X-Message-Number: 18371
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 14:59:02 -0700
From: Jessica  Lemler Sikes <>
Subject: This Week at Alcor!

The following can also be viewed on our website at  http://www.alcor.org

Week of January 14 through 20, 2001

...........................................................

Mike Perry, PhD., Patient Care Assistant 

    This week I worked on projects relating to the magazine, getting
references and revising the text of a book review, and working on the "Tech
News" and "For the Record" columns. We had a visitor here Monday who is
offering some marketing services we are considering. He is also trying to
get some old films copied for a relative of one of our patients, a task
that is proving harder than it seemed, and one which I am coordinating. He
hinted about the possibility of doing a marketing survey among certain
groups of people, to find out how they viewed our services, and I thought
about this and presented an idea at Tuesday's staff meeting. It would be to
do a series of question and answer sessions with certain individuals. These
would be non-cryonicists but who might be persuaded to consider the option
if it were suitably presented. We could find out their reasons for not
signing up and see if we could meet the objections. (For example, simple
misinformation would be one problem we could deal with easily, though I
think most of the time we won't be that lucky.)  We have a received some
generous donations specifically for marketing; this might be a good use of
some of that budget. I expect the cost would be modest relative to other
marketing-related expenses. In another development we were contacted on
Wednesday about a last-minute case: someone's relative had just died. (I
took the initial call, then passed it to Dr. Lemler.) The deceased was not
a member but allegedly funds were available. In the end, in view of the
time lapse since death (over 12 hours, diminishing the likely utility of
certain procedures Alcor uses) the caller was referred to another
organization.


......................................................

Dr. Jerry Lemler, President, CEO

    Planning and preparation for major conferences dominated the landscape
at Alcor this past week.  As many of you know, Alcor benefactor and member,
Bill Faloon is forming a new cryotransport company in South Florida, and
has invited cryonicists of all stripes to an introductory meeting on
Saturday, February 16.  Bill has also extended me an invitation to spend
the week leading up the the kickoff meeting with him and the principals of
this nascent operation, to provide logistical and tactical support on
matters of site and staff selection.  So, I'll be in the sunshine state (a
great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to vote there) for the Cryofeast
sponsored by Rudi Hoffman on Sunday, February 10, and then drive down to
Ft. Lauderdale the following day.  I'll be joined mid-week by Alcor
Treasurer and Board Member, Michael Riskin.  I surely do appreciate
Michael's solid number crunching abilities, and his conviviality is a real
bonus!
    Alcor's next major conference is taking shape.  We'll be convening in
Newport Beach, California, on November 15-18, at the Newport Beach Marriott
Hotel and Tennis Club.  Thanks go to Conference Committee Chairman Dr.
Ralph Merkle for landing such an outstanding venue.  We're now in the
process of lining up presenters for this affair, and appropriate
announcements will be forthcoming shortly.
    Finally, following mutual complimentary Cryonet postings, Bob Ettinger
and I have opened a personal communications dialogue.  We have been joined
by ACS President Edgar Swank, the end result of which has been an
acceptance of my call for a CryoSummit this summer in Michigan involving
all three (and possibly a fourth) of our organizations sending delegations
to convene in discussing a mutually prepared agenda, hopefully resulting in
the formation of alliances to strengthen our individual organizations as
well as the cryonics movement as a whole.

........................................................

Jessica Lemler Sikes, Administrative Associate/Webmaster

    This week I attended the marketing meeting and offered what I could
with regards to the website end of our marketing plan.  My notary seal and
journal arrived (finally!), so I was able to do my first notarizations this
week.  I also worked on the minutes from the Executive Session of the Board
on January 10th, cleaned up some pages on the website, and compiled an
infamous red book (patient information book) on our member who was lost in
the World Trade Center on September 11th.  I, too, had some computer
problems early in the week, but these have been resolved.


.......................................................

Paula Lemler, Volunteer

    Last week I was still working on the data entry for the 2001 deposits,
which is tedious and time consuming.  Additionally there are always the
usual bills to pay and receipts to file.  The end of the year brings a
flurry of details in the accounting department!  This week I completed the
2001 deposits!  What a relief!  And the mail brings in more bills, so as
usual, more checks to write.     
    This volunteer's work is never finished.  Isn't it good that I enjoy
working with the Alcor staff and for a worthy cause?!
 
.........................................................

Hugh Hixon, Facilities Engineer

    Friday, continue news interview.  Curse computer.  Layout of
neuroperfusion box.
    Monday, some layout of neuroperfusion box control box.  Cut part of
trial tubing set for the perfusion box. 
    Tuesday; our surgeon came in and looked at the head holder arrangement
for the perfusion box; back to the drawing board for that part.  Staff
meeting and administrative stuff.  Weld my swivel chair back together.
    Wednesday, administrative stuff.  Some Web research.  Design and start
building a tubing circuit to test OR data collection. 
    Thursday, continue with test tubing circuit, start organizing for test
run. Accept security system installation.  Shopping.  Bank run.  Various
e-mail. Set date for OR data collection test.

............................................................

Joe Hovey, Accounting Manager

    Finished the 1st quarter billing over the weekend. The biggest billing
to date.  Close to $40,000. Rest of the week was spent on preparing for the
tax season.  1099 s have to be submitted and donation/dues letters prepared
for all members and donors. This will tie me up for the rest of the month.
This all has to be done while keeping the regular bookkeeping up to date.
January is the worst month for me.

    If it sounds like I am whining too much, I am. If it sounds like I am
complaining about the workload, I am. Still and all I would rather be here
in this job than anywhere else.

.............................................................

Mathew Sullivan, Facility Operations Manager

Facility Operations:
    The bulk of my effort over the past week has been to help resolve
issues on nine computers.  I have installed new hardware and software,
troubleshot problems, network issues, installed updates and patches.  Made
a couple trips out shopping for computer supplies. 
    I made arrangements for Alcor's phone system to have caller ID. 
    Attended a marketing meeting where a company is proposing help us in
various areas including website upgrades.
    I spent a little time on the 2001 digital logbook.

..............................................................

Jennifer Chapman, Membership Administrator
  Customer service
    This week I processed six applications, although most of these were
received prior to the holiday break, which created a slight backlog in my
workload.  I also finalized two memberships and performed various paperwork
and funding reviews for both applicants and members.  
  Contact information
    It is very important for Alcor to have the most updated contact
information for our clients.  Any changes in phone and fax numbers (even if
it is just the area code), as well as email and postal addresses should be
immediately reported to Alcor () to ensure reliable
communication.  This will benefit my efficiency by minimizing the amount of
time spent researching this information. 
  Marketing\Website
    Over the last few days I have devoted quite a bit of time to
researching options for improving our website.  This research was prompted
after engaging in various meetings with a marketing professional who is
composing a proposal for Alcor. 
Wealth preservation
I engaged in a very informative discussion with Phil Herbert (724-482-2532
\ ) regarding the wealth preservation trust and financial
services he can offer to our clients and hope to schedule further
correspondence regarding this very important aspect of Alcor s membership
program.  
  Mailing

    With the assistance of Jerry Searcy, a mailing was coordinated for the
upcoming party and business gathering to be held in Florida.  Interested
participants can contact Rudi Hoffman (1 800 749 3773) for further details. 
  Visitors
    It was my pleasure to meet with a group of visitors yesterday and
answer general membership questions.  I imagine that corresponding with our
staff, touring our facility, and reading  Alcor Life Extension Foundation:
An Introduction  makes for an interesting afternoon! 

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