Almost one year ago today I wrote a blog piece about gap intelligence’s new experiment on health insurance. gap intelligence, like millions of other small companies across the country, kept a very close eye on expenses as the global economy came to a grinding halt. Health insurance was one of our biggest expenses and we were challenged to find a way to reduce our overall health care costs while maintaining the same level of coverage for the team.

After deliberating for several months, most insurance brokers suggested that we adopt a new approach to health care that was growing exponentially in popularity – a Health Savings Account (or HSA for short). In its most simplistic form, a HSA is a bank account that is really no different than a personal checking account – you receive a debit card to withdraw funds to pay medical bills and you get a monthly statement showing your balance. The HSA account is then supported by a very high deductible health insurance plan, which is in our case provided by Blue Shield of California. Through the plan, 100% of the deductible (several thousand dollars) is paid by the employee, who uses the pre-tax funds collected in their HSA accounts. After the deductible had been reached, 100% of every dollar thereafter would be covered by Blue Shield of California. Given that gap intelligence is a relatively young company and whose employees would presumably need minimal medical attention, the HSA plan seemed then (and to an extent is today) an ideal solution to ease our budget. Our health insurance premiums would decrease substantially, our employees could save on taxes and keep a medical fund for life, and everyone would be covered in case of a dire emergency.

This May is our annual renewal of our health insurance policy and to celebrate or first anniversary, Blue Shield of California raised our premiums by 58%. You read that right – 58%. A premium that cost us $100 a month in April will cost $158 in May (underline that). Blue Shield’s reasoning behind the massive rate increase was that diabetics, who require expensive insulin medication to stay alive, quickly gobbled up their high deductibles and then enjoyed 100% coverage of every dollar thereafter.***   In other words, people were actually using their health insurance.

Though “it’s the diabetics” was the reason given for our rate increase, the underlying reasons may be do to health care reform, the astronomical costs of medicine in the US, a national shortage of doctors (and medical schools), malpractice insurance, malpractice fraud, and so on…..

With few viable options presented to us, gap intelligence is going to stick out the HSA program one more year. Blue Shield was forthright enough to warn us that its policy to cover 100% of costs after the deductible was reached will end in 2011, when it will then fall to 80%. Between now and then, we’ll look at other health care options, either through Blue Shield or other providers (Blue Shield may cut us after this blog), but I did want to share some of the challenges of being a small business and perhaps show an example of how health care impacts us all (without getting on either side of the political fence).

For the insurance agents who are reading this blog (I know you are) and have a recommendation – please feel free to ping me directly here:

Oh, and if you know or happen to meet a diabetic – rising health insurance costs is their fault and they should be scolded.

***It should be noted that no current member of our team is diabetic and that the affliction has ZERO influence on our hiring practices.

Gap turned 7 last month!

The first half of our birthday started with a company kick-off meeting.  We discussed who Gap Intelligence is, how we can get stronger, and some of the exciting stuff in the pipeline (DCV3, the Gap iPhone App for retail collectors, and new categories).  We move fast as a company and it’s always cool to reflect on how much we’ve grown, even within the last several months.

When I was a kid, turning 7 meant that I got my first pair of roller blades and a new ninja turtles VHS.  But most importantly, it meant I was allowed to invite friends over for all-you-can-eat pizza, fruit snacks, juice boxes, and a trip to the arcade!  As it turns out, there is an arcade for “grown-ups” today and we got to celebrate Gap’s birthday in style.  After the company meeting, we went to Dave and Busters, which has awesome food and all the arcade staples: Mrs. Pac-Man, Skee-Ball, mini basketball, and air hockey.

There were only two things that reminded me that I wasn’t a kid: I had a beer instead of a juice box and the air hockey puck kept flying off the table.  I guess it’s a good sign that I’m now slightly stronger than I was in first grade. Overall, it was a good time and a fun way to welcome the new Gapsters to the team.

Hi everyone! My name is Trisha Weinberg and I just joined the gap intelligence team as an intern.  I’m so excited to have found an opportunity like this to work in the field of public relations. I am currently a communication major hoping to transfer to UCSD this fall.  If there is one thing I’ve learned so far about finding the perfect career, it’s that the key to success is gaining experience.  I’m not sure what I want to do for a living and I don’t quite know when I’ll figure that out, so this internship is an ideal way to help me on my journey.

