By Stacy Jackson
January is a month when many of us spend time both reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. It’s an especially big year for those of us working at Answers Systems: this April marks our 25th anniversary serving the rebate and trade promotion management (TPM) needs of the foodservice industry. This April also marks my 16th year with the company.
In the past 16 years that I’ve been with Answers Systems, we have done a lot of hard work. We’ve moved from a paper-based system of rebate and trade promotion management to an increasingly paperless, automated way of doing business. We’ve built some cool trade promotion management software. However, that’s not what this post is about.
When you spend almost 16 years with a company, you tend to think in terms of relationships and experiences shared. After all, I have worked with 17% of these people for at least ten years and another 13% for at least five years (over 32% of our employees have been with Answers Systems for more than five years). We have shared a lot over the past decade and a half.
Besides the fun and challenging work, I will always remember how we . . .
- Sat around a television in the break room awaiting the OJ trial verdict on October 3, 1995
- Suffered through three no-win seasons on the company softball team from 1997 – 2000
- Laughed about the losses at the weekly, post-game karaoke sessions
- Huddled in cubicles and offices listening to radio news reports on September 11, 2001
- Celebrated birthdays, weddings, births
- Get a little crazy every Halloween with our office costume contests (my favorite year is, of course, 2005 when I won)
- Supported one another during times of personal hardships and grief
- Built houses together for Habitat for Humanity, sent care packages to soldiers, cheered our survivors and caretakers at the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, and supported employee fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Association’s Great Strides event
We care about providing great service because we care about maintaining a great place to work and the friendships we have here. I think our clients see the esprit de corps we enjoy, and many feel they are part of it through the interactions we have with them on a daily basis.
We look forward to spending the next year talking about our trade promotion management solutions, telling you about the way things have evolved over the past 25 years, and sharing more stories about the team of professionals here at Answers Systems.
By the way . . . I want to congratulate all of my coworkers who ran in the Walt Disney World Marathon 2011 this past weekend. I admire your dedication to the training it took to get ready for this event!
Technorati tags:
25th Anniversary,
trade promotion management,
rebate management