Shout-Out: Cheers To Our FSO Rockstars

"Her smiling personality and professionalism is always shining. She is willing to take the extra step to assist greets our guests and our employees.”

Good Morning Folks,

Hearing feedback about some of the AWESOME ways our motivated, team oriented, passionate people support our clients is one of the joys of my position.

I'd like to share some of my favorite kudos received in letters and emails so far this year:

From The World's Largest Advertising Companies, NYC
Re: Manny & Nicolle 
"Great job to Manny and Nicolle for doing such a great job in helping during the Creative Boot Camp event. They were both very involved, engaged and delivered exceptional services and assistance."

Re: Marcos
"A huge thank you to Marcos for springing into action during an emergency situation at the client site. Someone fell and was injured on site and Marcos immediately assisted, bandaging the person’s knee and even staying with them until the ambulance arrived. HE is truly an example of the “All Hands In” philosophy."

From Our AMLAW 200 Clients
Re: Clemencia, Stephen & Demetrius  –Boston
"These three awesome employees go above and beyond the call of duty for me when there is a request or issue while always being professional, efficient and friendly."

Re: Lisa & Team – Hartford
"Great job to the team for their support and great job in support of a meeting at the client site. The team's efficiency allowed for the training session to run very smoothly."

Re: Office Services – Boston
"Just wanted to send along a belated but sincere thank you for helping me last week with my VERY last minute request to create spiral bound presentations for a meeting 'in 15 minutes'. I apologize for the urgency of the request but appreciate the team getting this done -- with a smile no less. Great job team!!!"

Re: Marcus – Dallas
"Kudos to Marcus for taking the initiative and assisting in unpacking and setting someone’s new Varidesk. Marcus is always upbeat and shows a 
wonderful demeanor while delivering services."

Re: Pat – Boston)
Congratulations to Pat Murphy for winning the Site Manager of the Year 2016.

At One Of The Big Four Mobile Communications Companies 
To: Mariel, Musa, Terence & Ashton – Bellevue
"Great job to the team for going above and beyond on a high visibility project at the client site. Not only did they stay late the day before to set up but also step in the day of the event and ensured everything went off without a hitch."

To: Terence – Bellevue
"Kudos to Terence for his great communication skills to the customer and he tireless work in making the impossible almost always possible."

 

From A Healthcare Leader
To: Martin – California Laboratory 
"Marty does a wonderful job and goes above and beyond. Last week, there were a few times where shipments came in late, and he focused on getting the job done before going on his lunch. He ended up taking lunch almost 2 hours late! He told me didn’t mind, he just wanted to do a good job! He is very committed to his job and I am very grateful to have him as a part of my team!"

To: Claire – California Laboratory 
"Claire works hard to complete all tasks assigned to her! She has the skip, fire, and twinkle that FSO looks for! Since moving up to this position, she has been amazing, and I don’t know what I would do without her!"

To: Yang  & Li Y – California Laboratory 
"Yang & Li work hard every day to fulfil the demands for end users. Even with little notice, they are able to prepare plates everyone. They do the best that they can to uphold the level of customer service that FSO is proud of!"

 From Our Wall Street / Financial Services Clients

To: Orelbi – International Bank
"Orelbi consistently provides great service to the client, exemplifying our company standards and qualities."

To: Janessa –  Big 8 Accounting Firm, Chicago
"Awesome job to Danielle for her attention to detail and noticing a duplicate lunch order. Her great customer service and quick response is truly appreciated."

To: Jonathan & The Team –  Financial Services
"Great job to Jonathan and his team for being so efficient during a client event. They all went above and being as always and the success of the event could not have been possible with them."

To: Kelly – Financial Services
"Extremely grateful to Kelly for all she does every day. From ordering food to coordinating with facilities to booking rooms, she has been a true asset to the operations."

To: Sharifa – Financial Services
"Sharifa has become the client's right hand woman. She goes above and beyond with booking rooms, printing names tags, welcoming candidates and overall logistics."

  To: Rossi – Big 8 Accounting Firm, Chicago
Congratulations from our clients to Rossi for being named Associate of the Year.

From The NYC HQ Of The World's Preeminent Daily Newspaper

To: Louis – Times Square

"Kudos to Louis for making an urgent hand delivery. His efficiency and quick action is appreciated and shows his impact in such a short time with the organization."

