2012 Blogging Goals

I started blogging for the sole purpose of trying to get myself to read up on sports more often and for some time it was going well. I was spending most of my time reading and writing about Philly sports because that's what I am interested and have a passion for. After all, it's easier and fun to write about things you're interested in. But after working at SunGard for more than a year and it being a tough 2011 for Philly sports I decide to take another approach to my blog, give myself a challenge. I recently read an article that I found on LinkedIn that i thought had some great insight. The article talked about the top five reasons to blog if you're looking for a job. This was a sign for me. A sign to motivate me to blog more and not just about sports. The article stressed the importance of blogging about things such as current events or even hobbies. This way during interviews you can tell the potential employer to check out your blog where they can see your interests and opinions about different topics. It can give you something to talk about rather than just going over you resume.

My goal for 2012 in blogging is to broaden my topics and spend more time in my day to blog. I hope to spend at least an hour on blogging and possibly posting 3-4 times a week. I enjoy blogging and it really forces me to read more about things I'm interested in and form my opinion.

A Day in the Life of Customer Service: Financial Services Edition

When people ask me what I do at my job I usually tell them I answer the phones and emails and leave it at that. In reality, there is way more to my job but I want to spare the facial and verbal reaction to "I am in customer service". Typically, when people (including myself) hear customer service they have a negative reaction which may include a loud tone of voice and a lot of hand motions. I have talked to a number of people about their experiences with customer service and a common complaint is they are talking to people who do not speak English very well. One of the main goals of service is being able to successfully communicate to clients. The language barrier makes it extremely difficult to maintain that goal. In addtion to this obstacle, people find themselves on the phone for hours at a time trying to solve their issues through customer service. This unpleasant combination can result in a flurry of unpleasant feedback. The one thing I can say about my company, for the specific product I work for, is that we do not outsource our customer service. Our clients call a team line where one of three people will take their calls; me, Keith and Abby. Neither of us have a foreign accent, however Abby and I do have a relatively strong Philadelphia accent.




A day in the customer service world of financial services can be very interesting. Since we are a small product owned by SunGard we have about 200 clients. I usually hear from the same people each week so there is more of a personal interaction when I am on the phone with them. The number of clients who actually contact us is so low that I can recognize the number on the phone when people call. That can be a good and bad thing. Luckily, I am not the only one answering phones. One lady, maybe middle-aged, calls quite frequently. I think she picks a day to work on her Investor'sView (our product) projects, gives us a call when she logs in and asks us random questions when she is navigating through the system. One day she called three or four times within a half hour, each time I was the lucky one to pick up. By the third call here is how the conversation started,





"Investor'sView this is Marianne."





"Hi, it's me."





IT'S ME?! I didn't know we were on that level already. Like I said, customer service has it's good and bad days. I've had my fair share of those bad days but I try to bring out the good in those times. When my boss overhears me having a hard time on the phone with a client she comes over to my desk and tells me not to take things personally. That advice goes a long way in customer service.

Happy Valley Chaos...But for What?

The bizarre and embarrassing acts that engulfed Penn State's Main Campus late last night set a bad taste in my mouth and stomach. Students rallying for Joe Paterno did not seem like such a good idea especially in the midst of what is looking like the biggest scandal in sports history. I sat quietly in my living room watching the strange press conference last night wondering why this was all going on. The whole idea of holding such a meeting for the firing of Joe Pa totally fed into the culture at Penn State. Ideally, the Board of Trustees would have been better off with just a statement but to open the room for questions might not have been the best idea for the institution at a national level. In fact, the room was full of students blurting out their questions of concern for how their legend, their so called "god" was fired. Who cares if they called him or showed up at his door? The bottom line is the man is no longer the head football coach. How he was fired is minuscule in this entire scandal. From what started out as the discovery of heinous acts, which are unbearable to read on the 23 page grand jury report, it has turned into something that is not. Joe Pa.

The reactions I have read on Twitter from friends and friends of friends who are Penn State alum are quite astonishing. "So sad", "I can't believe this is happening", "We love you Joe!" "WE ARE...PENN STATE". All of these posts I saw populate my Twitter feed only made me feel sick to my stomach. I could not believe that people my age, which is the same age now as those boys who were raped, are sticking to one of the many men who covered up what was happening. Had i not known they were for Joe Pa I would have assumed they were for the children and families of those whose lives were traumatized. My response to those Tweets was harmless but I don't think it set well with Penn State folks, "Joe Pa getting fired is not sad. Little boys getting raped is sad and disturbing." I never got directly responded to on that one, but there was one shout out to Penn State haters saying "no one wants your opinion, shut the f*** up, ur about to get unfollowed..." Part of me wanted to respond indirectly just so I would get unfollowed. Let's get serious, who cares if you stop following me. It's people like that who have twisted this scandal into a worship-fest for Joe Pa. And because he is Joe Pa, he can do no wrong. Now that he has done wrong, he is being held responsible and as well he should be. But regardless, his fans will back him up, feel bad for him and rally for his legacy. For such a legacy and top dog at a prestigious university one would think he would take responsibility not only as a head football coach but as a human being to see that justice is served. But that is not what happened. It was ignored. It was ignored to protect the face of the program and the university. For something as serious as this, it makes you wonder what else are they hiding in Happy Valley? I just don't get it and I never will. Just because I didn't graduate from Penn State doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on this matter.

