We're growing, getting smarter, and gamier!

Sooo…2018 is nearly done.  And so am I.  This year has been a very busy and tiring one.  But it’s what Harry Chapin used to call “good tired”.  And we’ll talk about last year (and next year) next month.We’re growing (again).  We’re on the lookout for a new Level I (more or less entry level) technician.  This means we’ll have added 4 new positions (plus 2 part-time) in 2018 (assuming we hire by end of year).  Thankfully our growth in terms of business has demanded it.  I’m actually looking to slow down the growth a bit next year, with our plan being adding only 2 additional technicians, and possibly one office worker.  Click here for more info.We’re getting smarter.  Ok, not me (obviously).  But both Jeff Buskirk and Korrey Hull achieved additional professional certifications in the past month.  We expect (and reward) our techs to keep improving their skills.  Kudos to them!  Nobody has that kind of expectation of me (with good reason, I might add).We’re getting more focused.  If you want into our office (you really should someday), you’ll see a board that gives us our operational KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).  Kevin and Michelle implemented this using our new tools from Bright Gauge.  We’ll be tweaking them and updating them…well, probably forever<g>.We’re getting more customer-centric.  This Wednesday is our first in what we hope is a long new tradition.  We’re calling it our QCT (or “Cutie”) for “Quarterly Customer Training” events.  We’re taking the whole day to share with our customers a quick overview of all the STMPs (Services, Tools, Methodologies and Portals) that we offer customers.  This training event (offered at no charge, naturally) is our way of making sure that we’re living up to our claim of making our tools available to our customers.  I expected (especially for the first one) us to have half a dozen attendees.  We had to close RSVP’s at 14…We’re getting helpier.  It’s time for our 8th Annual Geek Raffle held at the new Malted Meeple location in Hudson.  Yup, free food, but bring your money to buy raffle tickets to support Hattie Larlham.  Click here for more info.We’re getting helpier (part 2).  We (spearheaded by Navy veteran and Dispatcher Heather Gezzar) a donation drive for troops overseas.  We help a Hot Cocoa Bar and did some other things.  We ended up shipping 7 boxes overseas!  And by we, I really mean Heather, helped out by the rest of us.We’re getting bookier.  If that isn’t a word, it should be.  Based on the feedback from my presentation at IT Nation last month I decided that I needed to write another book.  This one actually written for Managed Service Providers (like us), discussing methods of implementing Co-Managed IT services (what we call CoMITs).  Yup.  I’m going to teach our competitors how to compete against us.  When I say we share, I wasn’t kidding…We’re getting gamier.  Ok, that doesn’t sound quite how I intended.  But if you attended our networking event in August at Quarter Up, you know that was a great time.  So let’s do it again!  Mark off your calendar for Tuesday February 19th.  And we’re partnering up with my Alma Mater, Hiram College (where I’m a member of the Alumni Board).  Same deal, free food, free drink, free quarters, free willy…We’re getting chattier.  Last month I spoke at BizConCle (a Cose event) on “Cyber Security”, IT Nation (in Florida) on “Developing a Co-Managed IT service practice” and Youngstown State University on “Dark Web and Fraud”.  In December I’m speaking in Columbus and Perrysburg (both on Cyber Security topics).We’re getting Strategicier.  I’m finishing putting together our 2019 and Q1 goals for the organization and will be meeting with the Management Team to develop their individual goals to support that.  More on that next month. Ok, I'm running out of adjectives...