Generated Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · 7:08 AM EDT
York, PA · 3-Day
☀️
Tue
Sunny
78°/56°
🌫️
Wed
Areas of Fog, Then Sunny
85°/64°
🌤️
Thu
Mostly Sunny
88°/68°
Patchy fog possible Wednesday before 9 AM, clearing quickly — no other alerts.
Quote of the Day
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." — Warren Buffett. Fitting after yesterday's candid self-accounting to Tim Ziegler on the BIG relationship — the repair is now in their hands to accept.
Word of the Day
Conciliatory — showing a willingness to reconcile or make peace after a disagreement; intended to placate or pacify. "Jeff's reply to Tim Ziegler was genuinely conciliatory — naming the real misstep plainly and offering to meet, rather than defending the original decision." In executive communication, "conciliatory" names a specific, deliberate move (owning fault, offering repair) rather than the vaguer "diplomatic" — useful when describing to ownership how a strained vendor or client relationship was actually handled.
Backup: OK — last night 1:00 AM (0.0786 GB, 884 items)
Fireflies: OK — last ran Mon 9/14 6:02 PM, 1 transcript processed
Disk: OK — 113.10GB free (checked today)
Top Priority
Close Out the Chris/Ryan Cross-Training Pulse Check
Why: now 14 days past its 9/1 target — your longest-standing open item on your own plate — and still the direct input the McTecher goal-completion write-ups need before the 9/21-22 reviews.
Yesterday
A packed Monday — closed out the PDF default-app rollout, got the VFCA circuit contract and McTecher review materials in hand, and sent a candid self-accounting on the BIG relationship
Steve delivered a formal Remote Access Gateway vendor analysis recommending Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Hybrid — resolves his SMART Goal 1, one compliance question still open
Replaces the aging Server 2016 RDP farm ahead of its January 2027 end-of-support deadline — [[Remote Access Gateway - Solution Analysis and Recommendation (2026-09-14)]]
Finalized the PDF default-app toggle with Chris Hess, Mandy Maher, and Michelle Zunner — rollout email targeted for this week
Two caveats surfaced (File Explorer restart, EPIC needs a full logout) — [[Chris Hess 2026 Goals]]
Sent Tim Ziegler a full, self-critical accounting of the BIG offboarding concern — owned the real miss, apologized to Tim and Mandy, offered to meet
— [[Business Information Group]]
Still open: sign the newly-received VFCA/Comcast circuit contract, and confirm with compliance whether NAIC session recording is mandatory for the RAG decision
Overdue
9/114d
YOUProgress pulse check on Chris Hess/Ryan Ostiguy cross-training, with both
Set for 9/1, no update since — [[Chris Hess 2026 Goals]]
9/411d
YOURaise the VFCA DR/Synology NAS "~$5,000 extra" budget ask with John/Laura
Due 9/4, still not raised — Laura now on PTO through 9/21 — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
Today's ScheduleWorking Remotely Today
9:00 AM
McTecher Tuesday Huddle
9:00–9:30 AM per calendar, Teams or in-person (Steve, Chris, Ryan) — standing 4-question standup
Good venue to confirm Ryan's 2 new StaffBoom accounts are staging on track for the ~9/17 target, ahead of the 9/21 launch
Steve's Remote Access Gateway analysis (AVD Hybrid) landed yesterday — worth flagging the open NAIC compliance question if it hasn't been routed yet
Other Tasks Today
Sign the VFCA/Comcast redundant-circuit contract
Received via DocuSign 9/14, Sales Order #33026987 — last step before the circuit build proceeds — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
This Week Ahead
Wk of 9/14
Touch base with Quin Bonvegna/Angelo Frangiosa (IANS) on membership decision
No specific day/time set yet — [[IANS]]
Wed 9/16
VFCA Domain Controller + Duo Console + RADIUS Build Target
See Projects — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