There are no unimportant positions in a firm, and any person (like those commended above) that is interacting with clients is contributing to the overall impression of the client's firm. All of our employees that interact with clients are carefully selected and trained. So I'd like to commend Shalaine for her incredible patience in all her comprehensive orientations and training. She is always supportive, encouraging, compassionate to her training team and students.

To all of those applauded, CHEERS to you and THANK YOU for working tirelessly to deliver Service Extraordinaire with a smile. I am so proud of all of you, and to count you among the FSO family. Keep up the great work!!

Have a great day and thanks for being a part of our amazing journey.

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

"There is nothing wrong with you that isn't made worse by being unhappy. Make yourself better, by making the best of everything."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Shout-Out Wednesday: Smart, Creative, Passionate and.. Appreciated!

"We truly appreciate your hard work, efforts and dedication to the company and our clients."

Good Morning Folks,

Our success is all about our clients knowing they can always count on us, we will always be there for them, we care about their success and we would never let them down.

Here are what we are hearing about FSO staff:

From One of The World's Largest Advertising Agencies...

Re: Christopher

"Chris always finds a way to uplift his fellow teammates. He leads by example and has really come into his own now that he is leading the closing shift."

Re: Jaclyn

"Jackie is a super star! She is always lending a helping hand. Her help in training our recent new hire, has really shown how much she cares."

Re: Jason

"Jason has acclimated well to our site. He has taken on a lot of responsibility and been a huge asset as the holiday season picks up."

Re: Raven

"Raven has been crucial in keeping our mailroom organized and up to date. We are extremely grateful for the skill sets she has and her willingness to help the team grow. She is a delight and always has a smile on her face. She is always willing to go out of her way for us and I just can’t tell you how much happier I am at work.  It is hard to always work, but then when you work with employees like Raven, you don’t mind having to come in to work."

Re: Demetrius

"Demetrius Pelzer was a huge help a couple of weeks ago in helping us to prepare for our annual event. This day is a huge event with lots of presentations and activities happening simultaneously throughout the day. Demetrius was able to step in and assist with some of the technical difficulty during the set up. His assistance was absolutely essential in having a successful event."

From Our Clients In Property Management

Re: Carlos — Wall Street

"Carlos was a great asset in assisting to make sure that UPS was delivering and picking up packages every day from the client site. The client had previous issues in setting up and confirming this information with UPS and Carlos made sure to follow up with both the client and UPS until this was all settled."

The team at one of our prime luxury buildings celebrates Cindy’s birthday last week with a beautiful cake and a thoughtful gift.

From Our AMLAW 200 Clients

Re: Lisa & Team - Hartford, CT

"The team assisted at very big awards event in Hartford. They helped with greeting guests, checking coats, cleaning up and all the other little things. Guests truly felt welcomed and it was truly appreciate by all. They were also a great help in decorating the office for the holidays. The team was able to make the office looks absolutely amazing."

Re: Blaine — Drinker Biddle

Even though Blaine has only been with the company for a very short time he has already had a positive impact in the operations at the client site. He has acclimated very well and helps out whenever and in whatever is needed. Welcome and thank you!!!

Re: Ryan — Dallas

"Ryan’s great work has been impressive. His customer services and communication skills have been essential in getting projects and requests execute quickly and efficiently. His sense of urgency and importance are appreciated every day."

Christian & Sergio — New York City 

"Special thanks to Christian & Sergio who definitely went above and beyond last week. After the client closed for the long holiday weekend, a rush high profile request came through. Both Sergio and Christian jumped right in staying late into Wednesday night as well as working all day Friday and Sunday to ensure the project was completed for set deadlines."

Re: Andrew

"Andrew is so helpful and efficient. He jumps right in and helps in all things. He responds to request immediately and makes sure that things are followed through to completion."

At a Client in the Healthcare Industry:

Re: Yang — California  (Also our "Site of the Month")

"Yang is hard working, experienced and very knowledgeable and a great asset to us. She has been very cooperative and quite often goes the extra mile to support all project and needs."

From A Large Electronics Manufacturer

Louie & Mailroom Staff —  New Jersey

"HUGE thank you to the team lead by Louie for turning a space at the client into a functioning conference room for a large workshop that was taking place the day after. The teams quick response and efficiently not only allowed the conference to proceed as schedule but it helped avoided other logistic issues had the team not reacted so quickly."