"Winning"

"Winning." The word has become much more than a sports team's goal or motto these days. I'm sure it was on LeBron James' mind the moment he stepped foot on the court alongside Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami. Rex Ryan sure thought his squad was good enough for it, in Super Bowl terms. The Villanova Wildcats sure had it on their agenda this season, as they were sitting pretty in the early weeks at number six on the AP Top 25 Rankings. What these three teams have in common though, ironically, is not "winning". I think all the smoke and lights that introduced one of the most overrated three-some in NBA's history had some sort of impact down there in Miami and how LeBron and Company can't seem to get it done. The Jet's had their fifteen minutes of fame during the preseason show, "Hard Knocks"on HBO. How many times did we hear Ryan mention his team playing in the Super Bowl? Nova Nation is taking a hit now after completely falling off the AP Top 25 Rankings. The question is, will they make it past the first round of the tournament, let alone make it at all? "Winning". Something these three teams haven't been able to grasp as of recent games.

"Winning" certainly has taken a different spin in the last week or so thanks to Charlie Sheen. Apparently, he is "winning". Whether it's in life or who knows what else, he has let everyone know that's what he's doing. Maybe the Heat, Jets and Wildcats can catch up with him in the next few days and weeks to get things going for them. Even though he lost his show with CBS, Sheen is making it obvious that he has his life under control. I don't know if I would consider myself "winning" if my children were taken out of my house, but he seems to be going with the flow. I can't go one day driving to and home from work without 610 WIP or 97.5 The Fanatic using the Sheen sound bite "winning" in their segments. The word has taken the Twitter world by storm and #winning seems like it's the most trended word since, ever. More and more people are talking about how Sheen has lost his mind and how crazy he is. We can make observations and judgements about the star of "Two and a half Men" all we want. He's only going to appear on more interviews and talk shows as this story continues to escalate. He is who he is no matter what people are going to say. I can't say I don't think the man is crazy, but who am I to judge? Now, don't go as far as comparing me to one of his "goddesses" but all I'm saying is let the man live. I will say though, if he gets his children back before the NFL and NFLPA come to an agreement, then there is certainly something wrong in this world we live in.

The Eagle Has Landed

There is a lot to talk about in the world of the Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick is performing above and beyond all expectaions and has certainly proved himself worthy of second chances. Back in August during Training Camp I would never have thought this team would be 6-3 and on the verge of leading the NFC East. There were lots of unanswered questions lingering over the head of coach Andy Reid. Kevin Kolb was the big guy on campus and everyone expected big things from the Texas native. Sooner than later the tables changed and who but Vick takes the lead and is now 4-0 when he has played the entire game. This guy is unbelievable out there. From passing 88yds. down the feild to an unstoppable DeSean Jackson or finding the hole and running for 10 yds. for the first down, this guy is powerful. So powerful he has been experiencing multiple symptoms of MVP. It's not too early to diagnose especially since his symptoms have increasingly skyrocketed over the past few weeks. MVP is serious and by the looks of it, Vick has placed himself on the not so populated list this year.

Vick has proved himself on this Eagles sqaud and earned the respect of his teammates and coaching staff. His weakness is still the fan base in Philly. There are those who support him and his long journey back to the NFL and have given him a second chance and the benefit of the doubt. Then there are those who refuse to support him and are outraged he is back playing in the NFL. Troy Ballard, writer for The Bleacher Report, provides great evidence to back up a case for Vick's running in the race for MVP. Read all he has to say!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/519835-michael-vick-10-ways-he-can-lock-down-the-mvp-award

VICK FOR MVP!

