MSA SafetyWorks Weblog

5th Ave Marketing

rafaelsilvak — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:15:45 +0000

So we were around Times Square, just checking out everything in Downtown NYC, when we saw the Batmobile driving up and down 5th Ave. What a great way to market the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, that was coming out the next day. All this marketing sparked something in me, and the next day it was not the Batmobile that was stealing everybody’s attention on 5th Ave, it was The Safety Bug and the colorful MSA Safety Works Durango! We drove both cars up and down 5th ave and WOW did we get some looks!!

-Rafa

Horror Stories at the Depot

natalieiovino — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:57:07 +0000

Yesterday while working at the Home Depot in New Haven, I heard so many stories about the injuries that occured for multiple people working on home projects. I was talking to a man about how MSA safety glasses are made up of high-impact polycarbonate. He told me that a buddy of his was shooting at polycarbonate with a gun; it bounced off the polycarbonate and hit him directly in his right eye. I guess it goes to show how strong that material really is! Another guy was using a staple gun, without eye protection, and the staple missed and shot up in his eye! He then told me that doctors had to literally stitch his eye ball!!!! AHHH talk about horror story!

Steeling New Haven

shalasowski — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:06:49 +0000

Whenever I leave the house in anything less than a turtleneck and long pants, my parents tell me that I am going to attract the wrong kind of attention and request that I change immediately. Yesterday at the Home Depot, I decided to try a little experiment to see what kind of attention, if any, I would draw dressed a little differently than usual.

I put on, in Connecticut, the Pittsburgh Steelers hard hat. Not only did I draw a bit of attention, many more people stopped to talk to me. While this may not exactly be the way that I should draw a crowd to our table, it certainly worked. Not only was it a great way to bring people closer, it also allowed me to speak more about the company and the tour, where we started, the different products we carry, etc.

Another great thing, if any New England Patriots fans were to come after me while in my Steelers garb, my head certainly would have been protected.

-Sophie

4 A.M.

rafaelsilvak — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:52:00 +0000

So our bosses and coordinators always tells us that for marketing and promotion purposes, to drive our famous and distinguished cars during the day because that is when the most people get to see them. I must say, they have always been right, all the way, but yesterday…they were wrong.

It was 4 a.m. when the fire alarm went off in the hotel. All 367 rooms were rushed to the front parking lot where the Safety Bug happened to be parked! The people were gathered all around the bug! Everybody had confused looks on their faces. Who knows if this was from waking up at 4 in the morning, or from how unique our Safety Bug looks….but one thing we do know, this was great marketing and promotion for MSA Safety Works at 4 am. Who would have thought?

-Rafa

Safe kids!

rafaelsilvak — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:20:04 +0000

Well, today at the Home Depot, not only the adults were worried about being safe, but some kids also showed some concern for the hazards and decided to wear some of our safety glasses and pose with the Safety Bug!

Here is your picture kids, just as promised!

4 Safe Kids and the BuG!

-Rafa

Providence? Or the Sahara?

shalasowski — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:34:53 +0000

I should have known that yesterday was going to be a scorcher when I went jogging at 7 a.m. and it was already above 80 degrees. We left about an hour earlier than we normally do because we were changing cities, relocating from Boston to Providence. Even though the drive was so short, I fell asleep and woke up when we arrived at The Home Depot. At this point, I could have sworn that I fell asleep and woke up in the Sahara desert. The store was on top of a plateau-like hill, so we could really see nothing around us. Heat rose up from the asphalt, making everything appear very hazy. If Natalie told me that we drove to somewhere along the equator, I probably would have believed her; it was that hot outside.

The heat must be to blame for the lack of customers at the store yesterday, however, buzzing was a bit different. Jordan and I decided to drive around the college campuses and surrounding neighborhoods to buzz, and were very lucky when we went to Brown. It appears that the entire campus is being rebuilt in a project called “Building Brown”. Yesterday, it was more like “Buzzing Brown,” though. We found so many people working outside without any protective eyewear whatsoever! And it was just around noon, when the sun is at it’s highest point and was most likely to cause eye damage! Thank goodness the Safety Squad was there to let everyone know how unsafe their behavior was and provide eyewear with 99.999% UV protection.