From The World's Largest Professional Services Firm 

Re: Francis & Floor Host Team — Madison Avenue

Kudos to Francis and her team!!! Her great spirit and bright smile make working with her such a job. Her leadership skills are apparent in the way her team pulls together and attends to all who arrive onsite. Her pleasant and professional attitude have definitely rubbed off on her team and it was very apparent during last week’s Thanksgiving event. All guest were attended to with little to no wait which made the event even more enjoyable."

A huge thank you thank you to the Training Team for our amazing team building event. We built vision boards and had the best time ever! We had an amazing year with many accomplishments! Cheers to you and we are looking forward to an amazing year ahead!

Our team is committed to hiring quality employees who are trained, incentivized, and motivated. They are passionate about their purpose, excited about what they do, and you will feel like they are truly an extension of your business. We have a proven track record of reshaping our clients’ success by always improving service, controlling cost and taking better care of the people who serve them.

It’s a great joy for me to get to work every day with a team of such smart, creative, and passionate people. Know that you are all APPRECIATED!

Have a great day and thanks for being a part of our amazing journey.

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

........................................................................................................................................

'"Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive about what could go right"  ~~ Zig Ziglar's New Year's Resolution

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Supporting For The Legal Community For Over 30 Years

“She is a motivated, self-starter, who is incredibly responsive to our lawyers, staff and clients in a very professional and friendly manner.”

“Anything I’ve needed for my attorneys in the last few weeks, I get an immediate response from the front desk, and a follow up call to make sure everything is taken care off."

Good Morning Folks,

In an environment where the only constant is change, law firms MUST run as better businesses. They are looking for “Service Partners” (not just “vendors”) to help them (re)IMAGINE…. to educate them and provide services that are NOT what they are getting today or what they have traditionally gotten over the years

We bring more experience in serving the legal profession than any company in the outsourcing industry. From the start of a case through the end of the trial, whether the assignment is a quick turnaround photocopy job to the most complex e-discovery project, FSO can improve your operations onsite.  We will…

• Give you access to operational expertise, service line resources, and capabilities you may not  possess today

• Provide right-sized headcount for immediate cost savings

• Help you reduce real estate footprint with digital records

• Leverage new technologies with revolutionary impacts and widespread benefits

• Ensure the security and consistency of all mail and courier package deliveries

• Replace an unmotivated team with hospitable, friendly associates who will bring your brand values to life and make guests feel warmly welcomed.

Our Innovative Services Include..

+ Conference Services

+ Digital Document Services

+ Facilities Management

+ Front Of House

+ Hospitality Services

+ Hoteling Services  

+ Information Technology

+ Litigation Support

+ Records Management Solution

+ Reprographic Services

Traditional Services Include..

+ Equipment Management 

+ Mail & Logistics Services

 + Messenger Services

+ Reprographic Services

+ Security Services

Many of the best-known names in AMLAW 200 legal services have upgraded their business support by partnering with FSO. Each can confirm that we have streamlined existing processes, and met their objectives of reducing administrative burden and cutting costs.

If we can help you, or someone you may know of, call me personally at (212) 204-1193.

Have a GREAT Day. Love Life.

I'll be a seeing you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . .  . . . . .  ..   “Richard is valuable to the IP group having downloaded and checked over 800 patents. He keeps the files in order and gets files whenever needed right away.”  . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .

Throw Back Thursday: The Origins of The Necktie and Return of the Bow Tie

“You always feel better about yourself when you work to look your best, which means you project that image to others. They take notice.”

Photo: Fashion-forward FSO Experience Director  Shawn Curwen 

opts for the Bow Tie

Good Morning Folks,

One of our most popular posts provides guidance on proper business attire. Then in a Throw Back Thursday post we showcased the history of court attire going way back to customs of white powdered wigs and black robes… still used in the Supreme Court and some countries (such as you've seen if you've been watching the judge to the left in news clips of the Pistorius trial).

What she wears that also distinguishes Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who remarked in a Katie Couric Yahoo interview today saying when asked if the 82-year old would retire soon, she responded that she's not ready to hang up her Jabot).

Jabot?