Eagles Training Camp

Last week I got an inside look at the Eagles Training Camp. I lucked out with a field pass to the afternoon practice last Tuesday with two of my good family friends and let me tell you, we had a BLAST! Thanks to Lehigh Gas and Pepsi our experience at Lehigh was one for the books. I drove up with my friends Carly and Jack Tuesday morning, but not at a gruesome 5:30am like most fans do coming from the Philly area. We had to pick up our tickets in Allentown at 9:30, so we missed the morning practice. Arriving at Lehigh University was a bit confusing, actually. Of course we were the only car driving into the campus and we had absolutely no idea where we were going. So, we drove through the campus and finally found some green arrows that we assumed were for us, the fans. So, here I am driving my new Ford Escape up the long and windy roads of Lehigh's gorgeous campus. I turned to Carly and Jack and said, "We would never make it up this mountain if we were in Barney." Barney is one of the cars my family has, which is a purple 1997 Toyota Corola that my brother has proudly took under his wings now that my younger sister and I ditched Barney and moved on to our Escape. So, we keep driving and driving and we weren't seeing anything. We decided to turn around and go back in case we missed something. As I am turning around and driving back, we see these green arrow signs again! At this point the three of us are laughing and starting to think we were being Punk'd (as if Ashton Kuther would pick three kids from Delaware County PA to Punk). Finally, we make it back down to the the main campus and no one wants to roll down their window to ask directions, so I frantically drive up to a nice student with a Lehigh t-shirt and ask him, "Where can we park for training camp?" This kid looks at us and knows we are lost and says, "Uh, isn't that up on the other side of campus?" Great, here we are, first time training camp visitors and we get an answer like that. He tells us to go back up the mountain and go over to Goodman Campus. Back up the mountain we go and finally make it there. Of course, we catch everyone heading back to their cars after the morning practice. Fortunately, we find an information tent and they tell us to go to the Pepsi tent and they will take care of us there, including lunch and field passes. Field passes??!! We knew something good had to come out of our trip all the way up here! So we arrive at the Pepsi tent, and know absolutely NOBODY. Granted there were about 20 people sitting at the large round tables waiting for lunch, but we still felt out of place. As soon as we get under the tent we see Jason Avant leaving the tent; apparently we missed the autograph session. Oh well, lunch was ready and we had four hours to kill before the next practice. Sitting at our table, just the three of us, we start looking around at people and see that everyone has field passes and we start to wonder when and where do we get ours. I spot a guy with at least 30 around his neck and Carly, Jack and I are fighting over who is going to ask him for them. We voted Carly since she was yet to ask anybody where we were going and what our tickets were good for. She claims she has a fear of talking to people or something, and here she is a junior at Villanova with a communication major. I wonder how she is going to make out in the real world. Anywho, all of a sudden people are getting up and returning their field passes. Then we start saying, "Oh no, what if they were only good for the morning practice, what do we do?" What did we do? We sat there for two and a half hours under the Pepsi tent until we were the last people in the tent.Yes, we did that. Jack had about three Pepsi Max sodas in that time frame and was getting a bit jittery. Then a different man from the one who had the field passes comes up to us and asks if we are staying for the afternoon and what do you know, he gives us three passes! FINALLY!

Fast forwarding to later that afternoon, we get onto the field for what we didn't know was special teams only. If you ask me, I really don't care if it is a regular practice or special teams, I got field passes and stood one foot away from one of the best football teams in the NFL. Not to mention some of the best looking players in the NFL. So, here I am, a blond, 5'3", 22 year-old girl with a Brent Celek jersey on. I turned to Jack and said, "Is this real life?" This was amazing. After about two minutes I work up the guts to say hello to Celek and what comes out?..."Hey Brent!!"... his response, an awkward, "Helloooo.." Oh well, at least he looked at me, right? My next goal was to get Jason Avant to pass me the football during his catch his Leonard Weaver. Again, here I am at Eagles Training Camp, staring at Avant and Weaver pass the ball to each other right in front of me. I stood there for five minutes just watching the ball go from Avant to Weaver, Avant to Weaver. In my head I'm practicing what to say, "Hey Jason! Over here, pass me the ball, I'll catch it!" That never happened. But, this did happen: As we were being escorted off the field by Eagles employees, I finally worked up the guts to say hello to my new favorite player, rookie WR Riley Cooper. Yes, the tall, gorgeous, long-haired number 14. I said,"Hey Coop" and waved. He turned, looked, saw me waving, smiled, waved and WINKED! A perfect ending to a perfect day. So, when people ask me about training camp I tell them it was great and that me and Cooper are dating now.

Go Birds!

Philly Gets a Makeover

There is lots to talk about in Philly these days. The Phillies are seeing a whole different look this week with Polanco at second, Valdez at SS, Desperate Dobbs at third, Werth at center and phinally Rookie Dom Brown at right. With all the injuries haunting the team I wouldn't be surprised if I saw Howard in the outfield if another injury occurs. That's a little exaggeration, but I'm just sayin'! With all eyes on Brown since Victorino left Tuesday's game, the rookie sure made an impression on Philly with a double on his first major league at bat. I swear it brought tears to my eyes! Especially when he got a standing ovation! He'll fit right in in Philly if he continues to tear it up at the plate.

The Eagles are certainly seeing change this year! No McNabb, no Westbrook. The young guns are going to be the ones taking control of things this season. Not too many veterans are back but hey, this is the transitional season. I have faith in my young team and know things will be just fine. Let's just hope nobody gets in trouble...