I’m originally from San Diego, a city I’ve come to love and appreciate so much more as I’ve gotten older. Maybe it’s because the majority of my time in LA for school last year was spent sitting in my car stuck in traffic! All I can say is I’m happy to be home; San Diego has everything I need and more.

In my spare time I like to read, shop, eat, attempt to cook, watch movies, and the list goes on. I have recently discovered the real joys of college thanks to my new favorite class, Wines of the World.  I’m nowhere near a true aficionado but I have my hopes up. I also enjoy spending time with my friends and family as well as meeting new people and going new places. I love traveling and would eventually like to set out abroad; I’ll go anywhere at this point (preferably a nation with good wine!)

At this point in my life, I just want to have fun with everything I do and be happy. I am very lucky to have found an internship here at gap intelligence so I only hope I will bring as much to this company as much as it gives me!

Hello everyone, my name is Adrienne Akre and I’m the newest intern here at gap intelligence! I’m excited to be here and looking forward to sinking my teeth into this PR thing. I just started my final quarter at UCSD, where I am majoring in sociology. I know, it seems strange that I’m a sociologist interning for a marketing intelligence company, but after spending four years in the field, I’ve decided to give sociology a break. So basically, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do in life.

I found gap through UCSD’s Academic Internship Program and instantly thought it sounded like a fantastic opportunity. I am hoping to learn as much as I can and give as much back to gap as possible.

I was born and raised right here in San Diego. After living in Marin County up in Northern California for a year, I realized that my heart was still in SD and I truly am a So-Cal girl. I live in Coronado with my boyfriend, almost six-year-old daughter (wow, time flies), and three crazy dogs. In my spare time, I like to relax with friends and family and try to get to the beach as much as possible, which is a lot when you live on an island. Much to my boyfriend’s dismay, living in Northern California gave me a taste for Indian food, so don’t be surprised if you catch the faint scent of curry as you pass by me! I’ll make sure to gargle after lunch, though!

Other than that, I’m just so grateful to have been given the opportunity to get my feet wet in the PR and marketing world. I’m thrilled to be here and hope to get to know everyone at gap very soon!

With the official onset of the spring season and semester, gap intelligence’s internship program is in full swing again! The department consists of two new enthusiastic and bright interns, Adrienne and Trisha (check out their blogs!), who will help to manage the public relations department here at gap.

gap intelligence’s internship program was first launched about a year ago. Now, in its second year, the interns are taking on more responsibilities and coming up with creative ways to help gap intelligence bloom. Like the Iris and Daffodil buds pushing up through the dirt, the PR department has grown into a full garden of its own.

You can expect to see more buzz circling around the highly-anticipated new Data Center Version 3 (DCV3), which will be jam-packed full of new goodies such as a quick stat section, news articles, a comments section, product life cycle tracking, and the freedom to contact any gap intelligence analyst with the push of a button.

Socially, gap intelligence’s Twitter site will be fluttering about with interesting industry-related facts, while gap intelligence’s Facebook will be getting a lot more company face-time as well…no pun intended.

gap intelligence’s internship program isn’t about coffee runs, faxing or filing, but instead focuses on the company’s PR initiatives and the interns themselves. Our goal is to give our interns valuable experiences as well as allow them to grow individually and professionally as they make valuable contributions to our company.

Our internship program is off to a fresh start this quarter and we are excited to welcome Adrienne and Trisha to gap intelligence, and look forward to working with each of them!

To check out gap intelligence’s posts, please visit our social media sites:

http://www.twitter.com/gapintelligence

http://www.facebook.com/pages/gap-intelligence/121745396019?ref=ts

It is absolutely inexcusable that I have not told you about the 2009 Hirooka Awards (third annual) – a night filled with celebrity, style, and fashion! The Hirooka Awards is the night for gap-ians to celebrate our accomplishments both as a team and highlight those individual achievements that helped make the year so great.

The 2009 Hirooka Awards were hosted last December (should have been blogged a long time ago) at the glamorous House Blues in downtown San Diego, California. Our celebrities walked down the red carpet, talked to the hordes of curious press, and posed for thousands of paparazzi snaps along the way. The evening started by some special “gap university” awards – for those whose experiences through 2009’s global economic downturn earned them a MBA. Master’s of Business Administration degrees to Tom Foster, Sarina Dahukey, Jake Fishman, Michelle Cowan, and Chris Barnes!

