IT Talk Shows Power of TRSA Member Information-Sharing

Posted July 12, 2024 at 11:01 am

Evidence that TRSA members are sharing business experience on an unprecedented scale has abounded in recent weeks as Virtual Roundtables on Zoom capture a variety of perspectives on key issues in linen, uniform and facility services operations. These programs are building members’ networks of personal contacts with like interests, particularly colleagues with similar job functions.

The series continues on Tuesday, July 16, with a Maintenance Network roundtable (free to members, register here). This session follows a July 9 Information Technology (IT) Network gathering. Among other topics discussed in that talk, members recounted their experience regarding cybersecurity. Collectively, they cited more than a dozen examples of attacks and responses and shared strategies for employee training and systems protection to avoid these hazards.

The roundtables’ confidentiality policy facilitates open discussion. They’re not recorded. In opening the IT session, Dan Sanchez, TRSA IT Committee chair, noted the importance of confidentiality to all TRSA virtual roundtables. He likened the interaction to the historic ad campaign promoting Las Vegas. “You might have heard, ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ If you share what you hear here with anyone outside this discussion, please, no names, no places, no times. Share the lessons, not the details, especially not the identities,” said Sanchez, president, Sanchez Advisory Group.

Among other subjects covered during the IT roundtable:

Public wi-fi system use
Laundry-specific artificial intelligence (AI) applications
Generic business AI applications (personal assistant, search engine, note-taking)

Concepts presented in TRSA activities related to Maintenance will be among the drivers of conversation at the July 16 roundtable:

Maintenance Management Institute (MMI), now marking its 31^st anniversary, with the next session on Oct. 15-17 at Newark (NJ/NYC area) International Airport.
Maintenance Certificate Program; in-plant online training for techs and managers
Maintenance Manager Job Analysis documenting the frequency and importance of key tasks and skills
Previous webinar subjects including how to improve performance with better prevention, prediction and correction

On June 25, the General Managers Network Virtual Roundtable provided GMs with insights on managing their personal time. Much of the conversation focused on their role in recruiting and retaining talent to operate their facilities. Results were presented from the Network survey of GMs taken in recent weeks to identify five core areas of concern for GMs. These include: