Hey team! We hope you’ve been well. Our office has been SUPER busy the last six months and undergoing several changes, so we apologize to have been M.I.A. from updating our blog on these happenings. While our other social media has remained current, we would love to get our blog followers up-to-date as well.
Our first change six months ago: Going from two Office Managers to one. Previously, Votion was managed by both Cristian and Jake, but, due to the coming birth of his firstborn child, Cristian decided to move closer to family in Utah. While we miss Cristian’s presence in the office, Jake has adjusted and was able to quickly pick up where he left off. Occasionally we still hear from Cristian, and it sounds like he is doing very well. His wife gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl in May, and she is the light of their lives.
One of Jake’s first orders of business as the sole manager was to move our firm to a more functional office space. Our previous office had a lot of extra, unused space, which didn’t make sense to keep so we downsized. Our new location provides the perfect amount of square footage as well as a bit of wiggle room for growth. There’s also available community area in our building that can be reserved for important meetings and conferences as needed. This eliminated our need for a larger office in general – Score!
At the time both of these changes felt huge for our team, but, with a brief adjustment period, we would come to realize that not much was actually changing. Same coworkers, same roles, same clients, and (for some) same manager. Given how other larger companies have handled such changes, our management team was prepared for a bit of unease from team members. However, we assured the crew that there absolutely still was job security and that we were working diligently behind the scenes to make transitions as easy as possible for all involved. Jake cannot commend our team enough for taking these moves in stride and not missing a beat. Things could have gone awry, but the transition was seamless thanks to the managers’ effective planning and our flexible team.
Our company culture is very important to us, so annual company events, frequent volunteering, team outings, and national/regional conferences are still in full swing (regardless of any changes).
Our Memorial Day beach BBQ and Labor Day camp out were a ton of fun. We really enjoy these annual events that allow us to spend quality time with our coworkers and their families while having some fun in the sun.
Votion has maintained company volunteer efforts with our usual partners, but have also added two new ones: American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. We are also looking forward to the annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk in October. The Light the Night Walk is the cause we had first got involved with three years ago, and our team expanded our reach of giving back to our local community from there.
From early spring until now, a new team event we have began hosting is a monthly leader’s dinner. This event is by invite only and is a great way for leaders of our office to get together and brain storm where we would like Votion to go as a company. We expected leader’s dinner to be helpful for employee feedback, but the results that came out from just out first meeting was beyond what we could have imagined. The feedback from our team has helped get the ball rolling for future team workshops, more efficient employee training, and expected expansions.
Votion still frequently holds team nights twice a month, but has also started a company Dungeons and Dragons group that meets on the opposite weeks. The idea was posed by our soon-to-be Assistant Manager, David, and several team members were interested in attending. What started as an average sized D&D group of six, quickly grew to 10. It’s safe to assume that the excited chatter from each group meet sparked curiosity around our office, and several more people wanted to check out what all the fun was about. This is David’s largest group that he has ever been the “Dungeon Master” (the storyteller) for, but he is looking forward to the challenge.
The newest change that is fast approaching is the acquisition of a new client: Uber. With this pilot program (as with any trial run) we anticipate a lot of trial and error to figure out the bumps and create a great campaign for our new client. To head this campaign, Jake has selected seasoned Account Manager, Stephanie, and new Account Manager, Ben. The expected launch date with Uber is sometime during the week of the 7th of October. We will update our social media on this as we have more information available.
As if we weren’t busy enough with all of the above, we are now beginning the preparations for a Halloween party at the end of October and an expansion to Salem, Oregon by the end of the year. Our team certainly keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Each member plays an instrumental role in our work family, and we think they deserve the absolute best.
Cheers to a great (and productive) rest of the year!
Votion 