Thanks Mike.

We are officially turning down any further movement on OMS options for our "MS site".  The main goal of getting that quote out to the group was to show the cost of even getting off the ground with that option.  Relaying that information resulted in several phone calls and conversations, none directly to me of course, implying that I was trying to rip off Global Reach.  This is not the case.  Anything WE do with the site will be approved by the GROUP.  As I stated in our meeting, if Mississippi ever wanted to go with the OMS option we would just stop using our site and go with Global Reach's product.  Going through the process of building and paying for that on our end would not make any sense.

Let me address something here:

Daniel was invited to our meeting based on a conversation I had with Taylor in January.  The plan was to see if the outage operation of Global Reach and the crew/equipment operation of the MS site could be made to work together.  I did not feel like it was appropriate for me to make a decision on whether or not to even look at that option without the group's input.  That was the reason I thought our meeting would be a good place to see his product and also have Daniel there to answer any questions we might have about our two systems "talking" with one another.  Between January and August, Global Reach did an outstanding job of adding the crew/equipment function to their package.  After seeing the presentation, I saw the two systems as completely separate products.  As stated above, I think the Global Reach product is a better more user friendly system than we currently have in place.  I just cannot justify to my board changing to a new system when they are happy with the current one.  If they ask for a more inclusive package, I will be suggesting the Global Reach product.

Taylor seemed very appreciative of the opportunity to present to our group.  He was also very upset that Daniel was allowed to stay in the room during his presentation.  I talked with him Thursday evening and his concern was bolstered by conversations with multiple folks that said I should have done things differently.  I am not sure how much clearer I could have been that it is not my group nor my job to make all decisions for the group.  Any person in the room could have raised a hand and requested Daniel to step out.  That would have been much more productive than waiting for me to leave the room and then complain to Taylor that things had been done in an unprofessional manner.  How ironic.

Moving forward, feel free to call me or talk to me in person if I have done something that offends.

Gerald Gordon
VP, Safety and Loss Control
Cell: 601-718-7340
gordon@ecm.coop

-----Original Message-----
From: sw-storm-coordinators@feca.simplelists.com <sw-storm-coordinators@feca.simplelists.com> On Behalf Of mbergeaux alec.coop
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2018 8:39 AM
To: Gerald Gordon <Gordon@ecm.coop>
Cc: sw-storm-coordinators@feca.simplelists.com
Subject: Re: Quotes

Good morning,

Gerald,

I want to take a minute of your time and express my gratitude for you and your MS Statewide support for the Emergency Work Plan meeting and also the Storm Plan Program. I would like to respond for the quotes you sent to us for upgrades to the program.

I’m not in support for the OMS service for LA cooperatives. I do support the upgrades for Employee ID and Additional crew types.

>
thanks for your time and support

mike

Mike Bergeaux (CLCP)
ALEC, Director of Loss Control
10725 Airline Hwy.
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Office: (800) 355-3450 Ext. 20
Fax: (225)  296-0924
Cell: (225)  324-8987
mbergeaux@alec.coop