What can I say about March? It is one of the best times of the year. St. Paddy's Day, March Madness, golf courses open up and baseball season is near.
Yesterday I was in Philadelphia for a sales call with Tommy Sheridan. Let me tell you something a sales call with Tommy Sheridan on St. Patricks day in Philadelphia is a recipe for a good time. I decided to drive in to Philly on Sunday and take some time to myself. A good buddy I went to college with lives there so I was able to have dinner with him. The Convention Center Marriott is a really classy place and they have Shula's Steakhouse in the place as long as a good sports bar.
I drove in early on Sunday, mainly to watch basketball and golf- don't tell my wife that. (he-he-he). It was a great day of sports. I was really impressed with how Georgia won three basketball games in two days but even more impressed with Tiger Woods winning the Bay Hill Invitational. I tell you with Tiger.... they should cut him open and look for wires, he aint real!
Charlie Doyle, my college buddy came into town for dinner. He is a good guy. Going through a rough spell that I do not want to get into on here but it was good to see him. He may be going through a rough spot but nothing that a 22oz T-bone wont make feel better. It was good to see him and catch up on some of the gang. He is in touch with more people we went to college with through the World Wide Web but not me.
Anyway, I got up early on Monday and hit the Marriott Gym. Trying to strengthen my core for golf and softball seasons. Then went to Tommy Sheridan's office around 10:30. I know the reason he wanted to meet me on St. Paddys day at 10:30 was so I had an excuse to take him to lunch. So we met quickly, set up a bunch of stuff for fall deliveries and then went to lunch. Long story short is lunch ended at about 5:30 PM. Luckily I had stopped drinking at around 2 so I was OK to drive home. Tommy takes the train in to work and I am not sure how he made it. He is a fun guy.
The drive home was not bad. I have been having some back problems which is why I am trying to strengthen my core. Every two hours the PT recomends I get up and stretch a little bit so I hit a few rest stops on the Turnpike and made it home by 9ish.
Busy week this week. Trying to secure all the fall deliveries for people and a few of my accounts are hitting the dreaded 45-90 past due window and I dont get paid until they pay. I also may be doing a few NCAA brackets this week and try and be out of the office on Friday to watch some games. Macredes who lives near me and works for the competition and I try and get together and talk a little shop over these games. Always good to hear what the competition is up too.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Yikes
It sure has been a long time since updating this but now I am going to try and be better. Too much to catch up on but it has been a crazy few months. Big re-org at the company and I ended up getting the Del-Mar-Va territory. Long story made short.... Terry Buohl one of my clients was expanding his operation down there. Curtis our sales guy down there was a little green and Buohl and I go wayyyy back. I rep the company to Buohl and Curtis is now reporting to me. I am no longer Northeast Sales but they have renamed it North/Mid Atlantic Territory. A little bump in pay didn't hurt.
Dart League turned out pretty good. We ended up coming in second. Fantasy football was pretty much over as Chiocco had both Brady and Moss. I was so glad the Pats lost in the Superbowl but it does mean having to put up with Swartow ranting about the Giants for the rest of the year, especially after beating my 'Boys.
Looking forward to golf season starting back up. I bought one of those hybrid 7 irons that should help my intermidate game.
College hoops has been great this year. I am a big UNC guy, didn't go there but love the team. I like the way Pshyco T plays ball- hardworker no flash, my kind of guy.
Fantasy baseball draft is next week so I am figuring that out. I am actually a Washington Nationals fan but that is because the Harrisburg Senators were the farm team for the Expos when I was a kid and I used to get to Harrisburg in the summer. I remember seeing Marquis Grissom and Kent Hill play in the minors and kind of stuck with them.
Well that is it for now. Look forward to me coming back here.
Dart League turned out pretty good. We ended up coming in second. Fantasy football was pretty much over as Chiocco had both Brady and Moss. I was so glad the Pats lost in the Superbowl but it does mean having to put up with Swartow ranting about the Giants for the rest of the year, especially after beating my 'Boys.
Looking forward to golf season starting back up. I bought one of those hybrid 7 irons that should help my intermidate game.
College hoops has been great this year. I am a big UNC guy, didn't go there but love the team. I like the way Pshyco T plays ball- hardworker no flash, my kind of guy.
