Holy Recycling, Batman!

Tom Bishop sends us this amazing news from the Facilities Department:

“We just celebrated our 5th year of recycling news print. We have over this 5 year period recycled over 10 million pounds of newsprint and assorted office paper.”

Just to put that into context, 10 million pounds of paper is equal to:

• 30 million 36 page newspapers
• 5,500 full rolls of newsprint you see on the floor by the press
• 4,000 delivery vans

On The Ongoing Moves

Tom also tells us that: “The construction, painting, moving offices, depots and people in Hudson and Milford, is all proceeding on schedule. This project requires a bit of juggling to install cubes, computer/phone wiring, construct, paint, move people and then paint and move people again. Unfortunately this has/will cause disruption and inconvenience to just about everyone. Again, the employees have met the challenge, with cooperation, understanding and being helpful whenever asked. Thank you....”

On a related note: we (your humble newsletter editor and his various personalities) really like the newsroom’s new red wall.

News from Sales

Shana Hoch, retail sales manager, tells us:

“Tom Masson & Jason Burland recently joined our outside sales team. You probably met them at our recent meet & greet - but just in case you didn't here's a little information about both:

Tom Masson Tom, our new rep for Hudson and East and MA, joins us with sales experience both in the auto and furniture industries. Tom, with years of experience offering color options for furniture buyers, suggested we go with gray paint for the wall in between the editorial red and the executive blue up front - time will tell if we listen! Tom is off to a great start tackling his Progress goal this year - the highest goal on a territory!

Jason Burland Jason, our new rep for Milford, Merrimack and West, joins us with a recent BA from UNH in Humanities and retail experience from Best Buy. Jason recently showed his Progress team spirit with a Karaoke rendition of "Man, I feel like a Woman" with help from team member Stephen Belanger. (Bobbie Maniatis & Kathy Martellucci also helped out!)

Shana’s also got a Progress update:

“With just a couple weeks left, everyone is in high sales mode for Progress. We have just under $100,000 left to sell, and the pressure is on! We've had some great teamwork with the rep turnover and transitions this year, and the hard work is paying off. I'm confident we'll get to goal - but it will take a lot of hard work and dedication - luckily, we have a fantastic team right now, and if anyone can do it, they can!”

Sales to Date for Sales People over 50% to goal as of Feb. 2 at 10a:
Outside reps:
• Sheila Crete 101% (PLUS she's sold 40% of the Downtown revenue noted below!) Most Revenue Sold by a rep so far!
• Jim Lindsay 68%
• Chris Bakas 67%
• Mary Gorman 65% (PLUS she's sold 10% of the Downtown revenue noted below!)
• Tom Masson 60%
• Laurie Blais 60%
• Meredith Maurey 60%
• Downtown Nashua 58% (Jointly sold by Sheila, Mary & Stephen - thank you for the extra effort!)
• Bobbie Maniatis 54%

Inside reps:
• Stephen Belanger 162% (PLUS he sold 10% of the Downtown revenue noted above!)
• Monique 130%

Classifieds Update

Cheryl Roberts tells us that Classified has had a strong run recently, coming in at 96% of goal in December and 101% in January!!

“Kudos to the entire team!”

Cheryl also reports that Classified/Inside Sales has launched “Critter Capers,” a reader-submitted pet photo page to will run each Monday.

(This will have a tie in on the Web as well with a reader submitted photo gallery!)

In-Print New Hires: The Classifieds group is excited to have Kathy Martellucci and Deb Carlson come aboard with their extensive sales backgrounds.

Have you heard the buzz? Check Encore out at www.encorebuzz.com

Highlights From The Christmas Party

Ad Services Plugging Away With Mac Conversion, Ready For Their Move

According to Scott Blanchard: “Still plugging away with the Mac conversion. Sure, there are lots of changes in the works for Ad Services, mostly geographic, but it impacts the sales departments more than us. Should be something to say next month for sure!”

Circulation

Lisa Walker reports:

“Our newest news in circulation Sales is the promotion of Kathy Oleary to single copy sales manager. Kathy has been with The Telegraph for over 6 years. She started as a carrier then was hired on as District Manger and more recently to Single copy sales manager.

