RHetoric

I’ve walked a pretty straight line most of my life.  Aside from a lead foot that has resulted in a couple of speeding tickets and a few stern warnings, I’ve managed to avoid the long arm of the law.

So, I must admit to a perverse excitement when I found out I’d get to visit the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County California.  My first trip to jail!

Our client Talyst has equipped all seven of San Bernardino County’s corrections facilities with InSite remote medication dispensers.

Terry Fillman, the health services supervisor for San Bernardino Corrections, was kind enough to show me around-proving that the best salesman is indeed a happy customer.

Terry had to have all of my security information in advance-name, birth date, drivers license number-they run a pretty tight ship at the corrections facilities-nothing is left to chance.

As Terry walked and talked us through the halls and various security checks, I was admittedly a tiny bit disappointed by the lack of drama.  Where were the bars? The inmates clanging?  This isn’t like the movies!

But, when we got to the healthcare wing I was sated by the, well, coolness of it all.

Before Talyst came along, nurses had to pop out each inmate’s medication from a blister pack of 30 pills, a process that took hours to complete and was riddled with opportunity for medication waste and errors.

Now, the medication is churned out of the InSite for Corrections remote dispenser, each dose in an individual packet, bar-coded and identifying the patient.  The video below shows a medication run, which is divided by unit numbers for easy sorting.

What used to take four nurses four hours EACH to complete, now only takes 45 minutes with InSite!

Here is a look at the inside of the machine and the canisters that house individual medications.

Medication inventory is kept neatly organized inside the carousel.

Clearly Terry Fillman is an excellent press reference!  Stay tuned for upcoming articles featuring Terry and his role in implementing InSite for San Bernardino Corrections.

Just a couple weeks ago, in lovely-but-not-so-sunny-Seattle, the RH Strategic team met for the second annual company retreat.  No, this was not an extravagant junket at some swanky Las Vegas spa like we hear about all too often these days. We opted for a leaner kind of retreat, though there were lots of perks–namely a fight-to-the-death challenge between the hard-nosed East Coasters (David, Jason, Delisa) and the softer, tech-ier West Coasters (John, Kelly, Tom).  And our battlefield was the bowling alley.

Here we are, both coasts joined together, putting our differences aside for the sake of the picture.  Pictured: (Top Row) East Coasters Delisa Reavis, David Herman and Jason Poos; (Bottom Row) West Coasters Kelly Burkett, Tom Cook and John Raffetto holding the brightest bowling ball I’ve ever seen.

Highlight from the Bowling Match: a “turkey” from David in sets 3 through 5, answered by a “turkey” from John in sets 5 through 7.  Much to my chagrin, I’ve decided to include the scoreboard below.  I was suffering from an extreme lack of bowling experience (read: talent), which is my excuse for the pitiful 80 below–though I did try to make up for it with my cheerleading (read: talking smack to the other team).

The final tally: West Coast, 365; East Coast, 361.  It was a tragedy of catastrophic proportions for the East Coast.

The final score above: (Left side) West Coast, John=162, Tom=101, Kelly=102; (Right Side) East Coast, David=164, Delisa=80, Jason=117

I’d like to go ahead and extend the invitation to the West Coasters for a rematch on our home turf next time.  Meanwhile, I’ll be joining a bowling league and sharpening my skills in an effort to at least break 100!

Down to Business

But of course, the retreat wasn’t all fun and games.  Much like our work-to-life ratio, we kept it balanced.  Defining and perfecting the “RH Way” was a major focus of this retreat. As the company enters its second year, we are dedicated to continuing to provide our clients with unusual value and to constantly look inward for improvement. I’ve always appreciated the mantra, “Innovate or die!”

Overall, it’s always energizing when we get the entire team together and watch the synergy, debates, good ideas, not so good ideas, and tangents that arise from an overly caffeinated group of marketing and communications professionals stuffed into one office. And I’m truly looking forward to putting the “RH Way” to practice - even on the bowling lanes.

It’s back! As Lexulous.

For those who didn’t know, Hasbro finally managed to push Scrabulous off the Web a couple months ago (see my original blog post here), but now it’s back as “Lexulous” and more fabulous and legal than ever! Check it out at http://www.lexulous.com, and feel free to challenge me to a game!

In the end Hasbro took the high road and withdrew the suit, only asking for the name change since Scrabulous was too similar to Scrabble. Though I bet they are still kicking themselves for not having thought of it first!

A little tip for you Lexulors out there:  “WEFT” is actually a word, and if used properly can score you upwards of 39 points!