03/14/2008: DDS Supports South Mississippi Special Olympics
Simple offer of employee participation balloons into sector rivalry to benefit annual event.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008, 4:00 PM
To: State and National Media
Diamond Data Systems, Inc. Inter-Company Rivalry Supports South Mississippi Special Olympics
New Orleans – March 14, 2008 – Diamond Data Systems has been abuzz lately about the Olympics. No, not the one being held in Beijing, China this summer, but rather, the South Mississippi Special Olympics being held on Saturday, March 29th, 2008; an annual event at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis.
What started out as just a simple inter-office e-mail announcement about the upcoming Special Olympics event, offering employees a chance to either sponsor an athlete or volunteer for the event, has really ballooned into a friendly rivalry of sorts within two sectors of the company.
“Our company is divided into two main sectors: one, Federal (FedSec), and the other, Commercial, State and Local (CommSec); depending on the type of client we provide services to, said Rick Gremillion, Diamond Data’s President. Initially, I challenged our employees by stating I would match any individual employee’s $20 contribution to sponsor an athlete for the South Mississippi Special Olympics.”
The next thing you know, Keith Alphonso and Brett Camet, two DDS Federal Sector Directors said they were willing to match any FedSec employee’s sponsorships as well. Up to the challenge, Gremillion next offered to match any FedSec or CommSec employee’s sponsorships if they exceeded $250 and offered to allow the person who makes the largest individual donation to shave his head at the company’s next “All Hands” quarterly meeting.. This continued to escalate when Alphonso, a Director at the Mississippi office, next offered to have his head shaved in front of the office at the Stennis Space Center if the FedSec group itself ponied up more than $500 for the Special Olympics. Well, a number of his colleagues immediately responded to his challenge with donations being offered at a record pace, far exceeding the initial $500 goal.
John Craft, a DDS consultant was first to throw down the gauntlet: “In what can only be called a foolish bet on Keith's part, I hereby start the bid and challenge the rest of FedSec to help Keith's head get some air.” From this initial response to the challenge, it went on and on in one email after another around the company. “Here’s mine! Keith, you can kiss your hair goodbye!” exclaimed Paul Williams in another email, a manager at DDS-Mississippi.
“I suppose I let my emotions get in the way of good judgment, but it’s all for a good cause,” Alphonso said. To propel CommSec’s motivation, Camet, who works at DDS’ New Orleans headquarters offered to have his hair cut also if the Commercial Sector’s donations surpassed Federal’s, though conscious of what the upset would mean. Diamond Data’s CEO, Joey Auer, however, “wants to retain the little hair he still has”, but has also offered to match all employee’s donations to the event. “We have great employees and I’m especially proud of how our people are stepping up for such a great cause as the Special Olympics,” Auer said.
About The Special Olympics
The Special Olympics movement includes more than 2.25 million athletes with intellectual disabilities who train and compete in 30 sports through more than 200 programs in more than 160 countries around the world. To make donations to South Mississippi Special Olympics or to get more information go to: http://specialolympics.goldinc.com
About Diamond Data Systems
Diamond Data Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of high value IT solutions that include IT strategy, software engineering, network infrastructure design, information assurance, IT contracting and IT outsourcing. DDS’ Mississippi office, located at the NASA’s Stennis Space Center, delivers solutions to a number of DoD and other federal government agencies located at the Center. DDS was recently honored as one of the “Best Places to Work” and has also won the “2007 eWard for Innovative Use of Technology,” the 2007 Bronze Award for “Innovator of the Year,” and the inaugural “2006 SMB 20 Award for Small Business Innovation” from national publication PC Magazine. DDS is headquartered in New Orleans, LA., and found on the web at: http://www.diamonddata.com.
CONTACT: Joe Berry, Media Relations, 5732 Salmen Street, Suite C, New Orleans, LA 70123, Toll-free: 800-218-9009