“She has taken over the reigns of single copy sales with a fresh energetic approach. We are looking for to an exciting year in circulation as we prepare for the changes and challenges that lay ahead.”

Digital Media

Two new staff member have joined the Digital Media department since December – Justin McGonigle and Robert Herdlein, and Morgen Thiboult in the digital media group moved from a part-time to a full time position!

In their own words, Justin and Bob tell us: “Justin McGonigle is an artist, web designer, and all around nice guy. He enjoys music, movies and spending time with his family. He's excited about joining the New Media team at the Nashua Telegraph and looks forward to the many challenges that lie ahead.” and … “Bob Herdlein has a healthcare background as Med Tech/tech support for a number of years (in an ER in Maine for past 5 years), Web design since 1997 (freelance for most part, part of the internet boom and crash for a few years), artist for many years (various media..paint, music at this point). He’s from New Britain, CT and lived in Seattle for 15 years until 1998. He has two teenaged kids.”

Digital Media is pressing forward with projects on a number of fronts, ranging from full scale site redesigns (our classifieds and shopping portal, NashuaTelegraph.com, NHBR.com, etc.) to new products (a user generated content site this spring), to new niche sections and products, as well as refined convergence tools across our whole array of sites and publications. It’s an action-packed and hugely exciting time! Traffic and readership online is growing and Digital Media pushing hard to provide great tools for every department.

Marketing Update – 175th Anniversary Celebrations

Our new marketing manager Natalie Doyle (whom many of you met at the last meet and greet) sent along this update on the new 175th logo campaign:

“Our 175th logo campaign is in full swing! Deployment began Sunday, January 28th. Many of you have probably noticed the new anniversary logo on our front page, website and email signatures. Soon we will also have 175th logo signs on the front of our building and the Telegraph sign, as well as our offices in Nashua.

“Other anniversary news…the marketing committee has been formed and already held two meetings. A few highlights to look forward to this year include a special section and a large public event to be held in the summer. The special section will include the 175 most influential people in the Nashua region’s history. Those nominees are already being featured every Sunday by Dean Shalhoup. A committee of employees and citizens is being formed by Dave Solomon to determine the rest of the 175 nominees. After what is anticipated to be a lively discussion, the list is expected to be completed by the end of February. The special section is scheduled to be published in September.

“Mark your calendars for Saturday, July 28th! While still in the beginning stages, our public event will most likely be held on this date at Holman Stadium and a proposal to book the venue has already been sent to the city. The marketing committee has come up with many great ideas and at this time, the event is taking on a community “fair” theme. We are always open to suggestions and would appreciate any feedback from fellow employees. This should be a fun and exciting year for the Telegraph as we plan this event and others. Happy 175th!”

Miles 33

Kathleen Babin-Johnson, from IT, reports that the IT Dept along with Classified, Accounting and Retail sales, are under way implementing the new Miles33 software for Classified, Layout, and Accounts Receivable. The project GO Live date for all, is June 4th. The new servers are in and the base software is being installed by Mark Bowman. At the end of February some staff will be attending training in Connecticut at the Miles33 office. The project’s aggressive implementation schedule will keep IT and related departments very busy over the next several months!

In addition, Kathleen says, in September implementation will begin for the Circulation module. A big benefit to the new systems will be one customer data base/record, this will allow us to better serve our customers, whether they are looking for help with an ad, subscription, or other service.

Don Smith Promoted to Business Manager

Don Smith has assumed the title of Business Manager for Telegraph Publishing Co. As such, he will take a leadership role in positioning the Accounting Department for the future. In his new capacity, Don will work with the management staff in the department to oversee accounts payable, billing, cash applications, accounts receivable, general ledger and profit and loss reporting for the Telegraph and Cabinet Press operations.

Don has distinguished himself in our Finance department for the past 37 years. His background and professional experience make him uniquely qualified to take this next step.

The Newsroom

Return of the Reader Advisory Network

Editor Nick Pappas writes in his blog: about how the newsroom will be creating a new, improved Reader Advisory network. A new online registration process has been created: http://ran.nashuatelegraph.com.

"It will give us an opportunity to e-mail subgroups from the network - people under 25, Republicans or Democrats only, members who listed health care as an important issue - if we are pursuing stories particular to those interests," Nick writes.

