CMM
Two
years ago Alcatel corporate headquarters decreed that all divisions would
become "CMM" compliant. CMM is designed to help organizations
improve their processes. CMM is similar to ISO-9000 which you many have
read about in Dilbert. The management of our division was told that we
had to reach level 2 certification in the spring and there was a mad scramble
to get everything up to snuff for our assessment. I volunteered to be
on one of the committees dedicated to improve a specific area of our process.
I also ended up being on the assessment team. Overall it was a good experience
although I did notice that at the end of the year when we still didn't
meet are sales numbers that a large number of people involved in the CMM
process were laid-off.
Tom's Lunch
For
the past few years Tom Chappell has been going to CSUN to get his B.S.
in Computer Science. Long ago Tom had gone to Georgia Tech and had gotten
within a few credits of graduating and then left school to come out the
L.A. and work at the House Ear Institute. He always planned on going back
to school but then he got married, started his own business, had a kid
and eventually 20 years had passed. We threw Tom a party at Ron's house
when he graduated
Malibu Lunch
We
don't actually work that far from Malibu but for some reason we almost
never go there for lunch. But, at least once a year we make a trip down
to Malibu because it really is nice there in the summer.
OmniVista Lunch
When
we finally got our latest release of OmniVista out the door in the fall
we had a lunch to celebrate the victory. I think that this was the first
celebration lunch that Alcatel paid for since 2000.
Jennifer
I
worked with Jennifer when I was on the CMM assessment team. She visited
my website and saw my photos of Alcatel employees and asked me why I didn't
have any pictures of her. So, now I have a set of pictures dedicated to
Jennifer. During one of our training sessions I learned that Jennifer
once worked gutting Salmon in Alaska. I will always think of her as the
fishgut girl.
Mijung's Lunch
This
fall we had another round of layoffs. This time, quite large, about 25
percent of the people at Calabasasl. I found this round of layoffs particularly
upsetting because a number of very good people, people who I always though
would be the last to go, were laid-off. Betty, Mijung and Dan were people
who were either in my group or had been in a group with me in the past
who were laidoff. We were going to have a lunch to celebrate Glenda's
birthday but it turned into more of a going away lunch for Mijung and
Dan.
Other Photos
These
are a few photos that I took over the last year. Mostly people in the
OmniVista group.