Wed 9/16
Coffee with Jennifer Stambaugh (Jen) at Stoney Brooke
7:00 PM
Fri 9/18
Ryan Smith's cybersecurity readiness/budget webinar
10:00 AM Mountain — panel confirmed, prep document still to come — [[Ryan Smith]]
Fri 9/18
McTechers' golden-image change lists due (Steve, Chris, Ryan)
See Projects — [[Golden Laptop Image Refresh]]
Fri 9/18
Monthly Operational Reporting (August data) due to Laura Mercadante
Laura's on PTO through 9/21 — [[Monthly Operational Reporting]]
Projects
Regional DR-BC Hotsite
Active — Comcast's VFCA redundant-circuit contract received 9/14 (DocuSign) — Jeff's signature is the last step; hardware racking/configuration on target for today
Next: sign the VFCA/Comcast circuit contract (Sales Order #33026987); hardware fully racked/configured today, 9/15, then a failover test
Steve Gladfelter 2026 Goals
Active — delivered the Remote Access Gateway vendor analysis, recommending Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Hybrid over Citrix, ahead of the Server 2016 farm's January 2027 end-of-support deadline
Next: confirm with compliance whether NAIC session recording is mandatory — the one open decision gate between AVD and Citrix (target date already passed)
Blocker: compliance confirmation still outstanding
2026 McTecher Performance Reviews
Active — review form template and 3-point rating-scale guide received 9/14; ready to start drafting
Next: confirm with Jeff whether Section 3 targets 2026 or 2027 SMART goals, then begin drafting Steve/Chris/Ryan's evaluations; review meetings 9/21 (Ryan 10am, Steve 3pm) and 9/22 (Chris 10am)
Ryan Ostiguy 2026 Goals
Active — EPIC Bridge rollout continuing toward the 9/30 go-live (Ticket TT30056)
Next: complete EPIC Bridge rollout to all in-scope staff ahead of the 9/30 go-live
2027 Server Refresh and Hyper-V Migration
Active — awaiting Telecom's SAN-capacity answer and refreshed hardware/migration quotes
Next: preliminary budget numbers due to leadership 10/1
Golden Laptop Image Refresh
Active — McTechers asked for golden-image change lists, Jeff starts the rebuild the week of 9/21
Next: collect Steve/Chris/Ryan's change lists, due 9/18 EOD
Chris Hess 2026 Goals
Active — SIP trunk/SMS pricing in from BCMOne (roughly double current cost); confirmed VoxTelesys is the vendor already in hands-on testing, next is confirming whether Telecom/Wrinkle knows about that testing
2027 Technology Budget
Active — the CDW touch point advanced the laptop-fleet line item (spec-floor recommendation, still owe Phil a must-haves list) and flagged CDW's device-support/managed-print programs as possible cost-savers to revisit
AI Tools Evaluation and Adoption
Active — Laura replied to the consolidated punchlist (Zywave on hold, ShareFile/Arctic Wolf/VMS list closed, paper-copies decision still unresolved); the non-supervisor Claude/GPT license list is still to come
Cisco Umbrella Web Filter Tiers
Active — general-staff enrollment complete; only Marketing remains, pending Jeff's ChatGPT access-gap decision; Dropbox opened as a quiet stopgap for a vendor photo-delivery use case, monitored via a new weekly report
York Office Meraki AP Replacement
Active — 9/18 onsite install cancelled: Telecom confirmed the hardware still hasn't shipped, new estimate ships 10/23, delivers ~11/2 (not yet firm)
McTechers
Steve Gladfelter
Delivered the formal Remote Access Gateway vendor analysis (AVD Hybrid recommended) — one compliance question still open
Next: see Projects — Steve Gladfelter 2026 Goals (confirm the NAIC session-recording question with compliance)
Chris Hess
Finalized the PDF default-app toggle with Jeff/Mandy/Michelle — building a warning banner, then sending the rollout email this week
Next: build the File-Explorer-restart warning banner and send the rollout + reinforcement emails this week
Ryan Ostiguy
