Social Media

As you know A&K has gone social! We have joined the masses and we have a Facebook page. You wonder what this has to do with selling railroad materials? If you have not already, we encourage you to “like” us and encourage your customers, vendors, and friends to “like” us as well. The way the web works this keeps us ranked higher with regard to search engine optimization. For example, right now when someone types in railroad materials in Google, A&K comes in first at the top of page one. Whoever is doing the search is more likely to choose the first option they see rather than choosing one from down the list, thus increasing sales.

Social media is a great way to promote your company. We are trying to stay ahead of the trend and use these things for the positive and to our benefit. For example, our website has recently been updated with a few customers’ testimonials which will give potential customers the confidence to also choose A&K, or reinforce the decision that they have made to choose A&K for their railroad materials needs.

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We are doing this as an incentive to reach our goal of 500 Facebook friends. Once we reach 500 friends, the next contest will be announced to win a new IPad. Everyone will have to check our Facebook page to see the progress going toward 500 friends and for details of the IPad contest.

Interesting Statistics

Just more proof as to why businesses should really be involved in social media, specifically Facebook. If it is being used by 1 in 13 people – that means it is being used by our target audience.

An article in Employee Benefit News entitled The Art of Social Media Success said, “Anyone can leverage the power of social media platforms to work for them and their business. It is particularly good for those working in small markets so that people can see what you look like and recognize you at events. That’s the goal when you’re marketing or networking, you create a buzz or awareness of yourself so that when you are at an event, people know a little bit about you. Because social media is such an increasing part of society, there is some danger in falling behind for those who are not on the bandwagon. As a way to reach out and build relationships with their clients, as a way of building a reputation and a brand for themselves, the Internet and the various social media tools are extremely powerful. If they’re not using at least some of these tools, they’re out there campaigning with one hand tied behind their back. People who are not using social media are shutting themselves off to a whole segment of the world.”

This is a powerful tool and is not a trend that is going away anytime soon. This is a tool that we can use to gain more business and we are going to be better for it.

College Scholarship

We are currently receiving applications for the A&K Scholarship Award. The initial $2,000 scholarship is for one year of school. If the scholarship recipient maintains a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, the scholarship may be extended on an annual basis for up to three consecutive years. The total value of the scholarship could be as much as $8,000.

The scholarship is available to the son or daughter of an A&K employee who is currently enrolled in a college or technical school or plans to do so this winter. The first priority will be given to students who graduated in 2011. The scholarship will be presented on the basis of financial need as well as academic achievement. If you would like to apply, please complete an application and return it to the attention of Rhonda Nicoloff no later than August 30, 2011.

Contact Information

A&K Summer Outing

The annual corporate summer family outing was held July 9th at Lagoon amusement park. The weather was perfect and the park was surprisingly not very crowded for mid-summer so everyone was able to experience a lot of rides with just a short wait. Besides a large variety of rides, Lagoon also has a water park and a Pioneer Village with many buildings and artifacts to explore and learn about life in days past. In the afternoon everyone gathered at a park pavilion for a group picnic. It was a good turn out and everyone had a lot of fun with family and friends.

Thank you to A&K for the outing and a big thank you to Shantell Higbee for all her efforts or organize this event to make it such a nice day for everyone.

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Welcome!

Welcome Joe Herrera to A&K. He is working at Corporate Headquarters as a Systems Administrator. Joe has worked in the computer industry for over 16 years with a bachelor’s degree and multiple computer certifications under his belt. During this time he has worked doing desktop support as well as network and systems administration. He recently worked at NXS Technologies as a computer consultant, working with multiple clients, taking care of all their computer and networking needs.

When Joe is not working he enjoys spending time with his wife Becky and four kids Zach – 12,Emma – 6, Sariah – 4, and Evelyn – 2.

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A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.

Employee News

Two summer BBQs were held at Corporate Headquarters in July. The first on July 8th was hosted by part of our Administration group including Allen, Cheryl, Denise, Jeff, Jeri, Lisa, and Lonnie. The menu was Brazilian style and included turkey, pork, roast beef, rice, salad, roasted pineapple, and vegetables with root beer floats for dessert. The second was on July 29th and was hosted by the other part of our Administration group including Abraham, Bruce, Chris, Cindy, Janet, Joe, Karen B., and Karen W. The menu was all-American with hamburgers, hot dogs, and a variety of wonderful salads. Dessert was cookies or fruit cobbler topped with ice cream. Everything was delicious!

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Vehicle Accident Information

As part of our Safety Program, all company vehicles should have an accident documentation kit. Several years ago these kits were sent out and were to be kept in the vehicle’s glove box or other storage area. The kits contained specific information detailing what to do in case of an accident including forms and a disposable camera. In the years since sending out the original kits, the camera’s have expired or have gone bad due to extreme temperatures in vehicles. It is time to replace the kits; however, replacing the cameras would be an unnecessary expense. Due to new technology now everyone that drives a company vehicle also has a cell phone with a camera feature readily available.

