Sep 22, 2005

Eye of the Storm

Being the lowest man on the totem poll in a meeting yesterday with the VPs and President, it was decided that I will make the trek down to Austin, TX to help with the logistics for the Hurricane.

Eric asked me why would the insurance companies send people down during the Hurricane. Well the answer is pretty simple. We want our people down there, close by, so once the Hurricane is over, our people are the first to respond, with direction, checks, and support. If we waited until after the Hurricane, we wouldn't be able to get into the area. Seems to work very well. Maybe we should send our plan to FEMA.

5 comments:

Eric Z said...

No, I did not ask Derek that question.

I asked why Derek was going down, not Farmers. I understand why an insurance company would be there. But since Derek is not an agent, nor a claim rep, I was wondering why he himself would be down there.

dzahn07 said...

Eric, you did ask why I was going there, and then I told you that I am part of the leadership team making headquarters in Austin. You then asked why WE were traveling during the storm to Austin. Pretty easy answer if you ask me. What do I do? Where do I work. Who is more important right now, the Agent or Claims Department. The Agent isn't going to do dick. The Claim Rep is powerless without their support team. Who is going to negotiate all the contracts with the local hotels, body shops, lumber yards, car rental agencies, and contractors. Your agent? Your claim rep? No. It will be us doing all of that. Is this what I normally do for a living? No. But when our resources are stretched so thin because of Katrina and now Rita, you tend to chip in to make sure your company shines during a time like this.

And Slammer, how come you aren't coming down. Could you use your sheet writing abilities and survival skills in the next week or two.

Eric Z said...

Derek, you missed the point of my SECOND question - the key word being "during".

If your company is planning this since, oh, Tuesday, then it would be logical for the team to be down there NOW setting up shop...

instead of driving down on Sunday when all the computer models predict that Rita will be making landfall at that time.

That's all.

And what about all your phone calls on Sunday morning? Will you be answering your phone? (I know, trivial at this time...)

dzahn07 said...

Email me your picks and use the Stardust.

dzahn07 said...

Where do you want the CRs and the Leadership team set up? The path of the hurricane has changed several times so far. So we camp out in Dallas, and then travel to Austin or now to Beaumont depending on where it hits.