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Flagshooter Inc. is a company that's small in size, but big in innovation.
We are striving to bring several solutions to the Damage Prevention Industry that save
time, money, and energy for our customers. The Flagshooter
is a tool that inserts marking flags into the ground and sprays marking paint all
with one hand.
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March Texas811 Numbers
Inbound March Locate Requests = 263,050
Outbound March Notifications = 1,404,185
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The Ombudsman Team, Sandoval Garcia and Kyle VanLandingham, have recently passed on the duties of bringing on new members to the Member Relations Department. The recently created Member Relations Department now handles the new member process from start to finish. Currently, the Member Relationship Managers are April Arnold, Marcus Ogas, and Tina Sanders. All new member inquiries can be sent to
MemberRelations@Texas811.org
.
The Ombudsmen will continue to assist and manage the relationships with our existing members so all other inquiries by current members can still be sent to
Buds@Texas811.org.
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Returning for another year is movie and tv star Burton Gilliam, and this year he is joined by celebrity LPGA touring pro Wendy Ward. Come out and meet these guys, and enjoy a great day of golf for a great cause - and don't forget all the great raffle and prize items that are always available at a Texas811 event like this! (Including some footballs signed by NFL Hall of Fame Legends).
More info HERE
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Membership Update
New Members for March: 8
Total members: 1562
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Atmos Energy and Texas Trees Foundation
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Texas811, Atmos Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation wrapped up an effort that began last August 11 - 811 Day - to plant 811 trees across Texas. The final tree planting ceremony was in Dallas' renovated Farmer's Market. Atmos Energy produced a video about the need to call 811 - even when you're planting trees!
Watch it here
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Spanish Translation of PSA
The Texas811 television PSA was translated into Spanish for use on the many Texas Spanish television stations.
¡
Texas Ocho Once!
Tienes que llamar al
Texas Ocho Once
antes de excavar en Texas
. (Well, it sounds better than it reads!)
So far, markets in Laredo and Amarillo have picked up the Spanish version and are using it.
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CGA News
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Texas811 was well represented at the annual Common Ground Alliance Excavation Safety Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. As well as being a CGA attendance breakfast sponsor, we also participated in workshops and committee meetings. CGA attendees were also able to browse through our three main booths: Pipeline Response, GulfSafe/CAMOand the 2016 International Locate Rodeo.
Pipeline Response is a joint venture of Texas811, Enertech and the Smalley Foundation, intended as a training course for first responders to pipeline emergencies. GulfSafe/CAMO
highlights the GulfSafe project as well as our partnership with the Coastal and Marine Operators. Of course, the 2016 International Locate Rodeo is being hosted by Texas811 in June in Arlington, Texas. You can read more about it HERE.
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Hello, Texas811 members!
March went by so fast it could make your head spin - and April is promising to move even faster. Still ahead of us are the 19th Annual Texas811 Charity Golf Tournament in April and the International Locate Rodeo being hosted by Texas811 in June. In the meantime, April is National Safe Digging Month, so there will be a LOT on that subject in the next newsletter - but we'll touch on some of it in this recap of our March activities.
Enjoy the news, and until next time, safe digging!
Sincerely,
Mike Losawyer
President, Texas811
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Spring weather has arrived in Texas, and with it the full-blown Safety Day Event schedule. Back to back events ended March and began April.
On March 31st, the North Texas Damage Prevention Council along with CoServ and Atmos Energy hosted the North Texas Regional Safety Day in Corinth. Over 500 excavators and facility owners attended this multi-
 function event which included an arc & spark demo by CoServ, and then an intense mock gas line strike scenario. This scenario focused on two excavators who had called in a locate request, but their supervisor ordered them to dig without waiting for the line locate. Result? A gas line struck, and then one man electrocuted as he dug into a buried electrical line while prepping to repair the gas line. "Keeping Texas utilities
 safe underground is a 24/7/365 job. Excavators and facility owners both have an interest in preventing injury and saving lives when excavating, but also in protecting what's underground," said Texas811 Damage Prevention Manager John Sparks. "With the rapid growth being seen in Texas, it's more important now than ever before to know what's below before you dig."
CoServ's Dawn Cobb blogged on the event on the CoServ web site, and you can read her article HERE.