Fantasy baseball draft is next week so I am figuring that out. I am actually a Washington Nationals fan but that is because the Harrisburg Senators were the farm team for the Expos when I was a kid and I used to get to Harrisburg in the summer. I remember seeing Marquis Grissom and Kent Hill play in the minors and kind of stuck with them.
Well that is it for now. Look forward to me coming back here.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Springfield
This is my first "blog" writing from on the road. It has been a nutty couple of days I will tell you that.
So I drove up on Monday to play golf with Mike Swartow who is a good client from Boston. He is a good client but not a good golfer and I played pretty well. I have been not using my driver as much lately to keep the ball in play more, especially on new courses so that helped. Anyway after golf, we decided to go the hotel and have dinner at the Champions Sports Bar and watch the football. Let me tell you driving for 3 hours, a round of golf in the sun, and a football double header with Mike Swartow led to way too many beers. They had a bunch of those New England microbrews at the bar and we tried em all. I was one hurtin pup on Tuesday morning at the convention.
This is the first convention I have been to with Grant Hunt and he is not really the same as Jerry Rogers used to be. Grant really wants us to stay at the booth and is giving the real corporate schtick. He is not a sales guy so it is different. There were some of our clients there and Grant was good with those guys in saying Hi and making sure that the back end issues were up to par but when propects came that is when I stepped in. I sometimes think the best relationships at these events are not made in the booth but more when you are just walking around and stuff like that. Grant did not like being at the booth without me so I had to stand there from 8-4 with only two little breaks. Swartow did not even hit the floor till like 11 and I think he left at 2.
We had a dinner planned that night with Matt Parker who is from Boston. He has a pretty big distribution network up here and he would be a great client. I know he has done some buying from George Macredes who is from my town and is in my dart league. The company Macredes works for does not have as quality product as we do so I was hoping we could have a shot. We went to a pretty nice steakhouse that was across from the Marriott and the Convention Center. They had a great cajun rib eye and some of the same beers that the Champions had.
During dinners like that I prefer to talk more about other things than work- Sports, Movies stuff like that but Grant Hunt kept bringing it back to work stuff. All in all it was OK. Going back to the hotel we had to walk by Champions and it was packed with all the people from the Convention. Swartow was there. Macredes was there and a bunch of other people I know. Grant and Matt Parker did not want to go in but I felt it was a good networking thing so I stopped in. I knew I could not do it up like the night before but I still had a good time.
It was a bit weird because I was talking to Macredes about darts and some stuff back home and Swartow came up. I like Macredes and Swartow is a good guy but also a client. I didn't really want to introduce them but I had to. I only stayed till about 11 and they were both going strong when I left.
Well I gotta hit the the booth and catch up with Hunt. More later
So I drove up on Monday to play golf with Mike Swartow who is a good client from Boston. He is a good client but not a good golfer and I played pretty well. I have been not using my driver as much lately to keep the ball in play more, especially on new courses so that helped. Anyway after golf, we decided to go the hotel and have dinner at the Champions Sports Bar and watch the football. Let me tell you driving for 3 hours, a round of golf in the sun, and a football double header with Mike Swartow led to way too many beers. They had a bunch of those New England microbrews at the bar and we tried em all. I was one hurtin pup on Tuesday morning at the convention.
This is the first convention I have been to with Grant Hunt and he is not really the same as Jerry Rogers used to be. Grant really wants us to stay at the booth and is giving the real corporate schtick. He is not a sales guy so it is different. There were some of our clients there and Grant was good with those guys in saying Hi and making sure that the back end issues were up to par but when propects came that is when I stepped in. I sometimes think the best relationships at these events are not made in the booth but more when you are just walking around and stuff like that. Grant did not like being at the booth without me so I had to stand there from 8-4 with only two little breaks. Swartow did not even hit the floor till like 11 and I think he left at 2.
We had a dinner planned that night with Matt Parker who is from Boston. He has a pretty big distribution network up here and he would be a great client. I know he has done some buying from George Macredes who is from my town and is in my dart league. The company Macredes works for does not have as quality product as we do so I was hoping we could have a shot. We went to a pretty nice steakhouse that was across from the Marriott and the Convention Center. They had a great cajun rib eye and some of the same beers that the Champions had.
During dinners like that I prefer to talk more about other things than work- Sports, Movies stuff like that but Grant Hunt kept bringing it back to work stuff. All in all it was OK. Going back to the hotel we had to walk by Champions and it was packed with all the people from the Convention. Swartow was there. Macredes was there and a bunch of other people I know. Grant and Matt Parker did not want to go in but I felt it was a good networking thing so I stopped in. I knew I could not do it up like the night before but I still had a good time.
