Roseburg, Ore. – May 11, 2013 – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Respect – As Webster defines it: 1) An act of giving particular attention. 2) High or special regard.

Simply put from my perspective, in order to understand, appreciate, and show respect, it must start from within. Respect of others becomes possible, and much more meaningful, when we truly respect ourselves.

As we live our days that we often unconsciously fill it with anything and everything except time for ourselves; the “act of giving particular attention” or having “high or special regard” is seldom directed to ourselves.

To truly respect ourselves takes a great deal of work. We must first make the time to realize the necessity for it. Then we can take the next step to hold ourselves accountable to our values and beliefs. We must also be willing to listen, discern and accept change.
The most difficult step in this is to then act upon it; to make it happen with no second thought or regret of our decision

I believe this is when we truly earn respect for ourselves and why we are then inspired to show respect for others. Because we took time to realize its importance and then had the power to belief enough to act upon it.

We often give respect to someone who performed an unselfish act, for something we aspire to be, or for something that happened we would never wish upon ourselves or others. Over the last two years I have worked hard at all the above and I continue to do so daily, I respect myself today and I aspire to continue to work at this until my last breath.

This month we show our appreciation to Richard Palmer, as the focus of our Rio Family Matters section. To him I also show my respect and honor. Rich has spent his life in the Telecom industry, after retiring from US West (Qwest, now Century Link) I assume like many he realized his passion and dedication to his career. This inspired him to go back to work as a contractor and shortly thereafter he became an employee at Rio Networks.

During his employment at Rio, his wife was diagnosed with cancer, even more shocking she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. When this happened, naturally Rich gave his notice to Rio and his fellow employees, and devoted his every moment to his wife on her last days with him and her loved ones. Later Rich and his wife found out that the terminal cancer was misdiagnosed. Currently, Rich’s wife lives with cancer and our love goes out to them in hopes that she overcomes this serious illness as they live to enjoy many more years together with their love ones and friends.

My respect goes out to Rich and his family for what they have been through and their strength they have shown us all. Even more so, I respect Rich for the decision he has recently made to permanently retire and spend the rest of his life with his wife, and those most important to him.

Rich, you have left a permanent positive impression on all of us at Rio Networks and we respect and honor your desire to live life fully devoted to your wife and family, you are a wonderful and blessed Man.

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Roseburg, Ore. – April 11, 2013 – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: The definition for Integrity we often refer to is “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” The one we often have little time or perhaps choose unconsciously to ignore to reflect on within ourselves is “the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished”.

I would like to consider myself as somebody who is integrous, however over the last several years I have taken this to a whole new level. Instead of looking at this from outside in, I have recently determined that to truly understand and live an integrous life, you must look from the inside out.

To consider the way others may feel about your integrity does not make one whole but to truly be whole inside because you have integrity frees the soul.

Most of us are fortunate enough to have the key ingredients of integrity; ethical principles, morals and honesty, but as I looked deeper into myself I realized I did not exercise them every time all the time. As I continue to truly practice this “all the time, every time” commitment I have made to myself I realize that I have room for improvement, further that it is a daunting commitment. The reward is bountiful, as a result, I am whole, entire, grateful, undiminished and at peace with myself, more importantly with God.

Last month we recognized Scott Warren, this month we recognize Resha Cason, together we have made this “all the time every time” Integrity commitment to ourselves and going forward we hold each other accountable to this commitment. Like Scott, Resha is the salt of the earth, she lives far beyond herself, she has also rightfully earned the name “Mother Rio” and she is an “Incredible Mother”. I can count my true friends on my 10 fingers with room to spare and I am honored to have Resha Cason as one of them. True friends fall together and rise together, unfortunately we all fall from time to time, fortunately we have true friends that can pick each other up and rise together as well.

