Travel 416
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Kick-off meeting
The kick-off meeting is the time where team members get together, on the day before the group-corporation conference, to make plans regarding the conference. Things to keep in mind:
- Try to have a meal with your team members the night before.
- Make plans during the meal regarding what you will be accomplishing the next day, especially for the kickoff.
- Try to arrive at least 15 minutes early to your KickOff meeting.
- Research and study all relevant background information regarding your project (and understand it).
- Compare and discuss researched information with your team members.
- Have relevant questions, concerns, queries regarding the project.
- Propose making a team powerpoint presentation to your sponsor.
- The powerpoint should consist of back ground information about each team member (keep it brief).
- Be prepared to give feed back discussion to questions from your sponsor.
- Briefly discuss prepared questions and the project with Dr. Chuck before going to your KickOff Meeting.
- Go over appropriate dress for the meeting (i.e. shop clothes versus tuxedo); ask the company what dress codes are required.
Travel Request Form
Download and print out the travel request form from the MME Support Page.
Please note that this is NOT the travel request for student clubs.
Travel Request Form Directions
- Print out travel request.
- You can fill out one travel request for your entire group.
- In the name field, put the name of the project liaison.
- You must include the other students' names and student ID numbers in the notes section.
- Have your professor sign the bottom of the document to let Jan know that the professor knows that you are traveling.
- If you are driving state vehicles, put the drivers license numbers of those who are driving (2 per vehicle) next to thier student ID's.
- Submit completed form to Jan Danforth in the MME Office.
- Assume Jan has not received the document unless you have physically handed it to her, or confirmed, either in person or by phone, that she has received the form.
- If anything is time sensitive, make sure to politely let Jan know when you need to pickup the car, you need to leave, you need the tickets, etc,... when you submit the travel request to her so she can make arrangements ASAP.
- If time is a serious concern you must take the initiative to make all of the arrangements you can.
- Make sure it's ok with Jan if you can "help her" (key statement) to make travel arrangements so they can get done faster.
- After the travel request has been submitted, you can make motorpool arrangements. Only do this if Jan says it's ok.
- If you need to fly anywhere, research the best time and prices on travelocity.com, orbitz.com, or any other online pricing site.
- Make note of the airline, flight number, ticket price and time of flight.
- Contact Neely's Travel in Moscow. (They handle all of the departments flight arrangements.)
- Give them all of the information you've found, and they will research the information, submit an itinerary for your approval, and seek department authorization.
- Once finalized and approved, your itinerary can be printed from your email, and has all of the information for airline ticketing.
- If time is a serious concern you must take the initiative to make all of the arrangements you can.
Hotels
It's a good idea to do some research finding a hotel close to your sponsor, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area. Be familiar with the budget that you have for a hotel stay in that county, and plan accordingly. Per diem rates for food and lodging can be found here: GSA per diem rates Ensure you have a motel room reservation. Hotel rooms are purchased individually and reimbursed by the university. To get your reimbursements, click here: Reimbursement Forms Motel room costs should be around $50-$60 per person. Normally there should be two people per room. Guys and girls should not share the same room.
Rental Car Information
State Car
State cars are checked out through Jan in the main MME office. When you bring your travel request to Jan she will ask you what type of vehicle you will need. There are a range of vehicles that are available: from sedans, to minivans, to full sized vans. You will have to specify the days that you need the vehicle and the pickup and turn-in time. To pick up the vehicle you must head to the WSU Motor Pool on Grimes Way.
All state vehicles will come with a fleet gas card. You will get this when you check out the vehicle. Along with the card you will get a list of companies that you can purchase gas from. When you swipe the card at the gas station you will be asked to enter a pin number. The pin number is the license plate number. You do not have to show receipts for the gas you purchased when you return the vehicle. The state will get the bill directly from the gas station.
Rental Car Agency
Once you print off the travel form, fill it out, and submit it to Jan, she will reserve a car for you (most likely with Enterprise). You will receive a conformation email from her and from the car rental agency. NOTE: If you are under 25 or don't have a credit card (debit cards won't work), you cannot rent a van with Enterprise. However, anyone over 21 that has a debit or credit card can rent a full-size car. The card must be in the drivers name and the driver must have a current drivers license. When you rent the car, most agencies put a hold of approximately $300 on your account. It will be returned once you pay your bill. You will have to pay the bill yourself and show the receipt to Jan in order to be reimbursed.
Airport
Screening Procedure
For the latest information on Airport Security screenings visit the link below.
Airport Parking
For the latest parking rates and available lots visit the Spokane International Airport website via the link below. It should be noted that each lot has a specific method of payment for parking. Appropriate cash or credit should be prepared ahead of time for payment.