It was a bit weird because I was talking to Macredes about darts and some stuff back home and Swartow came up. I like Macredes and Swartow is a good guy but also a client. I didn't really want to introduce them but I had to. I only stayed till about 11 and they were both going strong when I left.
Well I gotta hit the the booth and catch up with Hunt. More later
Monday, September 10, 2007
Springfield Trip
I am driving up to Springfield today for the convention this week. I am going up a half day early so I can sneak in a round of golf with Mike Swartow.
I am looking forward to this as I like conventions. I can make some good contacts and it is fun to socialize with clients. This will also be my first time hanging with Grant Hunt from the District Office. I hope he is up for some fun. We are taking Swartow to dinner tomorrow night and that is usually a fun night and no doubt I will be hurting on Wednesday. Swartow likes to tie one on and he IS a client so I have to join in. Ha Ha
I need a big night from Frank Gore tonight in my fantasy football league to win. Romo had a great game but Benson killed me against the Chargers.
I am taking my laptop to Springfield so I will post from there.
I am looking forward to this as I like conventions. I can make some good contacts and it is fun to socialize with clients. This will also be my first time hanging with Grant Hunt from the District Office. I hope he is up for some fun. We are taking Swartow to dinner tomorrow night and that is usually a fun night and no doubt I will be hurting on Wednesday. Swartow likes to tie one on and he IS a client so I have to join in. Ha Ha
I need a big night from Frank Gore tonight in my fantasy football league to win. Romo had a great game but Benson killed me against the Chargers.
I am taking my laptop to Springfield so I will post from there.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Labor Day Weekend
Getting back to this Blogging thing and trying to be better about it. Big few weeks ahead of me. Next week I have to go to Springfiled Mass for a three day convention. The convention is at the MassMutual Convention Center. I get to stay at the Springfield Marriott and that is one of my favorite Marriotts. It has a Champions Sports Bar and that is always a good place to unwind.
Grant Hunt from the District Office Schenectady is coming up to this and it will be good to spend time with him. I really liked Jerry Rogers who left the District Office and Grant seems like a good guy. Jerry and I certainly had our fun at some of these Conventions and I hope that Grant will be as much fun. Mike Swartow, who is a client, is going to come up to this so we have a dinner planned with him. Matt Parker is a guy in the Boston area who I have been trying to sell to for a long time and I finally have a dinner with him. I am trying to find a good steakhouse up there to go to. I hope it goes well, he would be a good account to land.
Some other stuff... I was thrilled to see Lefty beat Tiger this weekend in the golf. It was great to watch. Rivalries like that are good for sports. I had my NFL Fantasy League Draft last week. My team name is The Camp North Star All Stars. That was based on one of my favorite Bill Murray movies, Meatballs. I love that movie. My team is pretty good and I have Cedric Benson of the Bears, Frank Gore of the 49ers, Tony Romo of the Cowboys, the Cowboys D and a bunch of other guys. Draft night is always fun. This year we had it at Chaucers where we usually have our dart league and it was a good night out. The league is made up of me, the McGilvary Brothers, Timmy Chiocco, Russ Davis, Russ's brother Scott, and two friends of Scott's-Glenn Pritchard and Peter Flynn. It has been the same bunch of us for a few years and it is fun. Glenn Pritchard got Tomlinson with the first pick.
Grant Hunt from the District Office Schenectady is coming up to this and it will be good to spend time with him. I really liked Jerry Rogers who left the District Office and Grant seems like a good guy. Jerry and I certainly had our fun at some of these Conventions and I hope that Grant will be as much fun. Mike Swartow, who is a client, is going to come up to this so we have a dinner planned with him. Matt Parker is a guy in the Boston area who I have been trying to sell to for a long time and I finally have a dinner with him. I am trying to find a good steakhouse up there to go to. I hope it goes well, he would be a good account to land.
