BOSS'S DAY " !

- MARYLOU PRITCHARD

[Guest guest]

Here's a suggestion....

Mother's day and Father's day are coming up... let's all give our immediate

supervisor a card on the appropriate day.

This thread really has me thinking. I don't say thank you enough I guess.

My center did go in on cards and flowers when our supervisor was sick and

hospitalized. And I know I sent her some " perky " emails at home.

So I guess I'm not that bad of an employee after all.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

I have to agree with Jim, Supervisors are still Telecommunicators. Just because

they don't answer the phones or work the console, they are still " one of us " . I

wish I worked at agency where the Supervisors fought for equality for the

" little people " . It seems like everytime they have their monthly meeting we

lose another perk or benefit. We used to be able to time-trade. You know, you

work for me tomorrow and I will work for you next Wednesday. Well we could do

as many time-trades as we wanted. Then management and supervisors decided that

we could only do 40 hours per shift block (4 weeks usually). Now we have been

told we can only time trade 1 day a month as of June 30th. The reason they gave

us was that because we are close to full staffing (yea right) they will be able

to grant more comp time and personal time off. I will believe it when I see it.

I don't see my superiors fighting for a raise for me. I am the one that does

all the extra work, all the extra projects that go on my evaluations. All they

do is type up the paperwork. Ok, now I have vented and released my

frustrations........

Dora

[Guest guest]

<< t is a shame. If an agency is recognizing the dispatchers during that

week and not the supervisors then that needs to be addressed.

>>

Actually, I believe its in October during " Boss's week " . In the 1970's was

the first " National Secretaries Day " -- secretaries were, the first

profession, I believe, to be honored with a day and it has always been the

last Wednesday in April. It was in the 1980's that " Boss' Day " became the

last Wednesday in October. At my old job in October one year there was a

huge banner saying " thank you " or something like that to the supervisors.

Since they/you are " bosses " I think your day is in October.

[Guest guest]

Hi

This year we managed to surprise our Supervisor with a framed print

for his ofice and a book. The hardest part was keeping him from

finding out. We all kicked in some money. One of us picked up the

print and framed it to keep the cost down. The book was a lucky find

on sale.

Our Supervisor has always made a point of doing nice things for us

during NTW. He has food brought in for a different shift each day.

He has treid to find little thank you gifts but has no budget. This

year he was able to find a mysterious doner, in house, who provided

pins for each of us.

I should say the items we got for our Supervisor were given from

the heart. It was our way of telling him he is one of us, like it or

not, even if he does not work the radio or phones any longer. It was

also our way of letting him know how much we appreciate what he does

for us. He goes to bat for us on a regular basis with the

Administration. He tries to make sure we are treated fairly and have

working equipment at all times. Both are thankless tasks. Sometimes

I have wondered why he continues to try. It must be like banging

your head on a brick wall, it would feel so good to stop. But, he

does not quit. Over the years I have noticed he gets more out of us

with less hassle because of his caring easygoing style. Hmm, make it

sound like this is a recruitment letter. Not right now, we are at

full staff and I think it is partly because of the way we are

treated.

I hope you all had a good week.

Mike Nicholson

Still here after 20 years

> I'm curious - when is National Telecommunicator Supervisor's

Appreciation

> Day? Does anyone do anything to show their supervisor's they are

> appreciated for their tireless efforts trying to keep both

management and

> the dispatchers happy? I am a dispatch supervisor that did not do

anything

> last week - you can go ahead and send me hate mail about it, I just

didn't

> have time. We have a meeting tonight and I am buying pizza - out of

my own

> pocket. I bought holiday gifts out of my own pocket. They have

schedule

> flexibility they never had before, a t.v. in dispatch, other new

equipment,

> and are very very slowly getting more respect from the sworn side

of our

> department (and I've had no turnover - one person in four years who

> retired). I'm exhausted. I work overtime every week and I have a

husband

> and 2 year old that are more important to me than spending more

time at

> work. And vacation - what's vacation? I just asked for an extension

on my

> already extended, carried over vacation from last year.

>

> So, when is Supervisor's Appreciation Day?

>

> LeAnn

> (very happy, but feeling a bit worn out...)

>

>

[Guest guest]

<< Standish.....I feel you.... >>

Did we just witness a telekinetic moment??

Bob...

[Guest guest]

Well in small dispatch centers like ours. we have 3 full time and 2.5 part

time dispatchers I am the supervisor/co-ordinator/tac/training officer But I

am also still a Telecommunicater we take the calls and dispatch them at the

same time one person does it all. When some one in our center decides they

dont' want to come in or get sick and can't come in and no one else want's

to come in it falls on me to come in and work the shift. I will be working

this Friday from 12-8 midnight - 8 dispatching. I make about 30 - 40 cents

and hour more than the dispatchers do although I do a lot more than they do.

I know both sides of the jobs and would like to think Everyone that has a

hand in making the job of telecommunication work out there whether you are

the telecommunicator or the person behind the scene or like me the person

who does a little of all of it. Then again we don't do anything around our

office. I have thought about it even talked about it but none of our

dispatches are the least bit interested in it. But we are a small county on

a useual day we have 4 city officers from 4 diffrent cities on and maybe 3

or 4 deputies for the entire county at one time. We have 5 volunteer fire

depts that we only hear from when needed and only 3 ambulances that we only

hear from when we get a 911 call So we have pluses and minuses as I'm

sure all com centers do.

Wayne

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/23/02 4:16:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

twj3@... writes:

> ... " and it builds

> character. "

Hummm I wonder if were related. My Mom says the same thing. Especially when I

was little.

[Guest guest]

That's just like with instructors (says the professional student).

I've had enough piss poor instructors to really cherish the ones who

know how to do their job and honestly love the work. I've made it a

point these past few years to let my teachers know when I think

they're doing something wonderful. It's near the end of the year

here, and I gave a thank you card to one of my professors because

she's just been great. She hasn't done a single thing that is

outside the job description of a professor, but she has been a decent

human being who honestly likes teaching and loves her students.

The thing I can't believe I didn't realize was how professors are

like supervisors. I don't think I've ever thanked the supervisor of

our department, even though I know he works insanely long hours and

spends his time keeping the university brass off of our backs. He

even managed to get us another full-time dispatcher (whom we

desperately need) when the university initially said no. I think I'm

going to have to mark Boss's Day on my calendar and convince the

other dispatchers and the officers that we need to do something

special for him.

So thanks for helping me to draw that conclusion.

:oD

Angie

--- Tara Wildes <twj3@b...> wrote:

> If you are so fortunate as to have a great supervisor, tell

> him or her so at the first available opportunity. Don't think

> they just know it. They are probably fighting litigation from the

> last employee they had to can, dueling with the other

> administration over resources, trying to investigate the latest

> complaint or just attempting to staff the next shift. Your kind

> words can make their day.