Allison's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘Utah’

Jeana wins with best photo. There have been no other Certified Trainers dressed as a character from Star Wars.

Jeana does IT, quality assurance, and all kinds of things at Phoenix Services Corporation in Utah. She is uber-smart (like Big Bang Theory kind of smart); like SQL server, Crystal Report kinda nerd smart. She is out of my league–I aspire to that level of geekiness.

I can’t wait for her webinars and blogs. Quantum Therap?….Maybeeeee….

Allison

Ann Myers is the Rep Payee Specialist at Columbus Community Center. She is also Utah’s first full-fledged Therap nerd.

She is the overall Therap guru, their ISP goddess, and is a personal finance whiz who is not half bad with Excel. Watch for her upcoming webinar on Personal Finance and Excel (I will surely be there to listen in and see her spreadsheet wizardry!). I first met Ann last year in Utah and then spent time with her at our national conference in New York…where she attended a lot all of my sessions….

Welcome, Ann! I am proud to be stalked by you!

Allison

The conference is awesome. I really do just like all these people so much. They are enthusiastic and inquisitive and they tend to cut right to the chase. ‘Nuff said. We had a bunch of sessions with all the new Therap-heads training and I have become reacquainted with a few of my “stalkers” (thanks, Logan Meeks, for pointing this out!). Maybe I’ll start a cult. I mean, I have to plan for the future…a Therap kibbutz in Utah…who’d have thunk it?

Aside from awesomeness and joy, the end of the day was marked by a very sad event. Steve Jobs, Apple’s former CEO, died of pancreatic cancer. He was only 56. The blogs, Twitter and the ‘Net were instantly saturated with articles about his life, and his impact on the business and technology worlds. All I know is that I felt very saddened by the news as someone truly brilliant and innovative went away way too soon. He definitely made me look at technology differently over the past couple of years, and regardless of your feelings regarding Apple, there is no doubt that he changed the face of technology and the world.

From the iPad event in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

He definitely also changed some of the lives using that technology, including mine.

Bye, Steve.

Allison

Some new Therap Goblins with Kristen Thompson(left) from DSI; Stacey Kernisan (center) and Brent Hessee (right)

The first conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, is almost here. We have Therap staff from all over the country: Maryland, Colorado, Indiana, Maine, and Washington…all to spend time with our “lives elevated” in Therap country. We expect a nice turnout and will see some brand new providers and some who are old hats (all of a year, TURN!).

And this is Brent’s second day at Therap…

See you tomorrow!

After a not-so-wonderful weekend (I was holed up in my hotel being sick…no fun at all…I almost died!), Monday began with sun and wind and a beautiful day in Salt Lake City. The morning was spent with CTA Community Supports–both Family Services (who are wrangling with their own new Therap system)–and Sally and Jim who continue wrangling the first CTA system. They said the initial implementation went well and they are (finally) ready to move into Health Tracking and ISP Data collection.

And Sally gave me a fantastic action figure to take on my travels with me. There are a whole series, you know. “Pocket Troys” are inspired by their behavior specialist, Troy Angus, and reside all throughout the office in discreet locations. Troy has truly become an icon in Salt Lake City…Pocket Troys should be on the market by Christmas. Send me a list of what you need for stocking stuffers!

This afternoon, loads of email from Sally’s office, and some chatting with Alaska!!

Allison

Zombie preparedness is a very serious matter everywhere, not only in Utah. For proof of that, have a look here: the CDC agrees. So make sure you have some canned food and a flame thrower ready at all times…I’ll check with Krista and see if they have something in their disaster preparedness plan.

Day One is down with KT&T! Managers are trained in the basics as well as personal finance…and they seemed enthusiastic even with me under the weather. Day Two is underway with some staff people making their way over er

Stacey Kernisan is here with me as well–a new Theraphead–spreading the orange-ness throughout Utah with me as we head into conference week…and you HAD BETTER BE THERE!

Allison

Yesterday, I spent much of the day in traffic in Keizer, Oregon, with Toni Larson and the licensing staff for the State of Oregon. I got to hear the flip side from these people who are in charge of the review of agencies’ records and such to ensure their documentation and services are up to par. They offered a lot of great suggestions and made a few requests that I’ll be working on.

Today, there is some massive catching up to do after I get to Salt Lake City this afternoon. Yes, it’s true, I’ll be back in Utah! This week with KT&T (and maybe a quick visit to Phoenix Services), then CTA and then the Salt Lake City conference….

Allison

The next week kicks off some traveling for me. So much for slippers and a pug in the mornings…

So, here is the schedule:

1. Eastern Oregon…I’ll be in LaGrande with New Day Enterprises (Lonni will never touch the radio button again!) who plans on being live by October. The eastern Oregon contingent is continuing to grow as well: Umatilla County itself has hopped on board. They will be using Therap for case management, General Event Reports and their foster care providers. Tami and I are getting to work next week!

2. Back to the sky-high state…Utah. I’ll be training KT&T in Salt Lake City right ahead of our first conference in one of the most awesome states. Utah is hard core Therap territory and the conference promises to be a blast. We’ll have some of the older providers (a whole year!) and some new (not even started yet!) mixing it up in Salt Lake. You had better be there!

3. For the love of Texas. Back to where I was crowned an honorary longhorn to visit with Caroline, Bernice and Gigi…as well as jovaughan (‘cos jovaughan says…) and getting back into the swing of things with my pals down there. We have some work to do!

4. Heading over to Connecticut for a quick visit to see friends and my dad for a few days…

5. Back to Oregon and then off to Alaska to hang in Soldotna with Frontier Community Services.

And this is all before the pumpkin carving party that I am attending on October 29 in Vancouver, Washington.

Everyday, I’m travelin’…

Allison

Storm warning for basically all mountain areas of Utah! Salt Lake is chilly with snow showers and I’m still coughing my head off. However, the bright side of all of this is Work Activity Center (WAC). They will be launching Therap in their day services on March 1 and within their residential programs a little bit later (due to late netbooks…sigh!).

Kate is the Executive Director (and she has her own ring tone like Sally ‘cos she picked it!) and she is raring to go, excited by the promise of Therap and its benefits for her agency. You should know, that prior to meeting Kate, everyone in Utah told me how awesome she was. Well, they were right!

Tomorrow: HOME (if the weather cooperates!) as it has been over three weeks. ‘Nuff said.

Allison

Three hundred staff. Live March 1. Watch out for these guys–they are hardcore. The rest of this week is all about WAC, more Utah friendies. Above are Jim and Sally (the super star), Cirque’s parents, and my latest Salt Lake City BFFs. Sally even has a special ringtone on my iPhone–we’re tight like that.

Are you ready, Kate? Here I come!!

Allison