Some other stuff... I was thrilled to see Lefty beat Tiger this weekend in the golf. It was great to watch. Rivalries like that are good for sports. I had my NFL Fantasy League Draft last week. My team name is The Camp North Star All Stars. That was based on one of my favorite Bill Murray movies, Meatballs. I love that movie. My team is pretty good and I have Cedric Benson of the Bears, Frank Gore of the 49ers, Tony Romo of the Cowboys, the Cowboys D and a bunch of other guys. Draft night is always fun. This year we had it at Chaucers where we usually have our dart league and it was a good night out. The league is made up of me, the McGilvary Brothers, Timmy Chiocco, Russ Davis, Russ's brother Scott, and two friends of Scott's-Glenn Pritchard and Peter Flynn. It has been the same bunch of us for a few years and it is fun. Glenn Pritchard got Tomlinson with the first pick.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Long time
One of the things they talked about in the conference where I heard about blogs was that you have to update them frequently and I have not been doing that but I am back.
I am not a man to make excuses but work has been nuts and we went away for vacation with Joe McGilvary and his family. Good times. We went to the Outer Banks and rented a place. Our wives and kids get a long so that is good and Joe and I were able to sneak out and play some golf. Lots of BBQ and beers but a heck of a drive.
On the drive down I was able to meet with Mike Curtis from the DelMarVa region. Terry Buohl who is one of my clients picked up some space in Newark, DE which is technically Mike's territory but as Terry is my account we needed to work out some details. It is going to work out. Mike is a good guy and we came to a fair arrangement.
I am a big sports fan and have been outraged by a few developments in sports these days. The NBA ref gambling, Michael Vick and the dogs and Barry Bonds. It is just terrible. I really did enjoy the Little League World Series last week though, those kids are playing for the love of the game and it was just fun to watch.
I am very excited about the NFL season. Even though I am from the Northeast I am a big time Cowboys fan going back to the Roger Staubach days. I can't tell half my clients that I like the Cowboys. Buohl in Harrisburg is a big Steelers guy, Phil Schnatz in Philadelphia bleeds Eagle green and Mike Swartow is a huge Giants fan. I have my fantasy football draft on Thursday night, I always enjoy fantasy football and the draft is just a good night of ball busting with the fellas.
The fall is really the busy season for work. I have three conventions and then there is the end of year National Sales Conference. This year it is in Arizona in December. I am pacing to have a great year and if things go well I could be in line for one of the top regions so I have to be on my A game all fall.
On my vacation I read a great, great book called You, Inc. about how to use selling your self to be a better sales person. I am going to apply some of these methods and see how I do.
I am not a man to make excuses but work has been nuts and we went away for vacation with Joe McGilvary and his family. Good times. We went to the Outer Banks and rented a place. Our wives and kids get a long so that is good and Joe and I were able to sneak out and play some golf. Lots of BBQ and beers but a heck of a drive.
On the drive down I was able to meet with Mike Curtis from the DelMarVa region. Terry Buohl who is one of my clients picked up some space in Newark, DE which is technically Mike's territory but as Terry is my account we needed to work out some details. It is going to work out. Mike is a good guy and we came to a fair arrangement.
I am a big sports fan and have been outraged by a few developments in sports these days. The NBA ref gambling, Michael Vick and the dogs and Barry Bonds. It is just terrible. I really did enjoy the Little League World Series last week though, those kids are playing for the love of the game and it was just fun to watch.
I am very excited about the NFL season. Even though I am from the Northeast I am a big time Cowboys fan going back to the Roger Staubach days. I can't tell half my clients that I like the Cowboys. Buohl in Harrisburg is a big Steelers guy, Phil Schnatz in Philadelphia bleeds Eagle green and Mike Swartow is a huge Giants fan. I have my fantasy football draft on Thursday night, I always enjoy fantasy football and the draft is just a good night of ball busting with the fellas.
The fall is really the busy season for work. I have three conventions and then there is the end of year National Sales Conference. This year it is in Arizona in December. I am pacing to have a great year and if things go well I could be in line for one of the top regions so I have to be on my A game all fall.
On my vacation I read a great, great book called You, Inc. about how to use selling your self to be a better sales person. I am going to apply some of these methods and see how I do.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
District Office
Before I tell you about my trip to the District Office last week let me say something quickly about Cal Ripken. I am a big baseball fan, a big sports fan in general and I want you all to know that Cal Ripken is a true hero of mine and should be to all of us. This guy came to work and played hard every day. When you look at some of the so called baseball heros of today they have nothing on Cal.
