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ACIers in Munich, Germany, recently helped local schoolchildren start the new school year off right by distributing Schültuten—large paper cones filled with sweets, small toys, school supplies and other goodies—in their community with the help of local youth-focused nonprofit Die Arche. The German tradition of presenting children with a Schültute cone on their first day of school upon entering first grade dates back to the early 1800s. The act represents to children that their status is changing when they enter grade school. Schultüten cones, typically colorfully decorated, are given to children to help make their anxiously awaited first day of school a little sweeter and brighter from the start. ACI Munich’s on-site Schültuten event was organized by the local Employee Engagement squad and several ACIers participated in the fun. It has also been a tradition for the local team to bring their children into the office to help fill Schultüten cones. In total, the Munich team and their children prepared 60 Schultüten cones this year.
During the work week of August 19, the ACI Brazil Employee Engagement Council (EEC) organized Semana de Incentivo à Saúde e Atividade Física (in English, “Health and Physical Activity Incentive Week”) to inspire a practical focus on personal health and wellbeing for the local team. During the health-focused week, the local EEC coordinated several presentations around chiropractic, nutrition, meditation and aging-related topics. And in addition, ACIers were able to attend fun on-site fitness activities, including yoga, Pilates and dance classes. To close the week, on August 23, the team gathered for a site Appreciation Day to celebrate their collaborative environment while brainstorming their top ten goals for the next year. The Appreciation Day concluded with the local team participating in a delicious activity during which they had the opportunity to interact and have fun preparing their own pizzas with a variety of available toppings.
ACI GSD celebrates seventh anniversary In September, members of ACI’s Global Service Desk celebrated the technical support function’s seventh anniversary. GSD team members at ACI’s Pune site marked the anniversary by gathering for a celebratory cake and other members of the global team had a chance to think back on how the function has matured since its formation.
Omaha ACIers enjoy cycling fundraiser Twenty-two ACIers from the company’s Omaha, Nebraska, site – along with 20 of their family members – recently participated in the 29th annual Corporate Cycling Challenge (CCC) fundraising event that benefits the Eastern Nebraska Trails Network (ENTN). ACI’s 42-member team cycled a total of 946 miles and won its division for the fifth consecutive year. The team also finished a respectable fifth overall out of more than 50 teams across all divisions. In total, more than 3,500 riders participated in this year’s CCC.
ACI Timisoara lends a helping hand The ACI Timisoara team recently participated in a Habitat for Humanity weekend build event in Oradea, Romania. It took the team about three hours to travel to the site, where they helped build four houses for disadvantaged families in the area. In total, ACI Timisoara’s 18 volunteers placed more than 3,000 roof tiles atop the four houses and completed a number of other construction tasks. Last year, more than 400 ACI volunteers from nearly 20 ACI locations in eight countries participated in home-build events.
ACI Omaha hosts cornhole tournament and ice cream social Last week, ACI Omaha’s Employee Activities Committee organized an on-site team cornhole tournament. Cornhole is a lawn game in which players take turns throwing bags of plastic resin (or bean bags) at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. A bag in the hole scores three points, while one on the board scores one point. Play continues until a team reaches or exceeds the score of 21 by means of cancellation scoring. Seventy-four members of the local ACI team participated in the well-organized tournament, which saw 37 two-person teams compete in matches spread across three days. The tournament’s first two days were held outside where participants and spectators endured the Nebraska summer heat and humidity. On the tournament’s final day, the play moved indoors
ACIers celebrate Speedpay’s 100th next gen go-live On August 16, LoanMe validated their successful upgrade to Speedpay’s next generation platform, making the California-based lender the 100th customer brought live as part of the Bill Pay team’s multi-year migration effort. The next generation platform provides customers and their customers with a modernized bill payment solution while enabling ACIers to implement modifications, features and upgrades more simply and at highly accelerated speeds. The Speedpay team aims to complete the migration of their nearly 250 customers to the new platform by the end of 2020. Customers have praised the new platform for its configurability, as it allows the Speedpay team to leverage customizations from customers across the platform, and for the decreased time-to-market it allows.
1ACI crosses the finish at B2Run München 2019 Last month, ACIers from the company’s Munich and Salzburg sites, along with special invitee CHRO David Kuhl, participated in B2Run München 2019. B2Run is Europe’s largest corporate running series, with around 230,000 people taking part in 40 organized events held across 10 countries last year. This year’s Munich event saw more than 30,000 participants from around 1,500 companies run a 6.1-kilometer course leading to a finish line in Munich’s historic Olympiastadion. The ACI Munich site team has participated in the local B2Run since 2007 and several ACIers also attended this year’s run in support of their participating colleagues. B2Run originated in Germany and aims to provide businesses with a fun corporate activity that allows colleagues to build both team spirit and fitness. In preparation for the event, colleagues often become teammates and training partners, motivating and inspiring one another and building a sense of community that endures even once the race is over.
ACI Sydney makes a difference locally So far in 2019, ACIers in Sydney, Australia, have played a huge part in giving back to their community through fun and charitable activities. Each year, the site team partners with international non-profit Habitat for Humanity to support the organization’s mission of building simple, decent and affordable housing in disadvantaged areas. In May, the team visited building sites to provide hands-on assistance to Sydney residents in need. In another effort to make a positive impact locally, ACI Sydney also partnered with the Australia Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event, which aimed to raise money towards cancer research and to assist those suffering from cancer. During the teatime event, Sydney ACIers gathered for refreshments, raffles and games. And through generous contributions, the team managed to raise a total donation of $1,428 AUD (approximately $1,000 USD) for the initiative.
ACI Limerick enjoys summer wellness activity Every summer, ACIers in Limerick, Ireland, look forward to the site’s annual wellness program activity. The annual event typically includes physical challenges geared toward team building. This year, 90 ACIers from the site journeyed to King John’s Castle and the River Shannon, both Limerick landmarks, for a day of medieval and kayaking challenges that gave the team a different view of their beloved city. The medieval challenges included abseiling down the castle's walls, archery, and shipbuilding.