Staging the 2 new StaffBoom accounts for the ~9/17 target, ahead of the 9/21 launch; EPIC Bridge rollout continuing toward 9/30
Next: see Projects — Ryan Ostiguy 2026 Goals (EPIC Bridge rollout toward 9/30 go-live)
Waiting On
Chris Hess
29d
Chris Hess
Connect with Steve Gladfelter on DR failover/failback gotchas and a Hyper-V involvement plan, then report back
Preliminary report given 8/17; the side-by-side conversation with Steve still hasn't happened — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
1d
Chris Hess
Build the PDF-toggle warning banner and send the rollout + reinforcement emails
9/14 meeting: icons built and tested; two rollout caveats found (File Explorer restart, EPIC needs a full logout) — targeted this week — [[Chris Hess 2026 Goals]]
Laura Mercadante
26d
Laura Mercadante
RSVP back on collecting/destroying paper copies of annual meeting documents
Same unresolved status since 8/20 (reconfirmed 9/10) — still needs to loop back to owners — [[2026-07-22 Meeting - Privacy Committee Vendor Management State of the Union]]
20d
Laura Mercadante
Send a copy of the signed/executed Zywave contract plus the current MSA
Asked 8/26, no reply on file since — [[Zywave]]
5d
Laura Mercadante
Connect with John Olkowski, then confirm the PatchWatch supervisor-view pilot test
9/10: OK to move forward, but hasn't connected with John yet — [[EKM Endpoint Telemetry]]
5d
Laura Mercadante · Tim Ziegler
Send the final non-supervisor Claude + GPT license list
9/10: Laura replied she'll send it in a follow-up email — not yet sent — [[AI Tools Evaluation and Adoption]]
Milliken
21d
Milliken
Detailed 3rd-party EPIC evaluation quote, needed to finalize the Kite-vs-Milliken comparison
Promised 8/14; Ryan's left 3 voicemails to the owner as of 8/25 — [[Ryan Ostiguy 2026 Goals]]
Ryan Bauman · Telecom Business Solutions
20d
Ryan Bauman · Telecom Business Solutions
2027 budget quotes: refreshed subscription renewals, server refresh/Hyper-V costs (with a SAN storage capacity question)
Formal heads-up sent 8/26, no reply yet — [[2027 Technology Budget]]
Ryan Ostiguy
15d
Ryan Ostiguy
Prepare a final written evaluation write-up comparing Milliken and Kite for leadership review
Due 8/31; the underlying Milliken quote is still outstanding — [[Ryan Ostiguy 2026 Goals]]
Aaron Wagner · EmberTrail
15d
Aaron Wagner · EmberTrail
Draft communication plan to close out McConkey's Incident Response Plan
Jeff's own 3 action items closed 8/31; this is the last open piece — [[EmberTrail]]
6d
Aaron Wagner · EmberTrail
Answer the ownership read-only VMS access ask (contacts/documents/contracts)
Reiterated 9/9; not addressed in Aaron's 9/11 reply on the other 7 items — [[RiskCheck]]
Phil Pappas · Robert Middleton (CDW)
5d
Phil Pappas · Robert Middleton (CDW)
Send corrected VFCA NAS hardware quote at real distributor pricing
Asked 9/10; the prior quote came back ~2x too high on list pricing — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
5d
Phil Pappas · Robert Middleton (CDW)
Confirm whether Wasabi/cloud backups can restore directly to a Barracuda appliance
Asked 9/10, Robert researching — [[Regional DR-BC Hotsite]]
Tyler McNamara
4d
Tyler McNamara
Reply on the status of the two Silac annuity applications (approval status, contract packages)
Texted 9/11; no meeting held since the 8/20 retirement check-in — [[Retirement Planning]]
Rob Parrish · Verizon
1d
Rob Parrish · Verizon
Send remaining Verizon (VZ) activation orders for approval, to fully activate the 9/2 savings
9/14: 3 upgraded CR206 hotspot routers ordered; still no CSG email on the router upgrade, Rob having them resend it — [[Rob Parrish]]
Ryan Smith
1d
Ryan Smith
Send the promised written prep document ahead of the 9/18 cybersecurity panel
9/14: A/V test timing, dress/background, and discussion questions all confirmed — the prep doc itself is still coming — [[Ryan Smith]]