[Rear View]

Rolling Billboards Raise Breast Cancer Awareness

 Marketing-oriented PCOs routinely wrap their vehicles with advertising in an attempt to create rolling billboards that make their company appear larger than it is as technicians crisscross the city performing pest control services. Others raise their corporate profile by getting involved in various fund-raising and community service activities that benefit local charities and civic organizations.

George Pilkington, president of Universal Pest & Termite Control, Virginia Beach, Va., recently combined both approaches when his sister-in-law, Kelly, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. Although now on the road to recovery, he was so moved by her courage and tenacity that “after this journey we have chosen to wrap our company vehicles in a more productive fashion.” The result is Universal’s one-of-a-kind “Cancer Awareness” car that has generated significant media coverage for the $1.5 million company while raising public awareness about breast cancer, a disease that results in more than 40,000 deaths annually.

“Our Cancer Awareness car has been on CNN and local TV stations around the country,” said Vice President/Operations Manager Shawn Pilkington. Action Graphics, the company that designed and applied the wrap, generated the initial news coverage when they contacted a local reporter. “We didn’t realize it would generate this big of a response,” Shawn said. “It’s been pretty cool.” The company has two other wrapped vehicles currently on the road featuring a “Bug Safari” theme. Plans also are in the works for “We Will Never Forget” truck honoring America’s fallen heroes.

George Pilkington hopes the latest additions to Universal’s growing fleet of high-profile vehicles is as well received as the initial effort, which garnered extensive positive media coverage for the pest management industry while reinforcing the company’s values.

*******

EMPLOYEE EXCUSES: “I Was Kicked by a Deer!”

Every PCO has heard his or her fair share of excuses when it comes to why a service technician has missed work. As it turns out, however, in about 33 percent of the cases employees are actually fine. They’re just playing hooky.

According to CareerBuilder.com’s annual survey, 9 percent of workers who called in sick did so because they wanted to miss a meeting or avoid the wrath of a boss or colleague; 30 percent just needed some time to recharge; and 22 percent wanted to catch up on sleep or spend time with family or friends (11 percent).

Some of the more creative “real life” excuses employees used for missing work included:

• Employee hit a turkey while riding a bike.
• Employee said he had a heart attack early that morning, but that he was “all better now.”
• Employee’s dog was stressed out after a family reunion.
• Employee donated too much blood.
• Employee was kicked by a deer.
• Employee’s wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
• Employee didn’t want to lose the parking space in front of his house.
• Employee’s psychic told her to stay home.

Despite the wacky excuses employees sometimes come up with to justify their absence from work, Rosemary Haefner, vice president of HR at CareerBuilder.com, says it’s important to be flexible.

“More companies today are moving toward a Paid Time Off system,” she said, “giving employees more flexibility in how they categorize time away from the office. Employers are also expanding the definition of the sick day with 65 percent stating that they allow their team members to use sick days for mental health days.”

*******

The Nation’s Bugologist:
Who Do You Think It Is?

The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), thanks to the efforts of Vault Communications and the financial support of the industry, has become a “go-to” source for journalists eager to learn more about the structural pest control industry or secure a quote from an industry expert.

One of those industry experts was featured in a unique promotional mailing to hundreds of news outlets this spring that included several expertly preserved insects in a decorative box, along with a flier featuring a close-up photo of a licensed pest management professional with an intense look on his face holding a cockroach, along with the headline: “The Authority on Bugology.”

Vault Communications Account Manager Jessica Phelan said the mailing was an effort to continue to raise the profile of the pest management industry by providing ready access to a respected industry expert, someone with experience dealing with such high-profile news organizations at The Wall Street Journal, NBC’s Today Show, USA Today and WebMD.com.

Who is “The Authority on Bugology” (see photo above) and what was the name of the pest management company he once owned in North Carolina? If you think you know the answer to those two questions, send your response — along with your name, address and phone number — to Dan Moreland, Nation’s Bugologist Contest, 4020 Kinross Lakes Parkway, Richfield, OH 44286 or email your answers to dmoreland@giemedia.com. One randomly selected name from all of the correct entries will be selected on June 26. The winner will receive a copy of the Ninth Edition of the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control, along with a free registration to one of PCT’s upcoming Bed Bug Seminars.