Planning
It is recommended that if traveling from Pullman to Spokane for a flight, you should leave Pullman no later than 3.5 to 4 hours prior to flight departure. This is to allow for traffic, security, parking and any other delay.
Ticketing
As Spokane is a smaller city, fewer choices for airlines are available. Be sure to check on the availability of flights. Below are the links to some of the currently available carriers.
Flight Status
Your travel companions can check your flight status on numerous websites, including FlightAware's Spokane page and FlightAware's Pullman page.
Meals
Paying for Food
At every meal each person should pay for their own food. Each person is allotted a specific amount of money per meal, not per day. Do not save receipts because you are on a per diem- straight from Jan herself.
Food Per Diem
Money for food is allotted per meal. The total amount of money you will receive will depend on the meals eaten while gone. If you have a question talk to Jan in the MME main office to find out how much money you are allotted for each meal of the day. This is a very good thing to find out before your leave.
Dress
Contact prospective company & have them define what type of environment your design group will be in, i.e. warehouse, factory or office building.
Warehouse/Factory attire - Business Casual - polo or button-up shirt with khaki pants or nice jeans (no holes/frays)
Business Facility/Office building - Black dress pants or skirt with button up shirt (tie optional)
- Do not wear sandals into warehouse/factory type facilities
Not To Bring
- No cell phones with cameras should be brought into facilities housing equipment or intellectual property.
- No Pocket knives
What to Bring
- Directions to Hotel from Airport/Pullman & from hotel to facility
- Your Resume
- Computer
- Cell phone - but not into company buildings
- Close-toed shoes
- Umbrella - if going to Seattle
- Credit Card - for hotel payment
- Extra set of clothes in carry-on luggage if traveling by plane
TOOTHBRUSH & DEODORANT
Project-Specific Advice
PSNS Tips
Personal
- Make sure to bring an original state birth certificate (with state stamp - photocopy not allowed) or a passport (basically, proof of US citizenship).
- Wear very very comfortable shoes.
- Wear business casual attire.
- Bring a writing utensil and note pad.
- Make sure you don't bring any type of recording device, i.e. camera phone, PDA, smartphone, IPod, or Blackberry.
- Make sure to get into Port Orchard before the town closes down at 9pm.
- Don't bring your backpack.
- The Marines are on duty, the safeties are off.
- Bring exact change for the walk-on ferry, if staying in Port Orchard, $1 each way.
Hotel
Make sure to confirm all reservation info so you don't end up paying for extra rooms. One group had 5 rooms reserved at the Port Orchard Comfort Inn. When they arrived, they only had 3 rooms for them. Make sure and specify how many beds you want in each room. They had given the other rooms to other guests before they had arrived.
If you stay at the Hampton Hotel in Bremerton driving directions to the hotel are provided below - the drive will take about an hour from the Airport to Bremerton (depending on traffic).
From the airport:
Take I-5 south to Tacoma (~ 25 miles)
Take the highway 16 exit right after Tacoma Dome. The sign should say Exit 132 Gig Harbor/Bremerton.
Stay on highway 16; it will cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and go approximately 30 miles until you see the Shipyard ahead on the right (at which point HW 16 is now HW 3).
Keep following the water (the HWY 304 E exit) until you get to the streetlight where the Shipyard power plant is on the right (you’ll see the big smoke stack). Go straight through that light and follow the road until you get to the intersection of Callow and Burwell. Go right onto Burwell and continue until you get to Pacific Avenue – take a right onto Pacific Avenue and get in the far left lane (right lane puts you on the ferry to Seattle). Follow Pacific Avenue down to 1st Street; take a left on 1st and then another left onto Washington Avenue. You’ll see the hotel on the right.
The hotel information is:
Hilton’s Hampton Inn & Suites Waterfront Hotel
150 Washington Avenue
Bremerton, WA 98337
(360) 405-0200
1-800-HAMPTON
www.bremertonsuites.hamptoninn.com
Planning
Don't expect the client to have a wealth of information waiting for you when you go on your site visit. Be sure to formulate a list of questions for the client prior to your site visit. This is the only way you are guaranteed to come out of the visit with a good idea of what the client expects. Our group was given a rather vague project description in our statement of work, and we expected to get a better idea of what was expected of us on our trip. Our trip mainly consisted of a site tour with very little business. When the lead engineer met with us, he asked us if we had any questions. When we said we had none, he wrapped up the meeting and sent us on our way. If you don't have questions prepared for moments like these, your site visit won't be as productive as you may have desired.
Phones/PDA's/Cameras/Memory Sticks
Similarly to Boeing, PSNS does NOT like any sort of data transferable hardware such as memory sticks and camera/PDA phones to be taken on site. This includes camera phones and PDA smart phones - if you have one, just give it to the security office and they will store it for you.
Arrival Time
If you plan to stay in the town of Port Orchard (directly across the water from PSNS) be aware that the town more or less shuts down at 8:30. One group arrived at 8 pm. By the time they were ready for dinner (around 8:30) there was only one restaurant open which allowed people under the age of 21 on the premise. Plan ahead if the group has not eaten dinner yet.
Boeing Projects
If you are traveling to Boeing in Seattle Thursday day to meet with them on Friday morning, you should find it fairly easy to get hotel rooms without making reservations prior to leaving. The Tukwila area had a wide range of hotels. They were all located about 5 miles south of where we met Boeing (Building 2-25) and were located around or near a "Family Fun Center".
If your meeting is at building 11-14 (Customer Service) there is a Red Lion Hotel across the street (Pacific Highway). Hotel phone number: 1-800-733-5456. Reservations should not be needed if arriving Thursday night.
If you're traveling to visit Boeing, make sure the person you make driving arrangements with knows you are driving all the way to Seattle and not just to Spokane to fly.
Cameras -Make sure each person has their own note pad to jot down notes and info given in the meeting. If you're thinking about bringing any sort of camera past any Boeing gate, make sure to call and ask if it is O.K. We brought a digital camera inside the gates and when they found out about it they had to confiscate it immediately.
Dress -Call to find out what sort of dress is wanted or is acceptable for your meeting. We were able to wear jeans and a polo shirt to ours, but some may require your dress to be more formal. No open-toed shoes are allowed, and only heels that are less than 2 inches tall and have a contact surface area of 1 inch squared or greater are allowed in certain parts of the production line. Be prepared to walk several miles.
Arrival Time -Seattle has a lot of morning traffic and accidents so leave your hotel a good 45 minutes to an hour prior to your scheduled meeting time to make sure you are there early. You will probably have to get name tags so that will take some time. Starting early is not a bad thing either. It just means you get to leave earlier, which is a plus if you aren't having a great time. This link contains a map of the Renton facility if that is where you are meeting your sponsor.
- If you are to meet at the Boeing Security Office in Everett, take the "Receiving" exit off the Highway 526, and follow the signs to the security office, or building number 40-402. Before you can enter the facility, you will have to get a security badge, which can take a long time! This office opens at 6:30 AM, so go early and get your badge if possible.
Proprietary Information -Any information that Boeing has is most likely proprietary. Don't expect to get any drawings or documents concerning your project. They will show them to you but you will not be able to take a copy with you.
FMC Foodtech
Once you arrive, first locate your hotel, then make sure that you have time to locate the company in which you are visiting prior to your meeting time. Keep in mind that traffic may be heavier in the morning, and manage your time accordingly. It was helpful to wake up early and have breakfast with the group. This gave us time to discuss what we wanted to accomplish, since some details may have been forgotten in the travel time.
Exit 13b on I-405 is a good place to find a hotel when staying in bellevue. It is a 15 minute drive from this area to FMC Foodtech.
Misc. Tips We would advise anyone who is a vegetarian to not take a project with FMC Foodtech, because you will be dealing with lots of raw chicken! It has been helpful to get to know your team members on a more personal level. Because this will help you better understand where everyone is coming from, and hopefully ease tensions when they reach a high near the end of the semester.
Genie Industries Projects
Hotel Information
Avoid making hotel reservations in far away suburbs. A wise tip is to stay the night in Redmond, because Genie will undoubtedly want you to arrive for a tour at 6:00AM. Getting up this early can be made easier by first visiting the Starbucks that is located on the main drag.
Redmond Inn is not great, but it's close to Genie. The "continental breakfast" is just a voucher for a free biscuit and a glass of orange juice. The family pancake house in the same parking lot is a great place to grab breakfast before the meeting.
Miscellaneous
Park in the visitors parking spaces and be sure NOT to back in to the space.
Recommended dress is blue jeans, collared shirt and steel toed shoes/boots.
Here is a link for a site map, and directions. http://www.genieindustries.com/service/pdf/geniemap.pdf
Precor
Hotel Information
The Comfort Inn is the cheapest motel in the area. It's 6 miles away from Precor. The address is 12202 NE 124th, Kirkland, WA, 98034. Because you are traveling north (away from downtown Seattle) to get to Precor in the morning, traffic shouldn't be too bad.
Dress casually for the tour of Precor as you will be walking through their manufacturing facilities. Jeans are fine, and make sure to wear comfortable shoes.