|
Message from the President:
The last week has been
tremendous! I am amazed on how many our crew members have returned after
the holidays to help us make progress on Celebrating the American Spirit and
tell the story of the IOWA to the American public. I am including the Organizational
Chart with this memo. Please feel free to bring up any comments,
suggestions, or concerns with the department head or committee chair.
On the horizon over the next week:
·
If you are a cruise ship aficionado, this would be a great week & weekend
to be aboard. We will be seeing the Golden Princess on Wednesday,
following by the Silver Spirit on Friday. The Costa Deliziosa will be in
on Saturday & Sunday along with the Sapphire Princess on Saturday. On
Monday, we will get to see the Queen Elizabeth III come to port.
Something I am personally excited to see.
·
We have ads in the South Bay Mailer, Grunion Gazette, and CBS Billboards that
are new and refreshing. They highlight the American Spirit! These
initiatives along with our aggressive online campaign are keeping us in front
of the regional audience.
·
Tommy Spencer is assuming many of the marketing duties as we go forward, with
Craig taking on the box office. Tommy is working on some local
partnerships with the travel & tourism to drum up some more traffic.
He is introducing a brand new e-consignment program that allows other travel
vendors to make a profit on our tickets while promoting us.
Over the next 6 months:
·
We are actively working on a 5 year comprehensive plan for fundraising,
marketing, and debt/expense management.
·
We are aggressively following travel trends and have found that Japan, China,
Mexico, and Europe will be larger feeder marketing over the next year. We
are working to translate our current brochures and information for these
guests.
·
We are reviewing the possibility of feeding content to our guests via mobile
devices. Mobile is approximately 35% of our current web traffic and we
expect that it will overtake PC traffic by year end.
· We are focusing on how to tell the story to our guests of the IOWA and bringing the human emotions alive during the visit.
· We are focusing on how to tell the story to our guests of the IOWA and bringing the human emotions alive during the visit.
·
We are working on crew recognition programs and transparency of the
organization.
|
______________________________________________________
BBQ
61
USS Iowa crew enjoyed a sunny and savory potluck lunch today. The
next scheduled lunchtime potluck will be on FRIDAY, 2/15/13. Go to:
sign up. (I hear rumors that
Jim Gordon may be bringing Tri-tip!) A
good time was had by all. Don’t
miss the next one! Thanks to all the
great helpers: Linda Ayers,
Chiquita MaGee, Glen Terry, Mary Ma-
Stoddard, and Lynda Maleta– not
to mention Robert Leon’s sauce!
** Crew spotlight **
The entire crew of the Battleship IOWA shares the same
Vision and Core Beliefs, but there are times when individual crewmembers take
that extra step to bring them to fruition. Tour Guide Hal Puritz works for AAA and saw an
opportunity to promote the IOWA by spearheading an effort to place a picture of
the IOWA on AAA’s Los Angeles street map. Through his efforts we will be
seeing the IOWA on the COVER of the AAA’s Los Angeles street map very shortly.
For those of you that do not know, it
was Tour Guide Barry Herlihy that
secured a Grant to assist us in developing a tour guide training program and
dedicated training room onboard the IOWA. We are currently drawing up
plans to utilize the Library located just aft of the our gift shop as our crew
classroom. There will be more to come on this in future bulletins.
Over the past couple of months, a group
of tour guides have helped their fellow crewmembers by researching and
developing material that will become the basis for a more formalized training
program for all new and existing crewmembers. Rich Abele, Jon Reed, Steve Nelson, Ron Rishagen and Milt Boudov have severed as a five person committee to accomplish
that task. We also need to thank Sue
Schmidt for her help with the recommended adjustments to the wardrobe
policy that will be a part of this committee’s overall recommendations to the
newly established Education Committee.
- Craig Post, Director of
Attractions and Programs
********************************************
Mike Dahl
purchased a new flag to replace the stern flag which was the incorrect size, as
well as being tattered and faded. Steve
Nelson and Jerry Johnson from
Tours each pitched in to help with the cost when they found out what Mike had
done.
