Sooo...what now?!?!?!

Mark is tentatively scheduled to fly to Moscow on March 18th. The trip will be short (about three days) and a lot will need to be accomplished. In Moscow, Mark will officially sign his contract. He will also complete medical tests required for expats applying for a work visa in Russia. Mark will meet with a property management group to start the process of securing a place to live while in Moscow. The initial meeting with a tax representative will also take place. Russian tax laws are pretty straight forward, but it is always difficult to get those things straight in a new country, especially with a language barrier.

After Mark’s visit, the Organizing Committee will submit visa paperwork and he will receive an official work visa invitation. Upon receiving the invitation, Mark will have to go to a Russian Embassy to apply for his work visa. There are four embassies in the United States; one each in New York, Washington D.C., Seattle and San Francisco. Depending on when the invitation is received, Mark may fly to Seattle for this, or we will stop in San Francisco on the way to Southern California. It will take at least two days to complete the visa application process. Once everything has been submitted, it will take 6-8 weeks for the visa to be issued. Once the work visa is received, we will leave for Moscow. The Organizing Committee is shooting for us to be in Moscow mid-April/beginning of May. That is a fairly optimistic time line based on all that needs to occur between now and then. But, we’ll see.

Prior to this taking place, we have to wrap everything up in Boise. Mark’s last day at the Sheriff’s Office will be March 6^th. Danielle‘s last day at New Horizon will be March 23^rd. Our lease is up on April 1^st. Assuming everything is order, we will leave Boise and head to Southern California for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends prior to leaving for Moscow. The plan is to make a stop in the Bay Area, where Danielle has family. We will spend time with Danielle's family and potentially take care of visa stuff in San Francisco too. Mark will use the extra time between his last day of work and leaving Boise to get things packed up and moved into a storage unit. He will also travel to Moscow and take care of all of the visa requirements during this time.

What about the Girls?!?!?!

Anyone who knows us can tell you that we are hopelessly, and almost embarrassingly, attached to our two dogs, Suay and Crash. Once people have recovered from their initial surprise of us leaving, they ask about “the girls”. “What will you do without them?” Who will take care of them?” “They’ll be so sad if you leave them.”  Well, just so everyone can rest at ease, the first thing Mark checked, before even talking to Danielle about the move, was whether or not Suay and Crash will be able to accompany us to Russia.

It turns out; Russia has pretty lenient regulations in terms of importing pets. Russia requires one additional immunization to the locally required ones. They also require particular documentation of all immunizations and health records for the girls. Upon arrival in Moscow, the girls will have to pass through customs which requires very thorough documentation, translation and notarization of all customs documents. This can be particularly difficult with the language barrier. Fortunately, Mark was able to find a married couple in Russia who offer a service that assists expats in getting their pets into the country. The husband is the vet and the wife is the lawyer. Between the two of them, they can cover all of the requirements for getting pets into Russia. The vet does all of the doctor, immunization, health certificate “stuff” and the lawyer assists in processing all of the legal/customs documents. They provide this service for a nominal fee, but we would pay a lot more for the peace of mind it gives us knowing Suay and Crash can go with us and be taken care once we arrive.

At this point, it is still unclear if Suay and Crash will ride in the passenger cabin with us, or if they will be required to ride in the cargo area of the plane. The Russian couple offers tips and advice about this process and we are working closely with Suay and Crash’s vet in Boise to ensure the girls are taken care of. The determining factor will be the actual airline the international flight is booked on. Every airline has different policies and requirements for pets traveling in the cabin. Suay and Crash are small, but they’re not tiny. There are non-stop flights available out of Los Angeles. The non-stop flights are about twelve hours and the goal is to have the girls in the cabin for the flight. However, if the proper pet carrier can not be found that allows the girls enough room to be comfortable and still fit under the seat during the flight, the girls will be in the luggage area during the flight.

