Friday, July 22, 2011

Aidmatrix COO Keith Thode's Trip Through Europe

Launching some of our new European investments, I had an amazing trip through Europe meeting with our existing partners and exploring new opportunities with them and with some new relationships.

In Bratislava, Slovakia, I met with Pavel Hrica and team from Pontis Foundation – one of our key clients in Central & Eastern Europe. Pontis is the leading nonprofit organization in Slovakia and went live with The Aidmatrix Network™ to manage their In-Kind/Corporate relationships. AT&T Professional Services and financial support was vital to launching this partnership. Please visit Pontis’ Aidmatrix portal at: http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org/SCMPublicPortal/States.aspx?ST=Pontis

Below is a picture of Pavel and me in the offices in Bratislava – planning the next steps of our partnership.



In Geneva, I had the pleasure of meeting several current and former partners. Below is a picture of Loic Cohen from CARE’s international logistics unit. Loic and I were First Responders together for Haiti. It certainly was a pleasure to spend time planning how to leverage those lessons from Haiti and other recent disasters to be even more effective next time.



The International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent societies is, by many measures, the world’s largest disaster relief organization. Aidmatrix has played instrumental roles with IFRC through the years, helping them and some of their national societies with technology strategy, logistics systems and fundraising. We look forward to supporting them in their next round of humanitarian supply chain innovations.



International Organization for Migration is a vital initiative dealing with relocating people stricken by disaster, war and other conflict. Mario Malanca leads the Preparedness and Response Division. He continues to push the organization towards innovative approaches to raise the impact of his organization for some of our world’s most vulnerable populations.



Oxfam International, headquartered in Oxford, UK – is one of the world’s most well-respected organizations. Below, Aidmatrix’ Shari Temple prepares for us to visit with some of the Oxfam leadership to exchange ideas and strategies for leveraging technology to help those in need around the globe.



I rounded my trip out with a visit to UK’s national foodbank network, Farehare. The group leverages Aidmatrix Warehouse Management solutions to manage the tracking and delivery of food throughout the country. We look forward to the expansion of the partnership with Fareshare and their highly professional staff into automating further elements of their supply chain. From there we plan on leveraging our combined platform to new and exciting applications for those in need.




While not part of Europe, upon my landing back in Dallas, Texas, I was able to participate in a “Welcome Home The Troops” event – something Aidmatrix has done in the past – among our other veterans’ initiatives here in the USA.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Welcoming Home the Troops at DFW Airport

One of the benefits or working in a smaller, family-style work environment like Aidmatrix is that we get to take group field trips. Our most recent of these trips was one of the more satisfying and fulfilling that I have had the opportunity to attend.

A small group of us, including our accountant / veteran John Gould, took a trip to DFW Airport to welcome home an Army flight back from Afghanistan. Office Manager Charlotte Medley had heard from friends and family about this incredible experience, and she wanted to share the experience with her Aidmatrix family.


When we arrived, the terminal was filled mostly with children, many of whom were on a field trip with their summer camp. The rest of the people were family and friends of the soon-to-be-arriving soldiers, other passengers arriving at DFW that waited around to greet the troops, and people like us, there to show their support.


With our American flags, American flag balloons and our handmade (by our great interns) signs, we stood behind the ropes and waiting for the troops to arrive. The troops arrived to cheers and applause, stopping to shake the hands of the older veterans at the front, then high-fiving all the kids as they exited the airport terminal into the arms of their family.

It was a great experience, one that I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.

-Graham Caywood, Program Specialist

Monday, July 11, 2011

Aidmatrix's Corporate Disaster Resource Network (CDRN) Portal Wins Best Social Impact Award of the PC Quest Best IT Implementation Awards 2011

Project with Maximum Social Impact: Aidmatrix Foundation - Corporate Disaster Resource Network

An online portal that provides the right aid and resources to the right people at the right time when disaster strikes

With a belief that those who serve people in need shouldn't have to sacrifice on the tools they use, Aidmatrix Foundation came up with CDRN. It's an online portal that helps bring people together with the use of applications for supply-chain management, volunteer management and fund raising. People can enter their needs, donations, products or supplies into the CDRN system, which is in turn accessed by a nationwide network of relief agencies, corporates, state Governments, federations, and PSUs. It allows donors to provide discounted pricing offers as well as donations directly to various relief agencies by viewing needs posted on the system.

Who all benefit?

NGOs benefit as they can spend less time on paper work and more on relief work. They can post their needs directly into the CDRN system, share information with other agencies and NGOs. This allows them to react quickly when disaster strikes.

Read the full story

Story written by Shumpy Saini