Resha is our Director of Customer service, though we have numerous daily wins at Rio Resha is not always notified of them, as a result she does not always get the chance to smell the Roses. On rare occasions we fall short of providing our customers with the superior level of customer service we set out to deliver, you can be assured if this is the case Resha will be involved. As humans it is not always easy to let go of the times we did not meet the high expectations we set for ourselves.

This month I would like you all to join me in acknowledging Resha Cason for beautiful person she is and the thoughtful things she does for her fellow employees and our 4,000 plus business and residential customers her and her team strives to provide superior customer service to.

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Roseburg, Ore. – March 11, 2013 – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Dedication is defined by vocabulary.com as “self-sacrificing devotion; complete and wholehearted fidelity; the act of committing yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a specific course of action.”

Many people do not understand the job requirements of a Telecom professional. To be truly successful in this industry one must live, eat, and breathe Telecom. Dedication is the word that best describes the work ethic of the people here at Rio Networks.

This month’s Rio Family Matters is focused on Scott Warren, and dedicated is – without a doubt – a great way to describe him. Since my arrival at Rio in May of 2007, there has not been a single day that Scott has failed to show his “self-sacrificing devotion and wholehearted fidelity” to our company, his fellow employees, and to our customers.

I would best compare Scott’s career to an ER doctor. Think about it…if your business or residence is without a telephone or internet service, it can feel like a life and death situation. 24×7 – 365 days out of the year, Scott insures that our customers have telephone and internet service – never looking for praise.

Great employees are a diamond in the rough and what makes Scott great comes from his upbringing, life experiences, choice to do the right thing and follow through on his values. He is a meat and potatoes guy; the salt of the earth. His motto says it best- “LET’S GET ER DONE!” I consider myself fortunate to also address Scott as a friend.

This month if you are one of those that had time to review our newsletter, please take a moment to do something out of the ordinary, give Scott a pat on the back for a job well done.

Thank you Scott, and all of the folks out there who are dedicated to their career. Without you, great companies like Rio Networks could not exist.

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Roseburg, Ore. – Feb. 11, 2013 – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Every year the fast paced, ever changing industry of Voice and Data communications brings us new and exciting technologies.

Last week I was driving to a rural location and the GPS on my cellular telephone was effortlessly guiding us there. My 8 year old son sitting in the passenger seat thought nothing of it; he knew nothing of the days without GPS.

I told him that when he was born, GPS was not something everyone had access to; then pulled a paper map out of the glove box and showed him how it used to be done.

I shared that not long ago we would have had to use the map prior to taking the drive; we would write the route to our destination on a piece of paper and off we went. The second option was to let Mom do the navigation, but I explained to him that she never seemed to use the same “pleasant voice” that the GPS did, especially on the long trips.

Looking at the paper map, he was amazed that we could figure out where to go by looking at all the little squiggly lines, let alone where to even begin.

Used in the right way, technology saves time, it makes us more efficient, and in most cases it even saves us money. In the case of having my wife give directions, it can even create peace where there may have not been without it. Simply put, as every year passes technology allows us to do more with less. Who knows, it could even allow an employee to succeed in a position that they may not have without it?

We would also like to take the time to introduce you to Mac Kay, he is a Business Sales Consultant for Rio Networks. He helps Southern Oregon customers find innovative solutions to meet their communications needs using Rio’s cutting edge products, such as our Hosted Business Voice Services.

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Roseburg, Ore. – Jan. 11, 2013 – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Good customer service is often recognized as the characteristic that defines the quality of a business relationship.

Our focus on the business community across the state has led to an industry leading 96% customer satisfaction score-and we deliver the same outstanding level of service to non-profits, government, and small to large businesses.

In the News Letter, we are also acknowledging a single employee each month, and we decided to start with Jessie Burdick. To learn more about each employee mention each month, simply click their name.

We realize that it is the opinion of you, our customers, that matters most and we want to hear from you! Please visit our Feedback page at http://rionetworks.com/i-want-to/leave-feedback/ and give us your thoughts about your experience with Rio Networks.

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