If it weren't for those meddling kids....no, just kidding ;)
I say it constantly to many of my friends: If you surround yourself with intelligent people, you will be filled with intelligent thoughts to ponder as you move through your days. We've had a lot of big changes here at AR HQ, and it's been some time since I've written about the office itself -- I guess I epic fail at keeping you guys updated ;)
After speaking this morning to a certain AR CEO (cough*Jon*cough) and briefly discussing what growing pains a company has while expanding, he said, "If we're not f*ing up, we are not pushing ourselves." With that single sentence, I realized that a large part of pushing ourselves requires a combined team effort of all the individuals in our office, and since we have a few more backs to help push the load uphill, it was probably time to introduce our newcomers en masse.
In member support, we have a few new faces: Drew, Rodney, Kerrie, Sean, Steven, Aaron, and Joel. The first four are working with our new business builders, while the rest are those calling up our new members and helping them learn how to use the Rain to their advantage. They come with heavy dollops of sarcasm and a little playful banter, but they're ours!
Heading that team is Doug. Although you don't hear him on the phone very often, he's constantly riding herd on our new member support agents and has an easy demeanor that makes him a huge asset to our team. You may have seen him in my video post from last week.
Our new Director of Advertising is Chris. His input and energy in getting the word out about AR has been vital to the operation of the business since he arrived.
One of our newest community builders is no stranger to the Rain: Jeremy. Jeremy has been a long-time member and displays an eagerness to help our members that is unmatched. He has a serious enthusiasm for the Rain and an often contagious optimism.
Last, but not least, we managed to snag a new designer, too! Craig came to visit us from his home state of Connecticut this last week, and it was nice to meet the man behind the idle message. He's a gearhead and manages to mesh with the team very well.
Like our favorite R-Spouting cartoon dog, I can't help but think how much lesser of a company we would be if our Scooby gang wasn't together; every single one of them has their eye on the prize and want to make ActiveRain better for the members. It's refreshing and an absolute privilege to work for a company where every single person comes to work every day to work their tail off.
Sure, we don't unmask criminals or eat sandwiches eighteen times the size of our respective heads, but the shenanigans ensue on a daily basis. I'll be bringing my video recorder to work next week to get you guys the inside scoop, so stay tuned!
In the past week, I have heard the sentence "At least I have a job", especially as the major companies in our area continue to lay people off of their respective workforces. Seattle's unemployment numbers were nearly at 10% as of last night's radio report, and Seattlites are feeling the pinch. Regardless, I hate that sentence (Well, at least I have a job.) mostly because everytime I hear it, the tone in the person's voice is both exasperation, despair, and discontent.