The next day, April 1, was no April Fools' joke - Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas811, Atmos Energy and the Lower Brazos Damage Prevention Council presented a video and photo friendly excavation safety rodeo roundup to get National Safe Digging Month underway. The event featured a heavy equipment "rodeo" where operators demonstrated the finesse with which they can use the machinery to pick up small items and compete in games. During the same time frame, safety demonstrations also took place aimed at helping workers in the field avoid needless accidents and injury. As in Corinth's Safety Day, the highlight of the day was a mock gas line strike demonstration. "Striking a pressurized natural gas line is not something anyone wants to take lightly," said Jaime Medina, a Damage Prevention Manager with Texas811. "Should it happen, you literally have only seconds to know what to do."
You can read about this event in this article from the Bryan-College Station Eagle newspaper
Still ahead in April is a doubleheader on April 22, in Gonzales and in Midland. The Gonzales event - the Eagle Ford Safety & Equipment Rodeo Roundup - will feature an expanded scenario. It will not only include the mock line strike, but an accident in which a track hoe comes in contact with overhead electrical lines as well as a burning oil spill. You can get more information HERE.
The same day, the Permian Basin Safety Day event in Midland will be underway. It too will feature the popular mock line strike demonstration, as well as guest speakers including a representative from the Railroad Commission of Texas.
You can get more information on this event
HERE.
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Ultra Terrain Vehicle Raffle
We are raffling a RZR 570 UTV to benefit the Turning Point!
Each ticket is only $20 and 100% of the ticket sales go to the Turning Point Rape Crisis Center in Collin County.
Click here to purchase your tickets or for more info
This is possible thanks to our amazing sponsors:
Atmos Energy
Heath Consultants
Flagshooter
Watkins Construction
CanFer
Texas Aerial
JD King
North Texas Damage Prevention Council
Central Texas Damage Prevention Council
Driver Pipeline
Lasen
Click Here for sponsor information
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Texas811 kicked off the luck of the Irish by appearing in
 the 2016 Irish Fest program. The 34th Annual North Texas Irish Festival at Fair Park in Dallas March 4-6 drew tens of thousands of fans to Dallas for everyone's favorite celebration of music, dance, and Irish culture. Presented by the Southwest Celtic Music Association, a non-profit that fosters the great tradition of Irish culture in North Texas, it is the largest cultural festival in DFW, and is also revered as one of the best Irish festivals in the U.S. At the heart of the North Texas Irish Festival is the music.
Texas811 mascot Digby asked festival goers to be sure and call 811 before digging for their pot of gold!
The Faire is located in Waxahachie and is open consecutive Saturday/Sunday weekends from April 9 - May 29 and Memorial Day Monday, rain or shine, 10am to 7pm.
Over its eight weekend run the Faire welcomes in excess of 100,000 visitors - and all of the visitors will see this renfair-themed Texas811 banner hanging out in front!
Come out and lay your hands on one of our collectible bumper stickers, and we'll be out on site on May 7/8!
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The Contact Center wall got a makeover! A huge thank you to
DTOX Art for doing this for us! The bright and brilliant paint was provided by our friends at
Rust-Oleum.
St. Patrick's Day was officially Green-Out Day at the
 Contact Center! Everyone wore green - or a shade thereof - and posed for this group picture. Have you ever seen so many blarney talkers in your life?
We were also the proud top sponsor at the Rebuild
 Rowlett 5k presented by Rowlett Smiles! The tornado in late December of 2016 impacted us all and we are glad to help any way we can - including getting out and sweating up a run!
Employee Appreciation Day at the contact center saw Executive Vice President Chris Stovall and Director of HR Lance Parker among the managers serving from the
Texas811 Swag'n!
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Sulphur Springs Garden Show
Texas811 participated in the 1st Annual Home & Outdoor Expo in Sulphur Springs on March 26. The event was held inside the exhibit hall, spilling out into the indoor rodeo arena. Texas811 shopping bags were very popular,
a
nd it was unusual by end of day not to see someone carrying one. Over one hundred exhibitors showcased boats, car ports, solar panels, trailers, modular homes, tractors, cars and trucks, as well as home improvement projects and gardening.
The event drew people from Rockwall, Paris, Commerce and Mount Vernon as well as Sulphur Springs.
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International Locate Rodeo 2016
The world is all but unaware of how skilled locators are, how vitally important locators' performance is to public safety. Come to the International Utility Locate Rodeo and see! Everybody wins. The best competitors win prizes. All competitors win recognition, appreciation, admiration.
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That puts a wrap on this month's newsletter. If you've got an event coming up that we should give a shout out for, send an
email.
Until next time, dig safe!
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