Posts Tagged ‘Family’

Family Media for the Holidays

In: Technology

By: Steve Stanfill on Dec 22, 2010 at 8:33 am

While I don’t generally write about media (Libby does such a capable job of that!), I thought that with this season, many families would gather and enjoy media on their home theater together around a roaring fire and a popcorn bowl.  It has been uncharacteristically (read, bitterly) cold in southern Indiana, and with the slick roads, some of our usual Holiday traditions have had to take a back seat to the realities of the wind howling outside.  So here are a couple of family friendly recommendations for cold winter nights from your resident tech guy:

Lark Rise to Candleford–For want of a better way to describe it, this is British “Little House on the Prairie”.  This television series is set around two villages in late 18th-early 19th century England–one prosperous, one not.  Set around Candleford’s center of social and business activity (the Post Office), this is a wonderful set of characters with equal measure of comedy and drama. Casting, direction, script, and production are all top notch–typical of the BBC.  Most of the family will enjoy this, with the possible exception of very young children.

Au Revoir Les Enfants–Certainly the darkest film on this list, this is the story of friendship in a French boarding school between two young boys, one a French Catholic and the other a Jew during the tumultuous time of the Nazi occupation of France.  Subtitled, but very engaging for all but young children.  This film is based on true events that occurred in the life of the director.

The Greatest Game Ever Played–Based on a true events, this is the story of golfer Francis Quimet’s upset victory over the defending champion in the 1913 US Open golf tournament.  Depicts a different era of sportsmanship and tolerance, with the positive and negative implications there.  A great story of friendship and coming-of-age.

Joyeux Noel–This is the (true) story of the Christmas Eve cease-fire of 1914 in World War I, set somewhere in Belgium.  Accompanied by an exquisite musical score by Phillipe Rombi, this film is a masterpiece on any level other than technical production.  The story is so good, you hardly notice.  Subtitled, again suitable for all that are old enough to understand the implications of sworn enemies reaching across a “no-man’s land” to celebrate Christmas.

I wish you peace, love, and joy for you and your loved ones this special season.

Until next time….

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Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye…..

In: Customer Experience & Support

By: Bill Wright on Dec 16, 2010 at 7:00 am

I can’t believe this year has come and gone so quickly. And with the year coming to an end, so will my blog posting for the “Customer Experience / Support” section of this site.

The  idea for the New Year will be to combine the “Customer Experience / Support” with the “Culture” and “Education” sections and create the new “Voices of WOW!”  These new posting will be from the WOW! senior leadership team, giving you thier perspective and views of what is in the works for WOW!.  We would love to hear from you and find out what topics you would like to talk about as well.

Thank you to all that have contributed to the articles and to those of you that have responded!! I have had great time writing these articles and responded to our customers.

Have a very Happy and Safe Holiday Season!!!

Sincerely,

William Wright
CEO Customer Advocate
WOW! Internet, Cable and Phone

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Holiday Giving – The WOW! Way

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Dec 07, 2010 at 9:30 am

Imagine you are the married father of three growing teens and a toddler and you are the sole wage earner in your household.  You work two jobs to make ends meet.  Then within two weeks, your car quits, and both your washer and dryer give out.  The car alone is going to cost over $1000 for towing, parts and labor.  All this happens just before the holidays.

Then imagine you work for WOW!. 

Guess what? 

Your supervisor calls the garage who maintains the vehicles for their office, and the garage owner offers to repair the car for the cost of parts alone.  Your supervisor picks up the tab for towing.  Your teammates secretly hold a meeting and take up a collection.  Their money pays for the parts.  Then they find a replacement washer and dryer set in good working condition and buy it for you.  Finally, they purchase gift certificates and donate the rest of the collected cash toward food and gifts so your family can have a real reason to celebrate Christmas.

This is just one story, in one location, in one holiday season at WOW!.  These kinds of efforts go on all year long when a member of our WOW! family is faced with unexpected trauma and need. 

It’s called Leading with Courage.
It’s called Serving with Heart.
It’s called Celebrating the holidays with Grace

This year, like last year, there is more need than ever in our neighborhoods and our communities.  Please consider a few less stocking stuffers, or a more cost-effective Christmas meal and consider spending your savings on someone else.  You can touch the life of someone who has very little to celebrate this year.

I’ve quoted our CEO in this column before, but it’s appropriate to repeat it here:

“NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN GIVING.”

Happy Holidays from WOW!

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It is Tough All Over

In: Customer Experience & Support

By: Bill Wright on Dec 02, 2010 at 9:10 am

  It is that time of the year again where, not only does the cost of living go up, the cost of doing business goes up as well. In order to support our customers and deliver the best customer experience possible, some customers are experiencing a rate adjustment this year. We do understand that these are difficult times and many people are just getting by. We all do our best to stick to a budget, especially this time of year. At the same time, our loyal customers must realize that in order to provide the incredible service, you have grown to know from WOW!, rates from time to time will need to be adjusted.  When the station providers increase their rates, we must also in order to stay in business. Also, with the high demand for streaming video across the WOW! network, WOW! will have to invest in our technical network to ensure we deliver the quality and reliability our customers deserve.

  This is not something that WOW! enjoys doing but it is something that needs to be done in order to bring the service to you.  WOW! is always looking for the best balance of the needs of our customer with the very real cost of doing business.

  Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

In: Customer Experience & Support

By: Bill Wright on Nov 25, 2010 at 6:52 am

 I wanted to give a little bit of my “Customer Experience” I have had with WOW!.

 I have always known that WOW! was a place that gave back to the community and back to their employees but a few special memories stick out for me.

 I remember a call that came in from a customer that had been late on the payments and having a very hard time getting by. They were just trying to make some arrangements to pay the bill. I do understand that cable TV is not a privilege and you can do without it, in most cases but to some it is the only contact with the outside that they get. I remember hearing that for the holidays, all the person really wanted was new towels for the bathroom. That’s it!! That is all the person wanted was her bathroom to look nice with new towels in it. That really put things into perspective. And guess what happened? Those towels, she had been wantin,g showed up at the home and you will never guess where they came from. What a company!!!!!

  This Thanksgiving, WOW! was able to give 20+ families Thanksgiving dinner that they wouldn’t have been able to afford on their own. An Angel Tree has been set up in the lobby of the Call Center with the Holliday wishes of children. We can’t seem to keep the requests on the tree because the employees are buying and wrapping gifts for these children. 

  This is just part of what I am thankful for. Being a part of a team that when the going got tough, they got tougher.  Always giving and never asking anything in return.

  It’s that time of year when you are supposed to look back and think of the things you are most thankful for. Why does it have to be only once a year?  Why can’t we all take the time, everyday, to look at the things, and people, that we should be thankful for?

There are many things in life I am thankful for and I appreciate them all !!

 Every day, I am thankful that I got out of bed on my own. What are you thankful for?

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