Ashley Smith Promoted

Nick also tells us:

“I'm pleased to announce that Ashley Smith will become our new business/GA reporter. The change in beats will become effective once we hire a new Hudson/Litchfield reporter, a job opening that will be posted by the end of the week. Please join me in congratulating Ashley on her new assignment.
“P.S.
“I can't wait until she gets to quote Karen Spiller at BAE saying ‘No comment.’”

Newsroom Welcomes New Intern

The newsroom recently welcomed a new intern, Steve Bodnar. And in Steve’s own words:

“I was born in Connecticut, but I grew up in Camillus, NY, a western suburb of Syracuse. After I graduated high school, my parents and I moved to Bedford, NH and I currently live there with them. I am a junior at UNH and I major in English/Journalism and I am working on a Business Administration minor as well. Last spring I received the Michael Kelly Memorial Scholarship for excellence in journalism, which was a great honor. At UNH I work for the Connors Writing Center and I report for the school paper, The New Hampshire. When I'm not at school or work, I like to spend time outdoors, hiking and playing sports. I also like to spend time at the gym. I have interests in music and movies. I've been to over 30 concerts and I wrote movie reviews for an entertainment website.”

New Human Resources Manager!

Ellin Carroll, VP of Administration, writes,

“I am pleased to announce that Jeannette DiBella has joined us as the new Human Resources Manager. Jeannie has worked as an HR professional for the past 11 years for Filene's. Her areas of responsibility included recruitment, training, benefits and payroll administration and employee relations.

“Jeannie lives in Nashua with her family and has a BS in Journalism from Indiana State University. Prior to her many years with Filene's, Jeannie worked as a Project Administrator for Xenergy, Inc., an energy study program in Georgia.”

“Please join me in welcoming her.”

Employees Recognized

We announced the winners of our 4th quarter Extra Mile Award on January 19th. The program strives to recognize and reward employees for delivering exceptional customer service to internal and external customers. Recognized for delivering such service was Debbie Read from our Classified Dept., Bob Hammerstrom from Editorial Dept. and Ann Hovey from the Circulation Dept. Special recognition was given to Diane Stangroom, Bob Gregoire and Pauline Levesque for their role in one of the most successful Santa Fund Drives in recent years. Congratulations to all.

January Milestones

Scott Elliott, 1 year, Home Delivery
Jennifer Croteau, 1 year, Ad Services
Bobbie Maniatis, 1 year, Advertising
Jessica Nolin, 1 year, Customer Care
Samantha Angelo, 1 Year, Ad Services
Jose Patino, 1 Year, Distribution

Welcome to our new employees!

Tracey McLean, Editorial
William Sousa, Home Delivery
Kathy Martellucci, Advertising Natalie Doyle, Events and Marketing
Jeannie DiBella, Human Resources
Joseph Dudley, Ciculations Sales
Steven Bodnar, Editorial
Eric Johnson, Home Delivery
Paula Johnson, Home Delivery
Herney Londono, Distribution

Daffodil Days

We will be soliciting orders for Daffodil Days from now through Feb. 23, 2007.

Daffodil Days is one of the American Cancer Society's oldest and most beloved fundraising programs that provides hope to everyone touched by cancer by offering daffodils to donors in appreciation of their contributions. For more than 30 years, Daffodil Days has enabled people of all ages to join the Society’s fight against cancer by raising funds to support groundbreaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information and education, advocate for public health policies that benefit the community, and provide services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
The pricing is as follows:

Bouquets of 10 daffodils $7 each – or make
it an even $10

Bear and a Bunch™ $25 each
Includes 12” special edition
Boyds™ Bear and 10 daffodils

Gifts of Hope minimum $20
Gifts to fund American Cancer Society
programs, while making daffodil bouquets
available to cancer patients

Your support of the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days helps give life and hope to millions of Americans facing cancer. If you are interested in placing an order, please see Jeannie in Human Resources to place your order.

The daffodils will be delivered during the week of March 19th.

 

 

Send all tips, corrections, omissions, suggestions, critiques, sage wisdom, savage indictments and miscellaneous japes to Ernesto Burden at eburden@nh.com.