FEBRUARY 2017 • Volume 13 • Issue 2 7 BY JOSEPH SCLAFANI Owner, SERVPRO, Northeast Queens When disaster strikes, property owners need to make a lot of decisions quickly and under pressure. Effective disaster remediation involves a lot of moving parts: remediation specialists, insurance companies, local codes, state codes, documentation and more—and all of this has to happen in an atmosphere charged with emotion and stress. Efficiency is key when you are dealing with disaster remediation; it saves our customers money and it makes our work more effective. SERVPRO is an industry leader in work efficiency technology—continually innovating to help both our customers and our business control costs. SERVPRO’s proprietary DryBook™ tool is one example of our company’s focus on efficiency and cost control. Remediation projects must be managed PROPERTY RESTORATION CAN BE A MESSY BUSINESS to both industry and insurance company standards, and I would say that tools like DryBook™ help SERVPRO Franchise technicians track and document progress on restoration, cleanup and repair services. The DryBook™ tool helps us deliver on every detail of every water damage job, every time. To help avoid regulatory headaches and paperwork pitfalls, I suggest that property owners consider the following criteria when choosing a remediation company to deal with the aftermath of a disaster: 1. Industry standards: Does your remediation company deliver a product that meets the standards set by: • The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC)? • Most major insurance companies, including cycle times and deadline requirements? 2. Recordkeeping: Does your remediation company have a system in place to ensure accurate, complete and convenient benchmarking of each step of the remediation process, including: • Capturing and updating data, including job diary notes, electronically and real-time on the jobsite, with simultaneous updates saved at the central office? • Using e-signatures to help eliminate lost paperwork and the need to scan documents? • Providing a complete record of the damage and remediation efforts in images, with descriptions, start-to-finish? 3. Equipment selection: Does your contractor have the ability, on-the-spot, to: • Identify the right equipment for the job, based on the damage description? • Validate the use of each piece of equipment, automatically, as part of the remediation records? SERVPRO Franchise Professionals specialize in disaster restoration, cleanup and repair services, helping to remediate damage, making it “like it never even happened,” for both commercial and residential customers. For more information on SERVPRO of Northeast Queens, please contact Joseph Sclafani at (718) 224-6161 or [email protected]. For more information about SERVPRO, please visit www.servpronortheastqueens.com. YOUR CHILD'S NYC STREET SMARTS ARE A STUDY BY MARIEL TAVAKOLI, Creative Content Manager PINC International It’s more than natural that a parent constantly fears for the safety of his or her child, and this only increases as they travel farther away from home. When your child chooses to study abroad, this might seem like the final test of your nerves. However, the trials and tribulations of raising a New York City kid were already half of the battle. Staying safe in almost any destination overseas is actually quite similar to staying safe in one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world. Whether you intended it or not, by teaching your child the ropes of navigating New York City, you’ve already given them a giant advantage when it comes to using their street smarts to stay safe abroad. While other cities might have more modern, timely, and clean public transportation, the New York City MTA network is highly complex and strikes fear in almost any tourist to the Big Apple. Since your child has likely been on the subway or buses since their early years, they’ll feel right at home looking at a transportation map, even if it’s in a foreign language. Plus, after losing all cell service during a journey underground in NYC, navigating trains that provide free WiFi in many international cities will almost feel too easy. Planning ahead with apps, such as Google Maps, Moovit, or the more limited CityMapper, is always advised, but soon enough, your child will be guiding their friends through their study abroad destination. Just as your child has also grown up to feel that sense of shame when they hold up the line by not swiping their Metrocard at the precise speed, they also have grown up with the street smarts to blend into any destination. NYC natives are smart and develop a sense of awareness that allows them to adapt and fit into different environments—from Brooklyn to the Bronx or even from Long Island City to Corona. Most importantly, your child’s knowledge of how not to look like a tourist at all costs will take them far as a student abroad. In NYC , it’s all about attitude, so if your child walks with purpose, keeps their head up, their phone away, and maintains a confident gaze, they’ll already be in great shape in any international city. Queens’ locals have even more of the street smarts to navigate any foreign destination. After growing up in the most diverse location on earth, children from Queens will have no problem reading signs in different languages, engaging with people from different cultures, and enjoying food from different places around the world. Queens native Lisette Miranda, who is CEO and founder of the study abroad program PINC International affirms, “Being born and bred in Queens has been my biggest advantage while traveling. We grow up with a gut intuition that comes in the form of our ‘sixth sense.’ Hearing and seeing signs in other languages didn't make me uncomfortable, and while traveling, the smells of local foods easily transported me to friends’ homes or various neighborhoods in my beloved Queens.” Every study abroad adventure presents a challenge to confront an unfamiliar place. Yet, NYC children are more likely to already have that “sixth sense” to avoid dangerous parts of town, guard their belongings on the street and subway, and interact smartly with a wide array of humanity on a daily basis. Your child’s education has undoubtedly prepared them to succeed as a study abroad student in the classroom; however, their cosmopolitan upbringing is what will help them to stay safe as they travel and experience all the great things a study abroad opportunity has to offer. It’s alright to be a little worried as you send your child off, but have confidence in their NYC street smarts to guide them on their journey. ABROAD ADVANTAGE Queens native, Lisette Miranda, and PINC International study abroad students celebrate the end of a successful summer in Spain
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