As I mentioned, last Thursday I had to head to Schenectady to go to the District Offices. I was staying at the Marriott there for Thursday also. It was more of a Courtyard Marriott but I still got the points. I also happened to be there for Jerry Rogers goodbye party. He has been the customer service manager for a few years and we are sorry to see him go. I was glad to get to his party, there was a time last fall when he really helped me out with the people from Velocorp in getting them some extra inventory when they needed it. It was huge on his part and really helped me make my numbers.
Anyway, I like going to the District Office. I work out of my home and am on the road quite a bit so I like to check in and see how people are. I also feel that even though I do not share an office with the people there they are my co-workers and a lot of what they do is important to me so I should know them. I know some of the other reps do not do this as much as I do and I pride myself in it. I like to go about once a month and spend some time with the key people who help manage my account- Terri in Billing, Jerry in CS, Tom in Finance (great guy) and then hopefully coincide my visit with Gil Miller. He was not here this time.
I spent some time catching up with Jerry and also met his replacement Grant Hunt. As I said I am sad to see Jerry go because he and I have been through some wars together but Grant seems like a nice guy. It is always good to catch up with Terri as without her doing the billing and tracking down the invoices, I don't get paid. She is an unsung hero of the company. I always put a good word into her boss Tom for her when I am there.
Jerry's goodbye party was at some a brew pub called Van Dyck. That of course inspired some pretty good jokes. It was a great time. Jerry got lit up and some of the people who worked for him were pretty sad. Jerry is married and his wife came to pick him up. I decided not to make too much of a night of it as I had to drive back to the Courtyard Marriott and do not know the roads all that well. It was a good time. Jerry wrote a great goodbye email that he copied me on and I was glad to get that.
Adios, Farewell, See Ya....
As many of you know, tomorrow will be my last day here. It has been a very happy 7 years and it is with mixed emotions that I am saying goodbye to everyone. My experiences here have allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I leave extremely thankful for all the opportunity it has presented me. What I hold highest from my experience has been the personal and professional friendships that I was able to make.
You guys are also the greatest gang I have ever worked with. We worked hard and played hard but got it all done.
Below I have included my personal email and my cell phone. Please keep in touch as I'm sure our paths will cross again soon.
Good Luck with everything moving forward – I wish you the best!
All the best,
J-RO
As I mentioned, last Thursday I had to head to Schenectady to go to the District Offices. I was staying at the Marriott there for Thursday also. It was more of a Courtyard Marriott but I still got the points. I also happened to be there for Jerry Rogers goodbye party. He has been the customer service manager for a few years and we are sorry to see him go. I was glad to get to his party, there was a time last fall when he really helped me out with the people from Velocorp in getting them some extra inventory when they needed it. It was huge on his part and really helped me make my numbers.
Anyway, I like going to the District Office. I work out of my home and am on the road quite a bit so I like to check in and see how people are. I also feel that even though I do not share an office with the people there they are my co-workers and a lot of what they do is important to me so I should know them. I know some of the other reps do not do this as much as I do and I pride myself in it. I like to go about once a month and spend some time with the key people who help manage my account- Terri in Billing, Jerry in CS, Tom in Finance (great guy) and then hopefully coincide my visit with Gil Miller. He was not here this time.
I spent some time catching up with Jerry and also met his replacement Grant Hunt. As I said I am sad to see Jerry go because he and I have been through some wars together but Grant seems like a nice guy. It is always good to catch up with Terri as without her doing the billing and tracking down the invoices, I don't get paid. She is an unsung hero of the company. I always put a good word into her boss Tom for her when I am there.
Jerry's goodbye party was at some a brew pub called Van Dyck. That of course inspired some pretty good jokes. It was a great time. Jerry got lit up and some of the people who worked for him were pretty sad. Jerry is married and his wife came to pick him up. I decided not to make too much of a night of it as I had to drive back to the Courtyard Marriott and do not know the roads all that well. It was a good time. Jerry wrote a great goodbye email that he copied me on and I was glad to get that.
Adios, Farewell, See Ya....
As many of you know, tomorrow will be my last day here. It has been a very happy 7 years and it is with mixed emotions that I am saying goodbye to everyone. My experiences here have allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I leave extremely thankful for all the opportunity it has presented me. What I hold highest from my experience has been the personal and professional friendships that I was able to make.
You guys are also the greatest gang I have ever worked with. We worked hard and played hard but got it all done.
Below I have included my personal email and my cell phone. Please keep in touch as I'm sure our paths will cross again soon.
Good Luck with everything moving forward – I wish you the best!
All the best,
J-RO
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