San Mateo: WOW! Wednesday marked the first day of the real deal, actual Green House Calls. It was quite hectic around here, trying to keep track of inventory and whatnot, but in the end, this week has undoubtedly been a success. So far we have visited 51 homes! In addition, the phones are ringing off the hook. We are booked almost two weeks in advance already, which is a result of diligence and passion by managers and Energy Specialists alike. Team morale around here is high, and chemistry is only building. Next week, we will look for ways to perfect our check in and check out system, as well as begin with professional development. That about wraps up week one for San Mateo. Stay efficient Bay Area.-Daniel
Union City: This week in Union City we had our first real Green House Calls. All our Energy Specialists were super excited to go out into the field with their partners. Almost all of them came early to make sure they had enough time to check out all their stuff on the first day. They got right to organizing their measures and laying out their tools so we could do our first check out, and they seemed like pros already, making sure they had plenty of light bulbs, aerators and other supplies. Calvin and myself (Hannah,Union City LIFT) did a drop in on two of the first Green House Calls and both teams were doing really well. The appointment I dropped in on had a particularly tricky light fixture but the ES’s stayed calm and we figured it out after a bit of trial and error.
So far, we’ve had a few cancellations but otherwise appointments have been going pretty smoothly and the ESes love to come back and talk about how everything went. They get really excited when the client is friendly and seem to be handling any tough clients really well too.
Our city representative has been really helpful and we’re supposed to be getting a sign made too! We’re setting a tentative date for a torchiere swap that we should have finalized very soon. Then the city is going to do a press release on it and the fire department said they’d spread the word. So things seem to be running really well this first year at the Union City site!-Hannah
Fremont: This week in Fremont the Energy Specialists have been very diligent and are learning how it feels to be out in the work field. Also, the whole management staff in Fremont is learning how difficult it is to run a non-profit summer program. We are trying to get more sign-ups at the moment, but our Outreach Manager has been consistent in setting events so we are anticipating to receive a lot of referrals. And our Energy Specialists are also getting to know each other better and some are realizing what the real world is all about. Overall, the site is doing well and the Energy Specialists are gearing up for the weeks to come. -Arbaz
Berkeley: This week in Berkeley it was a short, but productive post-July-4 week. Our 4 teams, comprised of Ocean and Desiree (Team A), Corey and Waleena (Team B), Julion and Jesse (Team C), and finally Greg and Keisha (Team D), put in a hard few days of work and serviced over 30 clients’ homes! Along with our numerous and successful GHC appointments, the Berkeley site continued to reach out into the surrounding community by attending a local farmer’s market on Thursday afternoon. At the farmer’s market our Outreach Manager, Ross, signed up 10 people for potential GHCs as well as handed out a great deal of free GHC coupons to ensure that Rising Sun reaches as many Berkeley citizens as possible this summer. Everyone (most especially our Site Manager Tamera) is excited for our next week of work, during which time we will be servicing two University of California at Berkeley Co-op housing units, with each co-op containing approximately 70 rooms! That’s all for now! Please enjoy our newly uploaded pictures from the Berkeley site and look for more pictures soon!!-John
Emeryville/Albany: This short yet long week in Emeryville was a good one. The Energy Specialists are really starting to get the hang of Green House Calls. They are doing outreach on their own time and during down time. This team looks so dedicated to completing the goals for the summer. The Managers and some ES’s attended the Mustache & Beard Festival on 7/4/2011 in Albany and they got 40 sign ups! We established a daily measures take out so the inventory will be smoothly done. We finally got some music in our site. That’s awesome!-Ilana
Hayward: Week one in Hayward is going great! The ES’s are excited to be meeting new people and having different experiences when they come in at the end of the day. A group of the ES’s is always eager to help with confirmation calls and all are helping with referrals. This year residents are more enthusiastic about signing up their family and friends for a Green House Call. That’s not the only exciting part! The bond between the Hayward family is getting stronger! We are all starting to feel comfortable and starting to genuinely care about each other. The E’S are also doing a wonderful job on practicing the buddy system! They tend to really take care of their partner during their home assessments. This means that everybody is trying to have a safe summer but also a very fun one!-Isabela
San Leandro: This was the first week of Green House Calls at the San Leandro site. We had a full schedule with almost twelve house calls a day. Our teams work efficiently together and none of the Energy Specialists have issues with their partners. The site runs smoothly with teams performing three House Calls per day. In the rare event of a cancellation, we can count on our Energy Specialists’ large extended families to fill our vacancies. As a result, I predict our site is on track to take this year’s Green House Call competition. Despite our busy schedule, we managed to develop a more exciting version of Big Booty and plan a site field trip. We changed the title of the number one in the Big Booty game to Little Booty. The new order is Big Booty, Little Booty, Number 2, Number 3, etc. I recommend this variation if you want a more challenging game of Big Booty. After only two weeks of bonding, our site also decided to take a weekend trip together. This Sunday, we are all going to the Alameda County Fair for some more site togetherness. So until next week, this is Will Rich from the closest and most innovative site in the Bay!-Will Rich
Oakland: After the first week of Green House Calls, I am pleasantly surprised with our ES team! Not only did they learn all of the information we taught them about professionalism and energy efficiency, but they also think very well on their feet! Many of them have brought in tons of referrals that are quickly becoming appointments. Our teams all work very well together and our team atmosphere has continued throughout the week!
All in all, everything has been running smoothly. Our management team has learned from our earlier mishaps and do our duties efficiently everyday now! We worked around some early cancellations very well. Now we are working hard to have the most appointments in CYES! Go Oakland!-Chris
Richmond: Greetings from Richmond, California. This week Richmond Energy Specialists have been installing a lot of light bulbs and have been doing a lot of canvassing. They are really striving to take the city of Richmond into their hands to help people understand the concept of energy efficiency. Since we have a site contest to win a few gift cards, Energy Specialists have been rolling in a lot of referrals like waves on the bay. Our team is doing great!-Louis
Pleasanton: It seems everything is going well. The ES’s handled their first week of Green House Calls really well. Cancellations are an issue, especially for time killers for the Energy Specialists but it helps knowing that we are able to find little things here and there for them to do. Barely any mistakes were made. It seems everyone is grasping the information fairly well. And the team is really developing a sense of family. I love how more outgoing everyone is becoming! Maybe playing Big Booty really helps. Most of the Energy Specialists are really eager to be here and even show up 10-15 minutes early every day and jump right into work. They are being really proactive and I think that is very admirable. Our site is starting to get into the groove of things. Our site has a coffee machine and we each have been taking turns bringing stuff in. Also, our site manager had fresh locally produced fruit dropped off at our door. It was tasty and organic and amazing! It seems Pleasanton is really happy to have us here! TATA for now-Jazz
