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Monthly Update - October 2020

Feature

Registration is open virtual for CGA fall committee meetings (Nov. 17-19)  

Author: Sarah Magruder Lyle, CGA President and CEO

CGA recently announced its fall committee meetings will be held virtually Tuesday, Nov. 17 through Thursday, Nov. 19. While we were looking forward to seeing everyone in person next month, the decision to hold our meetings virtually will ensure the health and safety of our membership, and we are excited that a virtual platform will provide an opportunity to broaden participation.

The meetings will be condensed with a focus on facilitated roundtable discussions, key program updates and task team reports. Hour long lunch sessions on the first and second days will provide the opportunity to eat your lunch while learning from a special guest speaker on virtual team building, as well as sit in on the Legislative Roundtable.

The fall virtual meetings will allow committee members to interact, view presenters, utilize the chat/question feature for committee discussions, take advantage of polling, and incorporate meeting handouts.

Click here to register for the virtual meetings on the CGA Engage Platform. Please note all time listed are EST.

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NBA All-Star Mark Eaton to keynote 2021 CGA Conference & Expo  

Author: Khrysanne Kerr, CGA Vice President of Marketing and Outreach

NBA All-Star and team building expert Mark Eaton is set to be the keynote speaker for the 2021 CGA Conference & Expo slated for March 2-5, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Attendees will enjoy Mark’s inspiring speech during lunch on Thursday, March 4 at 1 p.m., helping to set the stage for the conference’s goal of Breaking New Ground in the damage prevention industry.

Mark played with the Utah Jazz for 12 seasons, led the NBA in blocked shots four of those seasons, was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team five times, was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year two times, and still holds two NBA records: most blocks in a single season (456) and career average blocked shots per game (3.5). Today, Mark is a successful motivational speaker, entrepreneur and best-selling author of “The Four Commitments of a Winning Team.” Mark has been a featured team-building expert on Forbes.com, Inc.com, Wharton Business Radio, Entrepreneur.com and Sports Illustrated.

We are looking forward to hearing Mark challenge the damage prevention community to be the strongest and most effective team we can be, as we spend the conference engaging in meaningful cross-industry, multi-stakeholder collaboration that results in actionable solutions.

To register today or to learn more about the CGA Conference & Expo, visit CGAConference.com

News Brief

Dig Safely New York trains new employees virtually

Author: Devin R. Negrete, Dig Safely New York

When Dig Safely New York hires new Damage Prevention Representatives, they sit in a designated training room that is equipped with a row of computers, a smart board and an instructor. They receive hands-on experience, interaction with their new fellow coworkers and learn about the friendly work environment. However, this year has proven to be different due to COVID-19.

Earlier this year, Dig Safely New York added Microsoft Teams to the list of programs to enhance communications throughout the building. With Teams, you can meet virtually with people within or outside of your organization, share your screen, share documents and more. This has allowed Dig Safely New York to develop a virtual training class for new hires that keep them safe and socially distanced from the office. They have also created a PowerPoint that is screen shared with the new employees, allowing them to follow along. The “raise hand” feature can be utilized for questions without disruptions and speakers can be added at any time during the meeting or onboarding process.

While it is challenging not receiving one-on-one human interaction, Microsoft Teams allows Dig Safely New York to create jobs in Upstate New York and train employees in a safe environment while adhering to state and federal guidelines. COVID-19 has forced many companies to adapt to a “new normal” and this is just one successful solution Dig Safely New York plans to continue to utilize until it’s safe to return to the office.

 

Register now for Indiana 811 and Kentucky 811’s virtual conference

Author: Mary Patricia Kindt, USA 811

Registration for the one-day Virtual Midwest Damage Prevention Training Conference, hosted by Indiana 811 and Kentucky 811, is now open! The virtual event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Indiana 811 and Kentucky 811 are proud to announce this year’s Keynote speaker is Commander Kirk Lippold USN (Ret.), the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack in Yemen. His can’t-miss speech will kick off the 2020 virtual conference and will be followed by more than 10 unique educational training webinars, which will cover a variety of topics for all damage prevention stakeholders in the Midwest and beyond.

Register now for the VMWDPTC!

 

Dig Safely New York reaches thousands for 811 Day

Author: Devin R. Negrete, Dig Safely New York

Hosting a celebration online isn’t always the preferred way of getting your message across, but, in times like these, it’s almost the only way to share that message safely and responsibly. That is why Dig Safely New York chose to celebrate 811 Day with an iPad contest across their social media platforms this year.

According to Broadband Search, about 3.8 billion people worldwide use social media and Americans spend an average of two hours and six minutes on those platforms. Of those people, Dig Safely New York were able to reach (total number of people who have seen your posts) 13,000 in Upstate New York.

For the contest, Dig Safely New York incorporated interactive images, messages informing the public of the contest and Field Representative social media takeovers. The takeovers were a major success in hitting each region with the field reps visiting active jobsites, sharing videos of their activities for the day and giving shoutouts to the other organizations they worked with that day. All in all, the contest was a great way to engage with online audiences and educate about what they do and the damage prevention message.

Member Tool & Resources

Storm recovery toolkit helps remind public about calling 811 before hurricane cleanup

Author: Khrysanne Kerr, CGA Vice President of Marketing and Outreach

With a little more than one month left in this year’s hurricane season, it is important to remind the public to call 811 prior to starting hurricane recovery efforts. The CGA’s “Storm Recovery” toolkit provides members with infographics, social media messages, press release and contributed column templates, PSAs and aftermath recorded messages from CGA. We hope members find these tools helpful while generating public awareness about the importance of damage prevention after hurricanes, as well as tornadoes, heavy rains and other types of storms. For additional member toolkits, visit the CGA website.

Data & Technology

DIRT Report 2019 member webinar – register now!

Author: Steve Blaney, DIRT Program Manager

CGA will host the DIRT member webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 14 to review recent findings published in the DIRT Report for 2019. Members of the Data Reporting & Evaluation Committee and CGA staff will provide a high-level overview of the report, including key takeaways as well as a demonstration of the DIRT Dashboard. The webinar will also provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss findings with committee leadership.  

Click here to register for the member webinar.

Association News

CGA launches redesigned website

Author: Erika Lee, CGA Vice President

CGA recently launched a newly redesigned commongroundalliance.com website. The site refresh features streamlined access and quick links to industry and member resources, including the CGA Best Practices guide, safe digging process campaign tools and resources, the DIRT reporting tool and interactive dashboard, and the Engage platform. 

A new toolkit catalogue is provided for members to promote safe digging and the damage prevention message. Each toolkit is geared toward an event, campaign, or program and contains a variety of resources such as social media messages, press release template, infographics and more.

Additionally, members will experience an updated company database, as well as the state resource and information map. 

We hope you enjoy the new commongroundalliance.com! For questions, please email support@commongroundalliance.com. ­

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