[Fredslist] Gotham Queens 1st Zoom meeting results

Thu Mar 19 12:31:08 EDT 2020

Good Day Gotham,

We had our 1st Zoom meeting this morning at Gotham Queens. It was great to hear AND See many faces which was a nice change of pace for many of us working from home and not getting out as much.
I can personally say that there are still many businesses open. In my world of Xerox, we are working remotely in the sales department, but we have our full staff of Internal Help Desk and on site Techs out in the field to help when in need. We are finding a large demand for lap tops and PC's that we can assist in getting as remote working rises. We have partnerships with HP, Dell, Lenovo and Acer to name a few and often turn around an order in a day or two.
Yes, getting new business has been a challenge for many of us but I believe the key for now is to just communicate that you are around and able to assist if needed.

A few highlights and pointers that may help your Zoom meeting (Thank you Mitch Tobol for your tutorial beforehand):

1.       Test the technology on your equipment before your meeting time. You can reach out to Mitch T. or just log onto the site and pre-load the application to ensure it is compatible with your device. We had a few members that could not get on the video but at least were able to dial in an be part of the meeting.

2.       Use the MUTE button when not talking. Nothing is worse than hearing background noise, which overtakes the conversation at hand. We had plenty of "self muters" (real word?) that really helped keep the lines clear.

3.       Having some structure helps. If you are running the meeting, keep a list of participants handy and mark each one that had a chance to talk as we went around the virtual table. This insured all had a chance to participate.

4.       Taking initial attendance also helps with the list even though you can see the participants on screen, I prefer to have it on paper too and can take notes as each speaks.

5.       We were on for about an hour and 15 minutes with 11 participants. That seemed to be enough time to get what we wanted to share across the group.

I think it was great having the ability to ride the circuit with no restrictions or cost to its members. What better way to check out a group and get to know what others do and share experiences especially in these irregular times.

I want to thank Shelly Simpson for being part of group this morning. Her Health Products may be the ticket to help build your immune system up. You should give her a call or email her today. simpson.shelley at gmail.com

Also present was Norm Spizz who unfortunately has seen a halt in the entertainment industry. He gave us a great tip if you can't find rubbing alcohol and you want to make your own sanitizer with aloe, try going to your local liquor store for some Spirtytus, which is 91% alcohol (not proof), strong enough to disinfect. He also mentioned Quill may still have toilet paper on line.

Corey B. gave a summary of the state of local government as well as the struggles of we are all facing. From simple things like socializing outside or having meals inside, we are adapting and figuring out the new norm together. He is always available to help with information or cutting through the red tape. Keep an eye on his posts as they are very useful.

Carolyn Weinstein from Commonpoint Queens was congratulated for passing her LCSW exam and is now a Licensed Social Worker.
She also mentioned a product called "Who Gives a Crap" which is recyclable toilet paper. I did notice it is sold out on their web site, but you can sign up for notifications when it comes back in stock.

Brad Scherer from Klerer Financial spoke on the crazy downward spiraling market and to invest wisely, not foolishly. Most of us are in this for the long term, so withdrawing your investments now may not be the best thing to do. Thinking long term, we should be OK.

Limor Brantz from TD Bank noted the recent "run" at the bank to pull large quantities of cash out. She reassured that banks and their ATM's are being reloaded daily and that there was no need to pull large amounts of cash out as all banks are Federally insured.  She recommends if you do pull out some cash, there is no need for more than $2,500. With the Fed dropping the Prime rates, short term lending is cheaper now, but not mortgages as much. She suggested to ask your bank for an increase in credit limits as well as an increase at ATM withdrawal limits. Her bank is open (with some more limited hours, so check with her) and she can assist in remote transactions.

Fred Morante from Minute Man Press is working at his store, but the doors are closed for walk in business. They will work on emailed and called in projects, so do keep using him for your printed and promotional needs. Just call before trying to go there.

Jose Villa is having a tough time getting his new Philadelphia Pretzel Factory store opened. He is ready to go, but the corporate office is slowing things down with the virus upon us. He is finding a challenge now with his recent new hires and not being able to offer them work (or pay) if the shutdown continues (yes our very own Carolyn Weinstein did place one of his employees for him, at no charge by the way). Stay tuned for the grand opening, hopefully in the near future (come on, it's take out only anyway...)

Our resident Pest Control expert, Matt Nowak from Ehrlich Pest Control is open and sending his crews on site as needed. He was concerned that stores or hotels that stop pest control now due to shutdowns, will have a larger problem later if an infestation occurs, delaying openings when things get back to normal. So keep up with your regularly scheduled pest control regardless if open or closed.  He also suggested the 25 Day Challenge which was posted on Fredslist earlier. Great and fun idea for a little distraction from all the news events.

Finally we had visits from Fred (in sunny Key West) and Nancy. We are in tough times right now, but this too shall pass.  If we band together and lean on each other for support, as we do anyway within Gotham, we will get through this difficult time. Utilizing these Zoom meetings will bring us together, even if not in person and we can all exchange ideas and support. Take advantage of the free Circuit Riding and participate in the weekly Corona Virus conference calls.

All in all, a great morning and glad to be part of it.

Stay safe,
Dan

Dan Schwartz
Sr. Account Executive
A Xerox Company, Carr Business Systems
500 Commack Road Suite 110
Commack, NY 11725
Tel. 631-501-6810 |Cell 917-415-7552
www.carrxerox.com<http://www.carrxerox.com/>
http://www.carrxerox.com/solutions/print-management/
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Ask me about our FREE PRINTER Program!

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