Kara's Blog

 Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Yesterday I arrived in North Dakota to meet up with Deb who is on her 3rd week in the state, and her umpteenth week travelling in general.  She’s been here training state employees on the new system we’re rolling out for them.  It’s pretty cool and completely different than the Therap system that most people are familiar with.  It’s pretty amazing how quickly the team has developed this new system to meet the state’s needs for adults and children services.

Deb’s pretty much a pro at it by now, so I’m just absorbing all the information I can right now.  We start in Jamestown, then each day we move to a new location. Next it’s Devils Lake, then Grand Forks, and finally back to Fargo.

To find out more about what’s being done there, take a look here.

Had a wonderful vacation in the Outer Banks, NC last week and it looks like we left in the nick of time too, as Hurricane Earl has forced evacuations there.  I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t gotten the trip cancellation insurance that we would have definitely been in the midst of big Earl.  Anyway, back to reality, and hopefully if you needed me, I’ve gotten back to you by now after getting through all email  You know where to find me!

Yesterday I spent the day with one of our users in very upstate New York, going over the wonderful world of TMS, or Therap’s Training Management System.  This is a very extensive module, that we are also offering a series of 3 webinars on.  Part 1 was today, but don’t worry– if you missed it, look out for the recording and just sign up for the next two here.  I unfortunately, didn’t get the time to check out the city or Niagara Falls, as it was about 8 hrs up and dark when I got there, and then 8 hrs back and slushy when I left, but maybe next time.

So, I was back in the office yesterday after a great week of vacation, and I think I’m caught up - at least for now.  We were pretty lucky, as our week ended up being the meat in a hurricane/tropical storm sandwich. There was only one night of rain and thunder when we first arrived, which was probably the remnants of Hurricane Bill, and it looked like we left just before any rain arrived for Hurricane Danny.

We spotted deer in the same place when we were here 2 years ago. This time she had two fawns with her. Very strange for me to see deer on the beach

View of sound from our house

Ahh, I do miss this walk every day

Finally, we swung by PA to pick up my boy, Alex-- who's looking more and more like a muppet. He'd been visiting his grandparents for 3 weeks.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be out of the office and on vacation until 9/1… If you need anything don’t hesitate to hop on live help, send an Scomm, feedback, call the office, or email support.  Now I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that ole’ Hurricane Bill doesn’t get in our way!

We’re busy bees here at Therap—Here’s a glimpse at some of the places Therap will be in the next couple of months.  Let us know if you’ll be there too, or swing by and say ‘hello’

8/19-8/21  -Therap and CDS conference in Denver, CO

9/10-9/13 -National Rehabilitation Association Conference in Louisville, KY

9/13-9/14 -ANCOR Governmental Activities Seminar in Washington, D.C.

9/16 -Rescare National Leadership Conference in St. Louis, MO

9/16-9/17 – FLARF- FL Assoc. of Rehab. Facilities Conference in Stuart, FL

9/16-9/18 – CA Disability Services Association Conference in Irvine, CA

9/21-9/23 – NYSRA in Albany, NY

9/23-9/24- 6 State Summit in Big Sky, MT

9/25 – CCPA in Farmington, CT

9/30-10/2 – SW Conference in Albuquerque, NM

 

cool sculpture right in front of the hotel

Today kicked off the second day of our Joint Therap-CDS conference.  As yesterday, a lot of great sessions, w/ valuable questions, input and feedback from attendees.  The weather is beautiful again with a lovely breeze, so I tried to hop outdoors as much as possible.  Today I also got to learn about ISPs and some of the latest updates, from Mr. ISP, himself– Sazzad!!  It’s cool because, when I first started w/ Therap, I was able to learn this module by travelling all over states like SD w/ Sazzad, and here I am again, in TN learning even more.  This evening, CDS will be hosting a movie night, complete w/ popcorn and candy … Yeah!!

 

Hard at work

 

Tomorrow, I’m also looking forward to having a visit with my Uncle, Aunt, and cousins, that live right here in Murfreesboro!

 

Sneaking in a few pictures

Yesterday, I arrived here in Murfreesboro, TN for our Joint Therap-CDS conference.  I’m loving the weather, as it’s in the 80s and not humid at all.  Yeah!!  It was pretty beautiful in CT when I left but I certainly don’t mind this  After arriving from my flight, I spent my time setting up all I could, before getting up early this morning to finish up.  Today was started w/ tlogs, scomms, notifications, and then onto Provider Administration.  I had Jon Voits from UCP of Central Ohio helping out as well.  It’s always helpful to have our users perspectives in sessions.  This afternoon, I finish off w/ GERs, and TMS w/ Tanm before our game night. 

 

CDS session in full swing

 

The great staff helping us out here at the Doubletree

 

This is the main menu for training staff

This week, T-girl and I are in New York training one of our newest users, Sullivan Arc. So far we’ve trained about 250 staff on tlogs, GERs, and Scomms, — along w/ Health Tracking for Nurses and Service Coordinators.  It’s been very valuable to be able to run the T-girl automated training live, so that I can see where things work and where we can improve.  Not to mention, that I still have a voice thanks to T-girl.  Staff here have been great, and as always, it’s great to hear staff say: “when can we get started?!”  The weather has also been beautiful up here, so I’m hoping that it persists for the weekend as well.  Tomorrow, we’ve got a full day of training and then we wrap up on Friday.  Kudos to Tasha for being able to fit 21 laptops in a rooms– she’ll also be a Therap pro, having listened to every single training

-Kara

This past weekend, just before another foot of snow hit us here in the Northeast, I went with some friends for a NYC overnight.  Besides getting the free workout of shovelling, being able to quickly get to the city and back, is one of the many perks of living in CT.

 We went and stayed in one of my favorite hotels there, Night.  It has a very modern gothic, unique atmosphere, and is one of many boutique hotels within a block of Times Square and the Theatre District.  So, if you’re in the area, I definitely recommend that one.  It’s also one of the better priced hotels for the value and area.

 We also went to a comedy show at Caroline’s, which I always enjoy doing if I can’t see a broadway show.  This time around we saw Greg Behrendt, and it was a great time.  You can also eat dinner before the show, which I always like to do since the food is good, the prices are reasonable for Times square, and you get great seats.  I did have a bit of deja vu, going into the M&Ms store later on–and when my friend said she wanted ice cream– It was like Sonia, Sazzad, and others were back with me.  I also found out something about the Mcdonalds in NYC— They have McDONUTS!!–fantastic!

Back to work

Kara