Robert Aitchison donated 49 Cisco VOIP
telephones. These phones represent a huge cost savings for the ship.
(Each of these telephones would cost ~ $50.00 used, so that is
around $2500 worth of savings.)
Bob Watkins
provided green fleeces for the Security team to wear with the Cammo uniforms in
the cold weather, and also provided the trucking which enabled us to transport
the powder cans from China Lake to the ship. (Also a huge cost savings to the
ship)
-
David Canfield, VP IT & Security
/Policy
********************************************
I would like to recognize and thank Tour Volunteer Jon Reed for lending his Naval uniforms
for display along Iowa's tour route. Additionally, Jon has assisted our
staff with his knowledge and information on what type of Navy uniforms and
award ribbons were appropriate to display during Iowa's years of service.
Thank you to Tour Volunteer Kathy Meyer for lending her authentic model diorama of the
battleship Arizona Memorial. The model was used as part of Iowa's Pearl
Harbor, December 7th display in our 2nd Deck Museum during December and
January.
- Dave Way, Curator
********************************************
Thank you to
Jonathan Zastoupil and his uncle,
who dropped off boxes of tools for the Ship Operations Department.
I also want
to recognize Karen Clark and her
helper Stan Sato for going above and
beyond in their dedication to the painting needs on the USS Iowa. They often stay extra hours when they’re on a
roll. If you haven’t seen the historic
map they’ve been uncovering (along with other dedicated crew) in the Ward Room, you should check it out!
- Dan Pawloski, Ship Ops and Safety Manager
*******************************************
I would also
like to make a special acknowledgement to Joe Dawkins who brought us a dozen
cartons of beautiful Christmas cards that had been slated for the
dumpster. Next year, we will use them to
have a Christmas card writing campaign for the troops. They couldn’t go to a better use.
- Sue Schmidt, Volunteer Coordinator
“the” map 
Ship’s Painter Karen Clark and crew
member Ron Russik uncover a treasure.
FLAG UPDATE: I
have revisited the flags flown onboard Iowa topic to determine the correct flag
sizes, when flags are flown, and which ones are appropriate. Starting this
week, only the "Don't Treat on Me" Jack and the stern US / National
Ensign will be flown on a daily basis. Even though we are not a Commissioned
warship, (normally only commissioned warships are authorized to fly the normal
blue field, white starred Union Jack), we are flying the 1st Navy Jack as part
of the Secretary of Navy's recognition of the War on Terrorism issued in
2002. We believe this is still appropriate and acceptable, but are double
checking. The previous US / National Ensign flown on the stern was a custom
ordered size and much larger than is normally flown on a warship of this size.
The flag now flown is a standard and appropriate size for Iowa to fly. It
appears we will have to replace our flags about every 6 months due to
normal wear and tear.
We will no longer fly the large US and State flags from the
main mast on the weekends, unless perhaps for a special holiday or event.
There also could have been an issue with flying two American State's flags,
(which normally doesn't happen), one above the other one. We were flying
the State of Iowa's flag underneath California's, which may not have been
appropriate. Perhaps they should be flown side by side. I haven't
found any flag etiquette information addressing this situation so far.
The 4 port Iowa Radio Call sign flags were taken down
recently. They were simply beginning to fade and reap apart. We have
asked for price quotes for replacements, if we decide to fly them
again. The Museum staff will be reviewing if we should continue flying
the smaller starboard "Welcome aboard" flags as well.
|
Plus, there are two new flags that we
also have asked for price quotes on and would be appropriate for Iowa to
fly. There is a pennant flown for the Meritorious Unit Commendation
awards and also one for the Battle Efficiency "E" awards Iowa once
flew. These would be an attractive and accurate addition for Iowa to fly
on a daily basis. - Dave Way
ALERT: DO NOT COME TO THE SHIP IF
YOU ARE SICK. THANKS!