Jabots survive in the present as components of various official costumes. The white bibs of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany are officially described as jabots, as are those worn by judges and counsel throughout Australian courts. Jabots are prescribed attire for barristers appearing before the Supreme Court of South Australia.

French magistrate court dress and French academic dress include a jabot, called Rabat. It is usually of plain cotton, except that of academic high officials, which is made of lace.

In the United States Supreme Court, jabots are worn by some female justices, but are not mandatory. Both United States Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor often wear jabots with their judicial robes;Justice Elena Kagan, in contrast, does not.

The Speaker of the British House of Commons also wears a jabot along with a black and gold robe and lace frills.

Jabots continue to be worn as part of the highest formal Scottish evening attire and a former part of Scottish highland dance costumes from the 1930s to the 1970s. They are usually worn with high-necked jackets or doublets (Sheriffmuir or Montrose), often with matching cuffs for both genders and a fly plaid of the same tartan as the kilt, draped over-the-shoulder for men.

But here in the USA,. the necktie still rules. So...

Today we share Jennifer Busch's LinkedIn article "The Origin of the Necktie" -- Jennifer, over to you.

While the tie as we know it is a fairly modern invention, specific neckwear was worn by Romans in a similar way to accentuate and identify the military or in sports today to identify a team or troop. 

Cravat, which has become universal for tie origins are based in the Croatian mercenary’s terminology.  

The Croatian mercenary’s who fought with the French during the 30 Years War wore cloth around their necks both as decoration and to tie their shirts. “Croat” became “cravat” and the origins of the necktie were born. King Louis IV, who wore lace cravats when he was a boy, liked cravats so much he made them mandatory attire at Royal gatherings. Soon enough, the always chic Parisian nobility started wearing them and the cravat craze spread to other parts of Europe. 

The natural progression from the cravat was the bow tie. While the bow tie has evolved over time the early renditions were difficult to knot and easily loosened, making them impractical for men who worked in physically demanding jobs. By the beginning of the 20th century, instead of being tied into a bow, the fabric was knotted to hang down from the neck. This is how the necktie came into fashion. Made from silk, it often had stripes. 

While it was easier to knot than a bow tie, it was hard to keep the fabric straight. 

In 1924 an American tailor, Jesse Langsdorf, tried cutting the fabric at a 45-degree angle across the silk’s grain to see if it would stop the problem of curling at the bottom and give the tie a neater, sleeker look. He also cut the fabric into three sections, two equally long sides and a shorter piece to go around the neck in such as way so that the seams would match. This design also made it easier for men to loosen the tie without it becoming undone. 

What became known as the Langsdorf tie has been the standard for the last 90 years. While patterns, fabrics, lengths and widths have come and gone, the basic cut has not changed. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and this accessory has seemed to work well for men, and even women, who want to spice up their look.

Speaking of ties, have you seen the 12-year-old 'kidpreneur' who captured the hearts and minds of ABC's Shark Tank panel and has Daymond of FUBU fame as his personal mentor?

This kid named MO has the FSO skip, fire and twinkle for sure and is bound for greatness. 


Moziah Bridges didn't get an investment when he stood before Shark Tank's panel of five angel investors looking for financial help to grow his bow tie business. He got something much more—a mentor.

Daymond John, the founder of the FUBU clothing line. John said that back in 1989, when his company was nothing more than a few hats, he rejected an offer for $10,000 for 40 percent of that company. Ten years later, that equity would have been worth $40 million.

According to his website Mo's Bows, "Mo's Bows is a company I started in Memphis, TN in 2011 when I was just 9 years old. I couldn't find fun and cool bow ties, so one day I decided to use my Granny's scrap fabric to make and sell my own. I like to wear bow ties because they make me look good and feel good. Designing a colorful bow tie is just part of my vision to make the world a fun and happier place." Love it!

Whether MO achieves his goal of bringing back the bow-tie remains to be seen. But some of our most fashionable leaders like Shawn Curwen have already embraced it. As long as I don't have to wear a powered wig and gown to call on a law firm (lol), I'm good with diversity in dress.

And remember even those who are not expected to wear a suit and tie everyday shouldn't forgo all style and fashion sensibility. 

Here are LinkUPs that will help you dress for success:

What IS Business Casual?