There are many out there that suggest the cargo/luggage area is better for dogs, as it allows them the opportunity to relax and sleep once the initial shock of the experience has passed. They argue that the constant activity and stimulation in the cabin may not allow a dog to fully relax. We want the girls to be in the cabin during the flight, mostly because we want to know the girls are safe and taken care of. Not knowing their condition during the flight, if they were in the cargo hold, would make for a long, stressful flight for us. However, we will consult with our vet to find out the best approach for the girls. The one thing that has been determined is that no sedatives will be given to the girls. Too many warnings from vets and too many reports of bad reactions drive this decision. The biggest risk when using a sedative on a dog during air travel is suffocation. This happens when the sedative relaxes the dog, and affects muscle control, to the point of laboring the dogs breathing. If the dog then falls asleep (or experiences any other complication during flight) there is a risk of suffocation. There is still a lot to figure out. However, regardless of the method of travel, the girls will be kept safe and they will not be orphaned or abandoned. :)

Logistics 101

Many people ask what Venue Logistics is when talking about Games. It’s not a short answer, but it is relatively simple. We’ll try and break it down. Games need venues. Venues need stuff. Logistics brings stuff. That is the simple part. Here’s the long part.

When most people hear logistics, they think supply chain logistics, freight forwarding, customs clearance and the like. This is still true when talking about Games time logistics, but it’s only one part of the overall Logistics animal. Material Logistics, as it is often called, is the overall functional area that consists of, purchasing/procurement, freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing and venue logistics. Items need to be ordered, shipped into the host country, stored in warehouses and then delivered and used at the venue level. Without any one of these all important areas, the logistics animal for Games would die.

Now that that has been covered, back to the question at hand. What is Venue Logistics? Each venue typically has a Venue Logistics Manager (VLM), an Assistant Venue Logistics Manager (AVLM) and a logistics crew. The VLM and AVLM are responsible for the logistics planning for their assigned venue, as well as the daily logistics operations on the venue. Planning consists of designing logistics compounds to fit within the physical plant (or an allotted area directly adjacent) of the venue; material handling equipment allocation (i.e.: forklifts, hand trucks, pallet jacks, etc); workforce planning; and Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E) allocation. FF&E is the term commonly given to “stuff”. FF&E is anything one might need to do their job on the venue. In part, tables, chairs, desks, lamps, cabinets, coat racks, sofas, sport equipment and countless other items fall into this category.

A VLM will meet with each Functional Area (FA) manager to capture their FF&E needs for their workspace during the Games. An FA could be Sport Management, Medical, Ticketing, Doping, Olympic Family (aka Dignitaries from competing nations), Security, Parking, Transport, Waste Management, Workforce Management, etc, etc, etc. There are too many FA’s assigned to each venue to list them all. Think of every FA that might be needed to put the games on and picture the workspace and areas they will populate during the games.

For example, the Sport Management manager may have six separate office/work spaces throughout the venue, in addition to the actual Field of Play (FOP) where competition takes place. In each of these areas, they will identify how many staff will work in each space, what FF&E will be needed, the move in date to the venue and their hours of operation. So, the Sports Venue Manager might say, I need 12 tables here, two desks there, 35 chairs here, 6 coat racks (it gets cold in Russia during the winter :) ), 8 file cabinets, 4 two door locking cabinets, two sofas, 12 PC’s, 20 phones, etc, etc. All of this data is captured in a database. This process is completed with every FA manager for the entire venue. The report then comes out that quantifies each piece of FF&E and where it will go. The bean counters get a hold of the numbers and tell us we’re over budget and we do the whole process over, and over again, paring down each manager’s wish list, until the needs of the venue team are met while being fiscally responsible. In the end, the report tells the VLM that 10,000 tables, 60,000 chairs, 15,000 desks, etc, are to be delivered to a particular venue. The FF&E is delivered to the venue and the logistics managers and crew are responsible for building out each space so each FA can move into their workspace, ready to work.

In addition to capturing the needs of the venue team, the VLM needs to reference multiple schedules for the venue to determine when each area  should be occupied. The VLM then determines how long before the start of the Games is needed to build out the venue. Of course, it’s not just the competition schedule that needs to be considered. The architectural drawings, venue build schedule, telecom cabling install, electrical cabling install, venue sweep and subsequent security lockdown and a host of other schedules need to be consulted to make sure the venue has what is needed. It doesn’t do any good to build the media area in the grand stands, if the necessary cabling and infrastructure is not in place to support the media’s needs, for example.

The VLM is also building their crew and creating daily Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). They have to determine delivery schedules, security screening areas, storage needs versus actual storage available. The venue has concessions, merchandise, ticketing, waste management and countless other resupply deliveries and pick-ups that need to be scheduled, screened and potentially stored on a daily basis. The delivery schedule falls under the scope of work for venue logistics and is managed daily by the VLM/AVLM. This process takes months to complete and is reworked again and again, until the venue’s needs are met and the schedules work on a global scale. Oh did we mention each venue is completing the same process. This means the schedules need to jive on your venue to accommodate the competition schedule; and the schedule can’t conflict with another venue’s schedule. After all, the same warehouse(s) supply and support all of the venues. Delivery resources can not be in 15 places at once. Because of this, some venues are 24 hour operations and some are non-stop with either competition or resupply from opening ceremonies to closing ceremonies.

As a Regional Logistics Manager, Mark will be responsible for the preliminary planning for all six venues in his assigned region, the Coastal Cluster. He will also oversee operations once each venue is staffed with appropriate logistics personnel. VLM’s will be hired, preliminary plans and schedules will be completed and ground work is set for a successful pass-down of information and details for each VLM once they are brought on board. Mark will be the direct supervisor of the VLM’s and AVLM’s in his region.

The Games begin in February 7, 2014. We will arrive in Russia with less than two years to get all of this completed. The Sochi 2014 website has a countdown to the games and it is already closing in on 700 days. www.sochi2014.com The funny thing about Games is the due date/deadline never changes. The whole world is ready for, and expecting, the Games to start and finish on a particular date. There are no extensions. There are no soft openings. There are no excuses. The best part is Logistics is at the heart of it all. The world is waiting and the world will be watching. We can’t wait!!!

It's Official!!!!

For those of you who don’t already know (which is probably most of you), after almost a year in the making, many sleepless nights and many emotional ups and downs, Mark has accepted a position to work for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. This was a very difficult decision that was not taken lightly, but in the end, we feel that this is what is best for us now, and for the future.

This probably comes as a big surprise to a lot of people, especially those who work with us. Mark is very passionate about working for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office and he loves what he does. He loves the people he works with even more. Danielle has been incredibly successful in everything she has done for New Horizon and otherwise. She loves the people she works with, both co-workers and the families at her center. She continues to build relationships with everyone she comes in contact with. However, this decision is bigger than just the two of us alone and there is a bigger picture in sight. So, regardless of how much we enjoy what we are doing, or how successful we are, there were other considerations. We are certain that this move will not only allow the opportunity for both of us to be fulfilled professionally and individually, but it will also allow us to grow as a couple.

Many may have questions about the kind of background that could lead to this opportunity and how such a huge change can be made. If you read the “About us” section, you should gain a better perspective of our background and how we are able, and willing, to make such a change. Many may think this is a huge risk and we definitely don’t deny that it could be. However, we have both stayed true to the idea that we can do whatever we choose to do and go wherever our hearts lead us. With this, there is inherent risk. However, we have always believed that denying an opportunity because something “may” go wrong, is not in and of itself a reason to not do something. We believe there are risks in every decision. All we try to do is make informed decisions, using all of the resources available to us, and try to do our best to set ourselves up for success. It is hard for some to embrace this philosophy, but at the root of everything; this is what we believe.