While everyone at gap is a winner, here is a break down of this year’s Hirooka Award winners!

Rookie of the Year: Gurpreet Kaur (Market Analyst)

PT Players of the Year:
Deron Kershaw (Research Analyst)
Taryn Popplewell (System Ops)
Christine Abuyen ( Research Analyst)

Quote of the Year: Laurel Popplewell (System Ops)

Writer of the Year: Sarina Dahukey (Senior Analyst)

Presenter of the Year: Jake Fishman (Senior Analyst)

Leadership Award: Katie Hess (System Ops)

Can’t Live Without You Award: Nicole Manko (Market Analyst)

Crawl to Sprint (fast learner): Joshua Stone (Research Analyst)

Smells Like Team Spirit Award: Laurel Popplewell (System Ops)

The Sarina Dahukey Most Organized Stamp Collection Award (most organized desk)
Erin Vogelsanger (System Ops)

Best Dressed: Nicole Manko (Market Analyst)

Nickname of the Year: Gurpreet “Goopie” Kaur

People’s Choice: Michelle Cowan (Systems Manager)

Most Valuable Player: Michelle Cowan (Systems Manager)

Congratulations to our Hirooka Award winners and good luck to our 2010 nominees!

What’s up blog fans, my name is Keenan Thomson and I recently joined on as Gap’s new Market Research Assistant. I’m originally from Cape Cod, MA, and I spent my time through high school and college in the New England area. I graduated from Babson College in ’08 with a degree in Business Management, and I’m especially interested in business development. Over the years I have helped family and friends start or grow their own businesses, and I’m excited to apply my entrepreneurial passion here as well.

I moved to San Diego at the beginning of February in need of a change and better weather. I enjoy anything that involves the outdoors. I’ve played lots of different sports throughout my life, and yes, I am a fan of any team from Boston.  Currently I’m playing for a local rugby club and I want to learn to surf; however, my real passion is fishing. During my last year in Boston I started my own business fishing for giant bluefin tuna (that’s the good stuff for you sushi lovers). I have yet to go out on the west coast, but I hope to make time this summer. My goal is to land a black marlin, Cabo anyone?

When I’m not working or enjoying time on the ocean you’ll find me tasting fresh dishes, watching a classic movie (Anchorman included), or looking for something new to try. I love sharing what I’m excited about and learning new things from others.

I feel extremely lucky to have found such a great place to work in a new city.  This isn’t just because it’s a really productive and fun place to work, but I’ve taken my love of burritos to the next level thanks to Deron, and my interest in surfing San Diego is finally a reality thanks to a loaner board, complements of Jake.  I really look forward to getting to know my fellow Gappers better.  Everyone has made me feel at home, and I’m eager to help Gap continue its success!

As proclaimed many times on this blog, we don’t have huge reserves of marketing and advertising funds at our disposal. You won’t see television ads about gap intelligence, you won’t see our amazingly detailed market intelligence databases touted on the back of the New York Times, and we can’t afford to hire Lebron James as a spokesperson (Lebron, if your reading, I have a crisp $50 bill with your name on it). Our promotional efforts are limited, but when we do broadcast the gap intelligence name, we go all out.

Our Holiday Card has become a long standing tradition at gap intelligence. D.A.R.Y.L. psp We don’t send the bulk Hallmark card with a snowflake on the cover. Instead gap intelligence loves to use the Holiday Card to show our clients and partners the lighter side of the company. We hope to capture our company’s unique personality and show the people behind the numbers and analysis.

The 2009 Holiday Card shoot took place last week in Balboa Park, located near downtown San Diego and home to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. Balboa Park is one of the most scenic and photographed spots in San Diego, perhaps one of the most picturesque cities in the country. The theme for this year’s card is “Abbey Road” (thank you Christine for the idea) and we envisioned groups of four strolling across El Prado just as the Fab Four did on their famous album cover.

Below are some the outtakes from the days shoot.

