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Communications Connection Summer 2013
Welcome to the Communications Connection. Please forward articles of interest to your friends and family and contact us with any ideas or questions using the email link above.
Customer Feature
What can residents do with Solarus –
spotlight on Tonya Hawke
Tonya Hawke has been a Solarus customer for 15 years. She runs her photography business out of her home. thawkephotography.com
“I operate a desktop and a laptop to keep in contact with my clients. I operate a home-based photography business. Not having any set hours I am always in contact via Internet or by phone. I use the Internet to upload all of my clients’ portraits to my website. Once they are loaded, my clients can view instantly and they can share with friends and family that are miles away. I use social media sites to post previews for my high school senior portraits so they can have an instant view of their pictures. I am also able to email their yearbook photos quickly and in high resolution without a problem.”
“I have also recently started volunteering at the South Wood County Humane Society. They have so many animals there in need of adoption. I donate my time there to take photographs of the animals and upload them to the SWCHS director that evening.”
“Most of my files are rather large and it would take up to an hour to load 30 or more photos. Now with the new MediaShower Internet speeds I can upload those photos in only 15 minutes. This is huge for me since the faster I can get those pictures to the humane society and get them posted, the faster these animals find homes. Anytime I photograph an event that has a large amount of images to upload, I am grateful for having a high speed internet to load them fast.
I choose Solarus for my services because I have always been with them. They have always given me great service and have been there to help me whenever I had a question. I also think that it is important to help local businesses. Being one myself I know how important it is to the entire community.”
MediaShower Update
So many features, have you had time to try them all?!
The roll-out of MediaShower continues to cover Central Wisconsin, heading into Port Edwards, Nekoosa and the Town of Rome this summer. Over 4,000 cable customers are enjoying the many features of MediaShower TV. Have you taken advantage of the many services that are included with your service? Enjoy all of the local channels in HD. Watch programs after they have aired with time-shifting. And enjoy a full library of Video on Demand content, including many programs that are free!
Time-Shifted Channels
Did you miss the end of the Late Show with David Letterman last night because you fell asleep? Just rewind and see everything you missed. On channels with the time-shifting feature you can view programming up to 24 hours in the past. With MediaShower TV, you receive seven channels with the time-shifting feature. And this is a free feature!
To use this feature simply go into the guide, find the channel and scroll back in time to find the program you want to watch. As long as the program was at most 24 hours prior to the time you want to watch, then you can select the program and watch it from the start. While you are watching the program you can pause, rewind or fast forward just as if you were watching a recording.
The time-shifted channels are: 7 CBS, 9 ABC, 11 FOX, 13 NBC, 341 TNT, 380 USA, and 401 ABC Family.
Classes & Events
In conjunction with the MediaShower roll-out, Solarus is hosting several classes on using the service and events to provide information on the service. We hope to see you at our upcoming classes and events!
July 30, MediaShower Block Party at the Rafters Game – join us for Solarus Night at Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids. All fans will receive Rafters Baseball Cards. Stop by the MediaShower booth to learn more about all of Solarus’ great services.
July 30- Aug. 4, Wisconsin Valley Fair – Solarus will keep you connected while you attend the fair in Wausau with a free wireless connection in the exhibit area. Stop by our booth for great prizes.
Aug. 3- MediaShower Block Party at the “Kick Start Your Heart” kickball tournament – Solarus will have games and prizes at the kickball tournament that will be held at Mead Field to raise money for Riverview Health Care Foundation.
Aug. 8- Open House & MediaShower University – Stop by the Solarus office, 440 East Grand Ave. in Wisconsin Rapids any time to learn about MediaShower, HomeMonitoring and all of our other services. MediaShower University will be at 9 a.m., providing tutorials on all of the features. There will be prizes and goodies all day.
Business Spotlight
What can your business do with Solarus?
Solarus wants to join your team to help your business grow. When you call on us, here is what you get:
A team of experts – from your account representative to the crew installing your equipment to the technicians managing your services, you receive help from the most knowledgeable crew around.
A one-stop-shop – Solarus is your total solutions provider covering your phone system, data network, Internet, maintenance and upgrades, long distance calling, a managed network and much more.
A local technical support center – our technical assistance center is located in Wisconsin Rapids and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (even on holidays).
A dedicated Internet connection – You pay for a broadband connection and you get one that is just for you to use. Our competition provides shared connections to its customers, so the bandwidth is shared. At Solarus you get what you pay for.
When it comes to Solarus business services we are a different animal. Let us show you how we can help your team find success!
Learn more at SolarusHostedIP.net
Community Spotlight
What can the community do with Solarus –
spotlight on The Kiwanis Club of Wisconsin Rapids
This year, the Kiwanis Club of Wisconsin Rapids is celebrating its 85th anniversary. Over the course of those many years the club has focused on enhancing the community by caring for its children.
“When you give a child a chance to learn, experience, dream and succeed, great things will happen,” said Lisa Welling, Kiwanis Club president.
Kiwanis International was founded in 1915. Today, the Wisconsin Rapids Club is one of nearly 15,000 clubs worldwide, comprised of over 600,000 members. Currently there are 23 members in the local club. Solarus is a proud sponsor of the efforts and events of the club.
The Wisconsin Rapids Kiwanis Club has a long tradition of celebrating the children of our community through various programs and scholarships. Each year, the club provides a scholarship to a graduating senior. The Kiwanis Club also recognizes a student each month. The group hosts several fundraisers throughout the year to support these efforts including selling food at Lunch by the River, the Peanut Sale and other events.
The club also hosts its signature event each summer and winter.
The Wisconsin Rapids Kiwanis Club wanted to develop a program designed to give children and their families the opportunity to experience the great Wisconsin Recreational opportunities. This is done annually at the Summer and Winter Youth Outdoors Day. The Summer Youth Outdoors Day is held the first Saturday in June and the winter event is held on the third Saturday in January. This year over 230 children and their families participated in the Summer Event at Lake Wazeecha. Activities included fishing, water skiing, rock climbing, turkey calling, compass reading, trap shooting, Musket Shooting, canoeing and much more.
“The intention was to get the children active and hopefully engage families to live a healthy lifestyle,” Welling said.
The Kiwanis Club of Wisconsin Rapids meets bi-weekly at its clubhouse in Kellner. If you are interested in joining the group, stop by a meeting or call Kiwanis Club President Lisa Welling at 715-570-6017.
Employee Spotlight
Rhonda Kester
Name & Job Title:
Rhonda Kester, Accounting Clerk
Family Facts:
I have two daughters, Allison (Seann) and Erin (Ryan), one son Joseph (Annie) and two grandchildren, Wyatt and Olive
Hobbies & special interests:
I enjoy Bible study, particularly Bible prophecy. I am a homebody and enjoy things like cooking and bread baking (always in pursuit of that ultimate crusty bread recipe!) I also enjoy learning about natural health and natural healing. I love to read.
What do you like best about your job and working at Solarus?
I have always been very thankful for my job at Solarus. I enjoy the occasional challenges as well as the daily routine. And, like many have said before me, it is the people at Solarus I enjoy. I feel very fortunate to be associated with this great group of co-workers and for the friends that I have made here.
Connect With Us:
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