Gem City Feis

This is a belated post I forgot to publish regarding Abby's performance at the Gem City Feis in Dayton, OH last weekend. She took home another 3rd place finish (and a nice big gem-sized trophy). That's her fourth straight top three finish. Nice job Abby - and good preparation for the annual Mid-American Region Oireachtas competition in Chicago, IL next month.

Industry Awards Dinner

Last week I had the honor of attending the Logistics Management magazine Quest for Quality awards dinner with some of my colleagues last week in Philadelphia, PA. Four YRC Worldwide companies received awards this year from the readers of this trade publication. This is pretty much the preeminent award in our industry, so it was nice to see YRC Worldwide, Holland, Reddaway and New Penn all receiving awards. After the awards were presented, we were entertained by Bill Herz who was a fabulous magician/comedian act. He did some pretty amazing stuff. The next day I spent working with the New Penn management team in Lebanon, PA. As always, great to get out and about; but also good to return home again.

Hockey at "The Q"

Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs played an exhibition game this evening against Winterhurst at Quicken Loans Arena, otherwise known as "The Q." The game preceded the home opening game for the Lake Erie Monsters. It was really cool for the kids to get dressed in The Q's lockers rooms, walk the runways to the ice, and then skate on the professional ice. Unfortunately the Mustangs lost to the Warriors 3-2; and the Monsters lost to the Heat 2-1. But it was still a great time for all the kids and families. Here are a few video highlights mom was able to take with her camera.

Abby Takes Third at Pittsburgh Halloween Feis

Today Abby danced at the Pittsburgh Halloween Feis in Pittsburgh. Like last year, she was able to wear a Halloween costume while she danced in the competition. While she did not finish first place like she did in the past two Feis, she did bring home a solid third place finish (she also finished with a second place in her "set dance" competition). Nice job Abby!

Andrew Scores Goal, adds Two Assists

Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs had two preseason hockey games today. The first game was their first lost of the preseason, a 3-6 loss to Winterhurst. Andrew had a few solid shifts towards the end of the game, but ended up with a +/- of negative 3 (+/- is the net of goals scored for/against while a player is on the ice). He made amends in the second game, however, by scoring a goal and assisting two more goals. He tied with one other player for the game with a +/- of plus 4. They won the second game 7-1 against Geauga putting their preseason record at 3-1. Unfortunately, since dad is the stat keeper, and since mom and Abby were at a feis today, there is no video footage. The Strongsville Mustangs next game will be a scrimmage against Winterhurst this Friday at The Q before the Lake Erie Monsters home opener. That should be pretty cool!

Homecoming Dance

Tonight was Abby's second Homecoming Dance. Just like last year, she went to Homecoming with a bunch of her friends (instead of a boy ... hurray!). Mom took plenty of pictures. Here are the highlights (at least leading up to the dance).

New YRC Promotion

Just launched our next big YRC promotion. We are calling this VIP 2.0 internally because it is a new and improved version of something we did earlier this year. It's basically a program that is meant to build partnerships with our customers by creating a win-win scenario where the customer can receive rebates, or money-back, if they ship over a certain amount during the promotional time period. The improvements include a new website where customers enroll into the program, weekly progress emails to let them know where they are at, and tracking tools for our sales executives as well. On a related note, YRC Worldwide is going through more oganizational changes. Our Chief Marketing Officer lef the company last week and we have new presidents at YRC and Holland. It will be interesting to see where our Marketing function goes from here as well (hopefully in a good direction for me!). More to come.