Buster movie full Mio nome è Nessuno, Il ipod If impressed with the photography, please hire Emily Sandifer of www.sandiferphotography.com. She is an absolutely amazing artist who captured the spirit of gap intelligence.

I called this picture “Abbey Road on Steroids” as we all performed a perfectly synchronized jump.

The End of America video The stunt caused such a scene that passing tourists could not help but snap pictures for themselves.

All aspiring musical groups share a common album cover theme as each musician gazes far away from the camera lens as if they are pondering a deeper tomorrow. In the spirit of recreating a classic album cover, we posed on the roots of a massive tree for our “Boy Band Cover”. Take a deep breathe and be inspired by the vast emptiness of the skies above….

This outtake is the Abbey Road theme gone out of control. Balboa Park is also home to the Organ Pavilion, a massive stage that is open to the public. Katie took the mic as the “gap Rock Band” lead singer and was backed by a full chorus, dueling guitars, a sax, and drummer. Waitress movie download Sarina, Nicole, Josh, and I took to the stage as adoring fans.

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Look out for the published card this December – to request a card, please send your mail address to info@gapintelligence.com.

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It all started exactly a year ago with a one liner email to Gary which said “Is there any email id wherein I could apply for a job position?” Batman & Robin buy Seed hd and an equal one liner response : “this is the one”. Beneath the Planet of the Apes video download Heavy Metal 2000 dvd .

I am Gurpreet Kaur and recently joined gap intelligence, moving from India. I first learned of gap when I was working with HP DSAS

(the analytics wing of HP!!!) out of Bangalore, India supporting the Imaging and Printing Group North American Marketing team.  As a client I would regularly refer to the weekly reports sent by analysts at gap and they did act as “eyes and ears” for us working out of a remote location.

So when my husband decided to pursue his Ph.D in Economics at UC-Irvine, I thought of trying my luck with gap and it all began there.  It took us almost a year to get me on board including numerous interviews, several writing samples, and not to mention getting my H1B visa (sponsored by gap)… But ahh now I am here and loving every moment!!!! gap may be a very small company compared to HP, but their screening processes is one of the toughest (best) that I ever came across: handpicking each person and investing a lot of time to make sure the best job gets done.  As an analyst at gap intelligence, I am still learning my way around.  Training with Jake, I am getting to know about several categories, building my industry knowledge, and of course trying to become a pro in excel.

On a personal front, I love cooking and gappers like Nicole have been daring enough to try home cooked Indian food!!!  Other than that, in my spare time I love to improve my singing skills and read books.  Just like any other girl, I enjoy shopping a lot and friends at HP called me the “Power Shopper”.

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I saw a lot of changes in the last one year of my life from my marital status, to my employer, to my country of residence, and much more.  I am still getting used to a new life in in a new land, and its been going great so far….

Thanks for getting me on-board ……..life would not have been so good without gap!

My name is Erin Michelle Vogelsanger and I am the newbie at gap intelligence. Though only employed at gap for a just over a week, I have already managed to decorate the cubicle and found an excuse to wear my pajamas to work. I’ve made myself right at home.

Here are five things that make me unique:

I am obsessed with blow pops and would even be so bold to say that blow pops are the greatest candy on earth. My obsession started as a child and has continued right on into adulthood and if I could only have one type of candy for the rest of my life it would be blow pops. Strawberry is the best, by the way.

I do not own a dog but my favorite beach is Coronado’s Dog Beach. I love dogs so much that I will go to the beach to watch other people’s dogs play in the water. I also think that dog people are nicer. Some day I will take my bull mastiff to dog beach.

I have an inner Martha Stewart and enjoy hosting parties and entertaining. I create tablescapes and agonize over the perfect menu choices. Mini-me Martha seems to come out around any holiday, birthday, or special event so watch for holiday cookies in the office.

I have the memory of an elephant when it comes to song lyrics. For some reason this especially applies to 90′s hip hop music and don’t be surprised if you catch me with my ipod dancing the Roger Rabbit down the halls.

I did Jazzercise in the womb. My mom has taught Jazzercise my entire life including when she was pregnant with me. There is no doubt that my fondness of very loud music and my hip dance moves were developed at a very, very, early age.

I am extremely excited to join the gap intelligence team and I look forward to becoming an excel wizard, which will accompany my cooking and dancing skills.

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