TVA Today:
Daily news for employees

Friday, September 26, 2003

TVA Again Ranks Among the Top Innovators in Information Technology

For the fourth consecutive year, TVA has been ranked among the top 500 information-technology innovators in the country by InformationWeek, a magazine that covers business-technology issues.

TVA is ranked 137 in the magazine’s annual survey of thousands of U.S. companies.

TVA ranked sixth in the energy-and-utilities category ahead of 23 other companies, including Entergy and the Southern Co., which placed 11th and 20th, respectively. Halliburton Co. took the top spot in this category.

This year’s participants were again asked to complete a comprehensive survey that included questions about technology deployment, IT budget, technology strategies, E-business and customer-knowledge initiatives, and staff management. Companies also could submit essays that highlighted their achievements in the past year.

The complete list of InformationWeek 500 rankings is available on the magazine’s Web site at http://www.informationweek.com/956/rank01.jhtml.

In its latest issue, the magazine features an article about how Mother Nature continues to test utilities and energy companies. The article includes comments from TVA’s IS Senior Vice President Diane Bunch. (Note: The article incorrectly says TVA has upgraded 4,000 desktops to Windows/Office XP. The correct figure is 14,000.) That article is available online at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=14800185.

Chattanooga Engineers Club Meeting Monday

The Chattanooga Engineers Club meeting on Monday, Sept. 29, will be a tour of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga’s new Engineering, Math & Computer Science Building at the corner of Vine and Palmetto streets. UTC’s Phil Kazemersky will lead the tour.

Participants should meet in the building’s plaza area at 12:15 p.m. and use the entrance on the west side of the building. The tour is scheduled to conclude by 1 p.m. Comfortable shoes are recommended. More information about the building is available at http://www.utc.edu/homenews/emcs.html.

About 18 to 20 parking spaces will be available in the lot behind the building, accessible from East Fifth or Palmetto Street. CEC members can park there with a pass from Kazemersky. Additional parking is available at Engel Stadium. A shuttle bus that runs by the building on Palmetto is available from the stadium. Another option is the parking garage (a pay lot) on East Fifth.

Those with questions or needing more information should call Brad Baucom at 648-3582 or e-mail him at bradbaucom@comcast.net.

Meeting of Project Management Group Oct. 2

John Schlichter, founder and CEO of Organizational Project Management, will speak at the Chattanooga Chapter of the Project Management Institute meeting Thursday, Oct. 2. The meeting will be from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Chestnut Room of the Radisson Read House at 827 Broad St. in Chattanooga.

Schlichter is an internationally recognized standards expert in project, program and portfolio management.

The cost of the dinner meeting will be $20, payable at the door. Anyone planning to attend should make a reservation no later than Tuesday, Sept. 30, by calling or e-mailing Charlcie Click (751-7603) or Michael Collins (751-8351).

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Today

• “Downtown United for United Way” hot-dog cookout, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., West Tower Plaza, Knoxville. The menu will include two hot dogs, chips and a drink for $5. Popcorn will be free, and ice cream will be sold for 50 cents. See the Sept. 15 TVA Today in the archives for more information.
• Weekend Academy dinner to honor founding board member Sarah Moore Greene, 5:30 p.m., the Foundry, Knoxville. Contact: Lisa McClain 632-3113.

Monday, Sept. 29

• Downtown Speaker’s Connection meeting (a Toastmasters club), 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., WT 9D-225, Knoxville. Contact: Greg Strach, 632-6953.

Tuesday, Sept. 30

• TVA open house on proposed new power line and substation to upgrade power supply and improve reliability in Etowah, Tenn., area. The open house will be from 3-7 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 219 County Rd. 890, Etowah. See the Sept. 17 TVA Today in the archives for more information.
• Chattermasters meeting (a Toastmasters club), 11:45 a.m., Missionary Ridge (MR 1 N403), Chattanooga. Club purpose: To develop skills and confidence in public speaking. Contact: Marie Colson, 751-2098; Chattermasters Web site: http://www.nonprofitpages.com/chattermasters.