New kits will be sent out soon for all company vehicles. Kits will include instructions to follow, forms, pen, measuring tape, etc. Drivers should familiarize themselves with the instructions so that in the event on an accident you will be prepared to handle it quickly and properly.

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT

  1. Stay calm. Act as quickly as possible.
  2. Set reflectors, cones or flags.
  3. Assist any injured person. Don’t move them unless absolutely necessary.
  4. Call or have someone call the police but do not leave the scene yourself.
  5. Get names, addresses and license numbers of all persons involved including witnesses.
  6. Do not discuss the accident with other drivers or witnesses.
  7. Call or have someone call your supervisor. Follow company policy regarding accidents.
  8. Do not admit fault. Don’t sign anything or make any statements.
  9. Comply with all legal paperwork, such as accident reports. Get copies.
  10. Document the scene by taking at least 10 pictures. Take pictures from all sides, the general roadway, all vehicles involved, vehicle damage, weather conditions, and your cargo.

This would also be good information to put into your personal vehicle. It would be simple to make your own accident documentation kit. If you would like more information contact Cheryl Norton.

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Ways to Fortify Facebook Security

Users should visit their account settings to set who sees what. As Facebook becomes the window to the Web for its more than 750 million users, the security of the social network has never been a hotter topic. While it can be hard to make a Facebook account completely hack-proof, you can do a lot. Here are Facebook settings that you can check now:

Who can see what?

Your first stop should be your privacy settings, which you can get to under “Account” at the top right of any page. Here, make sure you’re using a set of custom settings. Click “Customize Settings” under the grid on that page to see who can see which parts of your Facebook Profile. Unless you use your Facebook account as a completely public page, every single one of these options should at least be set to “Friends Only”. From there, you can make each setting more specific, keeping your photos hidden from certain people, for example.

Place your friends in lists.

To make the previous tip more powerful, place your Facebook friends in lists. If you begin to define lists such as Co-workers, Best Friends, Family, etc., you can set each of your settings to be visible or not visible to a whole list of people. To do this, go to “Edit Friends” under the Account menu. Type in friends’ names to add them to a list. Then make sure that only your best friends, for example, can see the photos you post. Or make sure that your co-workers don’t see your status updates. You also can add a friend to a list as you accept their friend request.

Who can find you?

Facebook also allows you to set what people see if they’re not your friend. Under privacy settings, click “View Settings” under the “connecting on Facebook” setting at the top of the page. Here you can set what people see when they search for you on Facebook. Pay special attention to the bottom option, which allows you to set who can see what you “like” on Facebook. Many don’t realize that by default this option is set to show everyone what you like. Don’t want a future employer to know you “like” skipping class? This is a good thing to check.

Browse Facebook securely.

One of Facebook’s most vulnerable features is that much of your browsing is done without a secure connection to the website. Hackers have exploited this hole by accessing your personal information if you use Facebook on a public or unsecured Wi-Fi network. In your account settings, choose Account Security. There’s a check box there to enable secure browsing whenever possible. Check that. You’ll soon see that Facebook will use “https://” instead of “http://”. That’s how you know you’re more secure.

Who is logging in as you?

One of Facebook’s greatest security features is the ability to individually approve each computer or mobile device that logs into your account. You can name each computer you use Facebook with (work, home, laptop, iPhone, etc.). To turn this on, go to your account settings, click on “Account Security” and choose that you want an e-mail or text message when someone tries to log in from a computer that isn’t one you’ve approved. Here, you can also see all the open sessions of Facebook tied to your account. Someone logging in from five states away? Click “end activity”, and they’ll be stopped in their tracks.

Which apps know you?

As we have used Facebook over the years, each of us has amassed a list of applications that have access to our Facebook information. To see which apps have access to your Facebook information, go to your privacy settings and click edit under “Apps and Websites” at the bottom left of the page. On the next page, click edit settings next to “Apps you use”. Here, you’ll see a list of all the apps that have your information on file. Many of them are used for convenience, such as integration with popular photosharing apps or commenting services on news websites. But there are certainly some you could lose. Click the X next to any app you want to remove your information from.

Even your friends’ apps know you, too.

This one is even scarier. On the same app privacy page, check out the subhead that says “Info accessible through your friends”. You may not know it, but anything your friends can see on Facebook can also be seen by any app that your friends add on Facebook – including apps that you have no idea were ever given access. To disallow this, click on edit settings and uncheck all the boxes that allow you to choose what about you can be shared with apps that your friends add. Click save.

Who can post on your wall?

Facebook security has become a veritable cesspool of spam. Many of these spammy links are click-jacking schemes, which spread by posting links on a bunch of your friends’ walls. The only foolproof way to prevent these links from gumming up your own wall is to set it so that no one can post directly on your wall. Friends still can comment on your status messages, links and photos, but can’t leave you a public note. To change this setting go to the customize settings area under privacy. Then uncheck the “Enable” box where it allows friends to post on your wall.

A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.
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Copyright 2011 A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.