3 Tips For Expressing Your Style And Enhancing Your Personal Brand

What You Wear to the Office Still Matters

Have fun kids and you MUST.. ENJOY THE RIDE... we are a blessed and excited group!

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Throw Back Thursday: Court Attire

"In Europe, a man in a white wig stands in the centre of a crowded courtroom, his. The biggest influence exercised by defence lawyers on trials. Those wigs don't come cheap: Lawyers can earn £1,000 from the taxpayer even for cases which are rejected outright at the first hurdle."

Good Morning Folks,

I am often asked why the Silicon Valley workers get a pass and have made casual Fridays (even hoodies, shorts and skate boards) standard attire, while those of us working in New York still dress up?

We'll if you think it's bad here, you should see the courts in Britain, a style of address we adapted in the United Stated, thankfully only briefly.

Here's a throw back this Thursday via WikiPedia:

Judicial court dress[edit]

Group photo of United States Supreme Court Justices from 2009. Optional formal dress can be seen under the robes, such as bow ties. Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also wear lace jabots

During the early history of the United States, the court dress of judges and practicing lawyers closely mirrored British court dress of the 18th century; both wore white powdered wigs and (typically) black robes in the lower courts, and in the higher ones, judges would wear red with black markings. The practice fell out of favor and died out by the mid-nineteenth century.

Today, generally judges of both state and federal courts are free to select their own courtroom attire. The most common choice is a plain black robe which covers the torso and legs, with sleeves. Female judges will sometimes add to the robe a plain white collar or lace jabot. Beneath the robes business attire is standard.

William Cushing, showing early U.S. Supreme Court dress, with a wig

Until the tenure of Chief Justice John Marshall, all Supreme Court justices wore red robes with ermine trim and full-bottomed wigs, reminiscent of British court dress. Marshall, however, eschewed this formality and began the practice of only wearing a black silk robe, with no wig. In 1994, Chief Justice William Rehnquistadded four gold bars (similar in appearance to captain insignia in the US Navy) to each sleeve of his black robe, but the change in his attire (he had been Chief Justice since 1986) was his own innovation and was inspired by a production of the operetta Iolanthe, rather than any historical precedent. His successor, John G. Roberts, chose to stick with the traditional plain black robe.

Some Supreme Court justices (including Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Stephen Breyer) maintain the ancient legal practice of wearing large black skullcaps, in their case when wearing their robes outdoors in cold weather (for example, at presidential inaugurations in January.)

Many state supreme court justices wear unique styles of robes, the most notable being the Maryland Court of Appeals, where all judges wear red, and British-style tab collars. The judges of the Delaware Superior Court continue to wear the red sashes or baldrics of their British predecessors, albeit now only on ceremonial occasions.

Some judges eschew special dress entirely and preside over their courts in normal business wear. This is often seen among administrative law judges who preside over relatively informal administrative hearings.

Attorney court dress[edit]

Lawyers wear normal business attire in courts of all levels. During the second-wave feminism movement in the 1970s, some judges forbade female attorneys from wearing trousers when appearing in court, but pantsuits are now widely accepted. Like judges, American attorneys do not wear wigs.

Until the 1970s, morning dress was required of all attorneys appearing before the United States Supreme Court by the Court's rules. Even after the Court abolished the requirement, the Office of the Solicitor General maintained the practice. When the Solicitor General (or any of the deputies) appears before the U.S. Supreme Court, he wears morning dress, with striped trousers, grey ascot, waistcoat, and a cutaway morning coat.^[9] A feminized version is sometimes worn by female deputies, which consists of the same garments tailored to female measurements. Former Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the only woman to hold the office to date, appeared before the Court in pantsuits in lieu of morning dress. The traditional female equivalent of morning dress (a formal gown) is strictly for social purposes, so it would be inappropriate attire for appearances before the nation's highest court.^{[10][broken citation]} The Court's Marshal and Clerk of both genders also wear morning dress when the Court is in session.

I wonder what our kids will be saying about the way we dress for court and to call on lawyers and bankers twenty years from now?

FSO USA is going to dominate the USA. And we cannot do it without you. So Inspire your teams. And help me light up the nation. 

Thanks for reading. Thanks for believing. And thanks for being here. 

Have a GREAT Day. Love Life.

I'll be a seeing you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer