Letter from the President
Should I pick all the favorites? Who is “Cinderella” this year? Is Syracuse for real? Who will beat Kentucky? Is it sac-religious to pick the team from Durham to go further in the tournament than my beloved Tar Heels (YES!)?
Facilities Management is “a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, processes and technology.” Complicated. Challenging. A new problem, and solution (!), everyday. As Facilities Managers, we are all great problem solvers and very little can we not figure out.
Except March Madness.
Who seriously picked Austin Peay in 87, Santa Clara in 93, Valparaiso in 98, or George Mason in 06? You are lying if you say you did.
Every year, we prepare as best as possible to ensure our buildings are in the top shape before the tournament starts – all praying a chiller doesn’t go down during the big upset. Last year, it was estimated $192 million dollars was lost in wages due to non-productivity during March Madness. But does that account for all the extra hard work we put into our buildings to prepare for this?
Collaboration is the word of the day, defined as “working together to achieve a goal.”
My March Madness strategy this year is all about Collaboration. I am going to work together with our Facilities team to ensure our buildings are in top shape. I am going to work together with them to ensure our buildings do not lose power, a chiller, and/or need special facilities attention during the big game. I am going to work together with our IT department to ensure cable is not lost and all the televisions work. And mostly, I am going to work with all the Gods above to ensure the Blue Devils get kicked out by the second round.
Enjoy March Madness, even if your chiller goes down. Go Heels.
