Happy December: Part II
Happy Holidays everyone!
Here’s a follow-up video that Addie Kate, my marketing and social media manager, put together of our time training.
Cheers and Blessings!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Archive for year: 2022
Happy December!
“The days are long but the years are short.” – Unknown
How true! 11 months down, 1 remaining in 2022.
Yikes!
I was in the Atlanta metro this past June visiting team members.
I hadn’t met some of the newer members plus I needed to do some in-person training, so I flew out Thursday and returned Friday.
The team and I shared a few meals, huddled in a hotel conference room, and did professional training to grow their team.
There’s no substitute for face-to-face in-person time and Zoom meetings can get old quickly and attention spans wither.
Pictured here from left to right: Frankie Teel, Shamar Slappy, Addie Kate Pruett, Casey Cantrell, and Rachel Woodyard.
I’m excited and proud of the Southeast Team!
PS: Happy birthday Frankie!
Happy Labor Day!
At Connect 5000, we use Apollo.io to generate lists to obtain contact data for names, email addresses, and phone numbers to fill the top of the funnel for software and tech firms. It’s cost-effective and decently accurate.
Here’s a link to try it out yourself: https://apollo.grsm.io/8e0xgousct18
Happy Labor Day everyone!
(Photo Credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/event-banner-advertising-marketing-1566733/)
Friday Lunch and Yak Session
Happy Saturday everyone!
Every now and then, Connect 5000 gathers together via Zoom over lunch and gets to know each other better without talking about work stuff. Because everyone is remote and isolation can occur, it’s beneficial to huddle up and get to know colleagues better, so we did Friday afternoon. It helps build relationships and a stronger culture.
For other remote firms out there, I encourage you to do the same! #team #culture
Thank you Casey Cantrell for facilitating Friday’s session.
I”m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
The Traveling Roadtrip Continues
Happy Sunday everyone!
And the flights and travel continue!
As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I visited Seattle and Portland over Memorial Day weekend with my family.
2 days later I flew with a colleague to Atlanta to visit the Southern Region Team and meet reps who I hadn’t met in person yet.
2 days later I then flew with a colleague BACK to Atlanta for a training session in North Carolina.
My flight was originally supposed to leave around 10:30 am Sunday morning, June 5th. The airline canceled it and rebooked me but the layover via Minnesota would have put me into Atlanta late.
So I took the 5:30 AM flight direct to Atlanta, grabbed my luggage and rental car and grabbed a hotel for a few hours, napped, and picked up my colleague coming from Michigan and we drove 140 miles north to our destination.
Nisah Tahara, my head of Training, Learning, and Development, and I did a training session with a client over 2 days I had never met her before but we had spoken countless times via phone and Zoom, and wonderful to meet her.
We drove back to the airport, dropped off the rental car, and parted ways. I enjoyed my time with her as well as the client doing live training. First time since the pandemic. Other sessions had been strictly remote.
3 trips down 1 more to go. I head to Indianapolis, IN tomorrow morning!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Pictured is Nisah and I at breakfast!)
The Southern Region Team of Connect 5000
Happy Saturday everyone!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently did a family vacation to Seattle and Portland and flew back.
2 days later, Tiffany Miller, my Director of Operations, and I flew to Atlanta to see some Southern Region team members we’d never met in person.
We had planned to back in February but with sickness and Coronavirus Omicron variant raging, we decided to postpone it until June.
So we flew in Thursday night, had a lovely dinner with the team at a great Italian restaurant called Venucci, and then went out for drinks later that evening with our team’s spouses and significant others.
The next day we had a quick manager’s meeting and another pleasant lunch with the team at Taste of Lemon.
Thank you Casey for your excellent, southern hospitality and shuttling us around those 2 days.
Pictured are several members of the Southern Region team who live in the great state of Georgia.
Happy Summer Everyone!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Pictured here from left to right: Ray, Rachael, Jessica, Frankie, Casey and Tiffany.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
Hey everyone!
I hope you had a great Memorial Day holiday!
My wife and I have a 12 year and 9 year old and their last day of school got moved up from May 24th to May 19th.
We had planned a West Coast trip back in February and all of the sudden, it came upon us.
So we left for Seattle, spent a few days there and visited the Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, and had a wonderful dinner with my best friend and his family on our last night there.
One of my Connect 5000 reps lives in the Seattle metro and we were able to grab breakfast Saturday morning and had a wonderful time chatting in person. She’s an excellent rep and was hired during the pandemic and we had never met face to face until then.
On Sunday, May 29th, we took the train from Seattle to Portland and spent a few days with my wife’s brother and his family and toured the Nike HQ which was a good experience. Then we flew back on May 31st.
All in all, a wonderful family vacation to see friends, family, and one of my reps for the first time.
What vacations do you have planned so far? Where are you going?
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Happy May Day!
Happy May 1st everyone!
4 months down in 2022! 8 left to go! Time sure travels by quickly.
Some members of the Kansas City Connect 5000 team got together recently at Chicken N Pickle.
Chicken N Pickle is a unique venue with a wood-clad, chicken-centric joint with a patio, rooftop bar & pickleball courts.
We sat outside, ate, drank and enjoyed the great spring weather and didn’t talk about work.
We socialized, caught up on our personal lives and enjoyed the Friday afternoon. With team members working remote and feeling isolated at times, it’s good to be intentional and gather in person from time to time and stay connected on a human level.
I’m Ray Ruecker and wish you a happy May!
PS: Pictured here: me, Brandi Williams, Mike Tracy (AKA Mike Rowe), and Tiffany Miller.