While there are definitely not torrential downpours in the desert this time of year, it certainly looked like it had monsooned on us, when, in reality, it was just sweat. At least I got a good farmer’s tan.

Sophie

Sweaty Interview…literally

natalieiovino — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:59:44 +0000

Today we had PR in Providence, R.I.! Once again, I was nominated to do the interview with NBC Channel 10. Unfortunately, it was a bizillion degrees outside and I basically sweat my body weight…just in time for a news interview! The reporter was really nice and seemed interested in our products and our demonstration. While I was doing the interview, I was praying that he wouldn’t zoom in on my sweaty face, haha! So I hope I don’t look like a mess on camera : )

The Famous “Safety BUG”

ashleymillerlusk — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:22:48 +0000

Well, it’s a little more than halfway through our tour and high time we started posting. What better way to start off our blog then talking about the most noticeable aspect of our tour, the car! Whether you love or hate the way our little safety bug looks, there is no denying that it gets a lot of attention. There is one particular occasion that comes to my mind, when we got a tremendous response to the vehicle. Rafael and I were approaching a tollbooth on our way to Cleveland and the attendant completely flipped out when she saw the mobile hardhat approaching. I wish I had a video camera handy to capture her reaction. She radioed another attendant to come see and we had a fifteen minute conversation at the tollbooth about the car, our job and MSA’s products. Luckily there was no line behind us. Of course not everyone loves the safety bug. I’ve been told, “that’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen” and “aren’t you embarrassed to drive that?” But either way, it is a great conversation starter and definitely helps us convey our message. This is Breanna posing with the Safety Bug.

First stop at Chi-city!

natalieiovino — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:56:54 +0000

Hope everyone is enjoying our blog and your Independence Day! The tour has been a blast so far, I just want to say a little something about our time in Chicago.

I have never been to Chicago, so it was a new venture for me and the other safety squaders. For starters, the drive to Chicago was delightful with my girl Sophie, however, the GPS took a little vacation and drove us through the lovely town of Gary, Indiana. Sophie and I considered Sam’s Meats, a local deli, for lunch, but due to the recent breakout of salmonella in the U.S., we held back our hunger. Finally we were in Chicago–our first Home Depot was very urban, considering the diversity, but luckily we had Rafael to be our Spanish translator, while the rest of the squad busted out a few high school Spanish vocab. We found some great little back roads to “Buzz” in. The people were very grateful and a lot safer!!!!! The best day for the Safety Squad was our last day at the True Value vendor show (free food) jk… We gave away Chicago Bears Hard Hats!!! It was really cool how responsive people were to our demo and display.

The city life, whether it was shopping, mostly eating EVERYTHING, or Second City comedy club, was a great way to jump start out tour

Cleveland Lemonade

rafaelsilvak — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:54:39 +0000

So we continue to our next stop. It was a long drive all the way from Chicago to Cleveland and all through the drive we were stopping to get something to drink, refuel ourselves and keep going. We finally made it to Cleveland.

The next day, we visited The Home Depot and then two of us went to “buzz” and make neighborhoods safer. It was a hot day and there were tons of people working outdoors either mowing their lawns, installing new stairs, or fixing their windows. All of a sudden, we see a man cutting the grass (without saftey glasses) and right next to him were his children and a lemonade stand. We had to stop! We were really craving some of that ice cold lemonade but had no cash with us at the time. We made everyone at the scene aware of the hazards they were facing and gave them some nice tips on how to prevent it too! They were so thankful for our stop, that they decided to give us free lemonade!!! It felt great to enjoy the ice cold lemonade on the hot day! What a great day buzzing!!