Marketing Agency, Computer Technicians, Hardware Providers Band Together to Help Gulf Communities Rebuild Government Infrastructure
ATLANTA, Ga. - September 26, 2005 - Jesse Sammons, Spencer Cagle and Phil Simerly are marketing and technology professionals from around the United States with little in common other than a desire to help people impacted by the recent hurricane catastrophes. Yet they combined their skills to form an ad hoc hurricane relief team and today departed from Atlanta on a mission to aid communities recovering from the storms. The relief team is traveling to Gulfport, Miss., where their satellite-equipped Mobile Computing Unit (MCU) will serve as a law enforcement command center for seven to 10 days before transition to a disaster recovery operation center. The relief team will provide access to vital communication tools including computers, the Internet and a technical staff to support federal, state and local response efforts.
The advance teams - from Atlanta; Vernon Hills, Ill.; and Herndon, Va. - met on September 7 to begin initial preparations for the operation. Sammons is an event management professional with Next Marketing, Inc., an Atlanta-based sports and event marketing agency specializing in motor sports and mobile marketing. Cagle and Simerly are system engineers with CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a subsidiary of Chicago-based CDW Corporation. Both have experience in delivering technology solutions to government customers – including the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Sammons, as well as Next Marketing's Martin Mueller and Shane McAdams, made final preparations on the MCU, which typically supports events such as the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl and industry tech show Internet World. The team worked along with CDW-G technical specialists Mukul Mather, Adam Smarackeck and Simerly, who configured and installed 50 laptops and flat-panel displays donated by HP, preparing the unit for transport to the affected region. Fully self-contained, the trailer is outfitted with a 110kw diesel generator, HVAC systems and, most importantly, a Tachyon Satellite Internet system capable of providing 45 high-speed connections, enabling network connectivity where it would otherwise be unavailable. The tractor-trailer, which expands to a 1,000-square-foot computing center, also served as a command module at Ground Zero in New York after September 11, 2001.
"Every individual and organization in the United States is capable of providing assistance to this unprecedented catastrophe in their own way," said Henry Rischitelli, program coordinator and President of Next Marketing. "While the material, service and in-kind contributions from Next Marketing, CDW Corporation and HP certainly empowered the effort, it is the personal sacrifice of the crew that makes this mission possible."
Additional support is being provided by T/K Media Services, Tachyon and RuSPORT.
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